Web Reputation SERVICES
What is website reputation?
Just like people, everything on the internet has a reputation. From websites to files to apps and beyond, there’s a history for each internet object, how it has behaved over time, and what relationships it has with other objects. And, just like with people, if an internet object is associated with a bad crowd that’s known for stealing information and spreading malware, then the object itself is probably bad too. In the case that a harmless domain gets hijacked to host a malicious website, then the domain’s reputation score will suffer. By association, the other sites linked to that domain may also see these consequences in their own reputations. To improve their reputations after being hijacked, benign objects will need to remain clean and unaffiliated with dangerous internet objects for several months or more. That’s web reputation in a nutshell.
The most important thing about any web reputation service is accuracy, which is usually determined by the breadth, depth, and variety of the data being used. The algorithms used to analyze the relationships between internet objects and determine web reputations must be continually trained by experienced human analysts, and the data they use must be continually refreshed. But with an accurate web reputation source fueling your URL filter, firewall solution, or other network appliance, businesses can rest assured that they’re well on their way to a resilient, proactive cybersecurity posture.
The most important thing about any web reputation service is accuracy, which is usually determined by the breadth, depth, and variety of the data being used. The algorithms used to analyze the relationships between internet objects and determine web reputations must be continually trained by experienced human analysts, and the data they use must be continually refreshed. But with an accurate web reputation source fueling your URL filter, firewall solution, or other network appliance, businesses can rest assured that they’re well on their way to a resilient, proactive cybersecurity posture.
Why is web reputation important?
New websites and online threats have something in common: they both emerge at astonishing rates and often simultaneously. On top of that, dynamically generated web content, mashups, rapid deployments, website structure, and links change very quickly, creating major security gaps and ample opportunities for cybercriminals and malicious actors to cause damage.
Many websites lack enough security, while others are actually designed to take advantage of unsuspecting visitors. Internet users can be exposed to a wealth of threats, including phishing, keyloggers, spyware, drive-by malware and the many other types of malicious code, and these risks are only growing in number with every new website that appears. Legitimate sites get compromised or temporarily hijacked regularly. And malicious websites may shift rapidly between malicious and benign behaviors to avoid detection.
Website reputation intelligence helps protect internet users from known malware sources and malicious or inappropriate content on the internet, typically via a web or URL filtering solutions. As an example, if you’ve ever tried to access a web page at work and gotten a “website blocked” notification, then your company is using web filtering.
Administrators and security teams may choose to block a variety of content, both to protect their employees and guests from cybercrime, and to limit access to bandwidth and productivity drains like social media or video streaming sites. Additionally, some web browsers and internet service providers may also use web reputation to help keep you safe from malicious internet content. This type of protection is possible through website reputation.
Many websites lack enough security, while others are actually designed to take advantage of unsuspecting visitors. Internet users can be exposed to a wealth of threats, including phishing, keyloggers, spyware, drive-by malware and the many other types of malicious code, and these risks are only growing in number with every new website that appears. Legitimate sites get compromised or temporarily hijacked regularly. And malicious websites may shift rapidly between malicious and benign behaviors to avoid detection.
Website reputation intelligence helps protect internet users from known malware sources and malicious or inappropriate content on the internet, typically via a web or URL filtering solutions. As an example, if you’ve ever tried to access a web page at work and gotten a “website blocked” notification, then your company is using web filtering.
Administrators and security teams may choose to block a variety of content, both to protect their employees and guests from cybercrime, and to limit access to bandwidth and productivity drains like social media or video streaming sites. Additionally, some web browsers and internet service providers may also use web reputation to help keep you safe from malicious internet content. This type of protection is possible through website reputation.
When implemented correctly, web reputation intelligence can provide an accurate, up-to-date risk assessment of a given website at the moment a user attempts to access the URL, independent of its site category. This capability is extremely important because it ensures protection against sites that have only very recently been created, compromised or hijacked.
How do you determine a web reputation score?
To produce an accurate web reputation score, it’s important to consider a variety of factors and context. For example, a website that is well-trafficked, well-known and associated with numerous trusted IP addresses has a higher chance of being secure. But a relatively new or unknown URL may present a hazard. If that unknown URL is also associated with a suspicious or malicious IP, then the site poses a higher risk.
Here are some of the parameters that may be used in gauging website reputation.
• URL category
• Age of a URL
• History of a URL
• Domain reputation
• IP reputation
• Presence of downloadable files or code
• Previous association with malicious internet objects
• Current association with malicious internet objects
• Popularity
• Hosting location
• Real-time performance
• Website and/or network owner
• Presence on any block/allow lists
• Age of a URL
• History of a URL
• Domain reputation
• IP reputation
• Presence of downloadable files or code
• Previous association with malicious internet objects
• Current association with malicious internet objects
• Popularity
• Hosting location
• Real-time performance
• Website and/or network owner
• Presence on any block/allow lists
By analyzing characteristics like the ones outlined above and assigning levels of importance to them, you can get a very accurate, even predictive picture of the amount of risk a website is likely to pose.