Virtual Private Network service provider, NordVPN, has released a report revealing the most dangerous websites for user privacy and security.
Although daily web surfing poses risks to users, visiting certain types of websites is even more dangerous. It's no secret that sexual content sites, live streaming services, and video hosting sites top the list of the most dangerous sites for user privacy and security.
The list of threats posed to users by browsing these sites includes: malware attacks, intrusive ads, web activity tracking, and much more.
Thanks to NordVPN's threat protection performance, more than 344 web trackers, 341 million intrusive ads, and 506,000 malware infections were blocked in December 2022 alone.
Adrianus Wormenhoven, cybersecurity consultant at NordVPN, said: “The online world challenges people at every step, and when you try to read an article, dozens of ads and pop-ups will instantly cover your screen. Your privacy is malware hidden on websites and in the files you download. The websites you browse are also full of third-party trackers that analyze your browsing history to see what you're doing online. It's up to you to stop this."
NordVPN researchers wanted to understand how these cyber threats reach users, so they analyzed data collected through the company's threat protection system.
Although the information they collected did not include specific user information, it did help them get a picture of what everyone deals with online every day.
Of all these threats, malware is probably the most worrisome because these programs can easily penetrate devices to corrupt or steal sensitive data from a large number of users.
According to reports, porn sites contain the most malware such as viruses, ransomware, spyware, etc. In December, NordVPN blocked more than 60,000 malware.
After porn sites came cloud storage platforms and entertainment platforms, both of which contain close to 70,000 sites infected with malware.
Intrusive ads, including all pop-ups and other unwanted openings to promotional pages, not only spoil the online browsing experience, but are also useful in collecting users' information without their consent.
According to the report, content delivery platforms top the list of sites serving these intrusive ads, followed by porn sites and e-commerce sites.
According to NordVPN, these results show the importance of a strong ad blocker that works every time a user surfs the web, especially when visiting certain types of websites.
Wormenhoven explained that ad blockers are essential to online security because they stop ads that can infect a user's device, and for privacy reasons, intrusive ads rely on collecting data about users' web activity and violating their privacy.
According to Lormenhoven, when a website loads slower than normal, intrusive ads are to blame and he warns that free apps full of unwanted ads can quickly drain a device's battery.
According to NordVPN, Hong Kong and Singapore lead in the number of web trackers. Other countries with high demand are the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain and France.