One billion requests in a single day hit Blue Coat WebPulse

Announcement posted by Blue Coat Systems 19 Oct 2011

The demand for Blue Coat WebPulse™ collaborative defense has reached a significant milestone by serving one billion requests for web content in a single day, with over nine million of those requests from Australian users. The high volume of requests provides greater visibility into web and malware ecosystems, enabling Blue Coat Security Labs to identify and track malnets (malware networks) and protect 75 million users from new attacks.

More than 20 percent of the one billion requests were for search engines/portals – the most consistently requested category and also the leading entry point through which users access malnets (malware networks). More than 10 percent of the requests were for social networking, the third most requested category of content.

Of the billion requests, there were more than one million requests to access content identified as Malware Sources. In an indication that a significant number of infected computers were attempting to contact command and control servers, an additional 1.4 million requests were made to access content related to communications from Malicious Outbound Data/Botnets. There were also more than three million requests for content categorised as Suspicious, which is often associated with known malnets.

“The ability of WebPulse to analyse and correlate such a massive amount of information about the web ecosystem creates a powerful defense. This allows us to identify and track the malnets that are responsible for launching attacks on unsuspecting users,” said Rajeev Mitroo, Managing Director Blue Coat Australia and New Zealand. “The more requests WebPulse receives, the more we understand how these malnets work, the tactics they use and the exploits they serve, which allows us to better protect users through our collaborative defense.”

WebPulse receives real-time requests from businesses, consumers, government organisations, schools and universities worldwide. The diversity of these requests provides WebPulse with a holistic view of the Web ecosystem and results in a more effective collaborative defense that protects all users when malware is discovered.

In September, WebPulse proactively protected users from the latest attack from the Shnakule malnet in which MySQL.com was hacked and serving malicious JavaScript that enabled a drive-by download. The high volume of web requests that WebPulse receives and analyses on a daily basis allows Blue Coat Security Labs to track Shnakule and other malnets to dynamically identify new threats.

About Blue Coat Systems

Blue Coat Systems is a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions. Blue Coat offers solutions that provide the visibility, acceleration and security required to optimize and secure the flow of information to any user, on any network, anywhere. This application intelligence enables enterprises to tightly align network investments with business requirements, speed decision making and secure business applications for long-term competitive advantage. Blue Coat also offers service provider solutions for managed security and WAN optimization, as well as carrier-grade caching solutions to save on bandwidth and enhancethe end-user Web experience. For additional information, please visit www.bluecoat.com.

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