May 11, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Five Web hosting companies were identified with harboring infected Web sites on their servers last week by industry watchguard StopBadWare.org (stopbadware.org).

According to reports, iPowerWeb, Layered Technologies, The Planet, Internap Network Services and CHINANET Guangdong province network have the largest number of infected sites on their servers, putting unwitting Internet users at risk, says the organization. Based on analysis of close to 50,000 sites, the group identified these five companies as hosting a majority of the Web sites known to distribute malicious code. StopBadWare.org says iPowerWeb is hosting a little over 10 thousand of the infected sites on its servers alone.

StopBadware.org is a coalition formed by Hardware University and Oxford University in collaboration with Consumer Reports to identify downloaded software that could fall into the category of "badware," which the group identifies as malicious applications like malware, spyware or deceptive adware that fundamentally disregards the choices Internet users make about their own computers.

The group says it hopes that by identifying the Web hosting companies harboring infected Web sites it will help raise awareness among them and others to be more cautious.

Copyright © 2007 Web Host Industry Review, Inc. All rights reserved.