Believe it not, Amazon may not be as “clean” as you thought it was. According to the internet security firm Solutionary, the internet’s more conniving malware writers are using cloud platforms such as Amazon in order to deliver malware to internet users, many of whom are not even aware that they’ve been infected. Due to the relative “trust” that many users feel towards Amazon, malware users can quickly and effectively deliver otherwise dubious products into the hands of oblivious customers and users.
Rob Kraus, the director of Solutionary, summarised the finding of his inquiry, stating “Malware, and more specifically, its distributors are utilising the technologies and services that make processes, application deployment and website creation easier. Now we have to maintain our focus not only on the most dangerous parts of the Web but also on the parts we expect to be more trustworthy.”
Ironically, Solutionary’s report claims that malware producers rely on cloud hosting services such as Amazon for many of the same reason that legitimate publishers do, including affordable use and rapid deployment. It’s not inconceivable for malware developers to infect millions of computers and enterprise systems at an astonishing rate of speed.
According to the report, the United States remains the world’s largest host of malware, enveloping over 40% of the total global share. This is, undoubtedly, due to the fact that the majority of internet commerce in the world travels through these online junctions.
Although there exists no “easy” solution for ridding these large hosts of their malware, customers can use simple steps to ensure that they remain out of reach of these individuals and their malicious software packages. Visitors to websites such as Amazon are encouraged to remain vigilant, only downloading products which they know to be from a credible, certified source. Behavior such as this can effectively thwart the propagation of malware over time. Frequent Amazon users are encouraged to routinely check their computers for viruses and malware using their preferred system diagnosis tools, many of which are configured to quickly identify and remove malware such as the kind that would be found on Amazon.
