ScanSafe released its report ‘The Vertical Risk’ which reveals the top 5 industries at risk of Web-delivered malware as well as an analysis of the types and severity of the malware encountered.

ScanSafe analyzed Web malware blocks specific to 21 industry verticals throughout the first three quarters of 2008. The analysis was undertaken to determine whether certain industry verticals encounter more Web-delivered malware than others. According to the latest ScanSafe research, the top 5 industries most at risk of Web-delivered malware are:

1. Energy & Oil – 156% heightened risk compared to other verticals
2. Pharmaceutical & Chemical – 152% heightened risk
3. Engineering & Construction – 116% heightened risk
4. Transportation & Shipping – 96% heightened risk
5. Travel & Leisure – 44% heightened risk

In addition to a higher risk of Web-malware exposure overall, Energy & Oil companies also encountered significantly more unique variants of password stealers and backdoors compared to other verticals.

The majority of encounters across all verticals were encounters with malicious iframes and malicious source references implanted on compromised websites. The most common exploits resulting from these encounters were exploits of vulnerabilities within Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader.