Yeah, there’s a cheery headline.  But it’s true.  According to an organization called StopBadware.org–an online safety advocate group–people who design and distribute malware (spyware, adware, etc.) are finding newer and more unique ways to get their software on our computer systems, often by compromising some of our most trusted websites.

StopBadware.org, which lists Google as one of its “sponsors,” has a running list of over 200,000 websites that have some malicious downloads or code, and over half of them don’t even know they’ve been hacked or that they have this malware on their site.

As an example, the websites for Dolphin Stadium (host of the 2007 Super Bowl) and the Miami Dolphins were both discovered to have been hacked and hosting malicious software just days before the Super Bowl.  Even trusted sites like eBay and YouTube are having to actively combat the malware issue. 

As with SPAM, it seems the malware problem is not only not going to go away, but is getting steadily worse.  Surf with caution.