PRLog (Press Release) – Aug 24, 2010 – The efforts of ParetoLogic’s security researchers have been integrated into VirusTotal’s malicious website scanning service. ParetoLogic’s URL Clearing house is a vast database of websites known to harbour malware, phishing attacks, and other threats to visitors. Paired alongside TRUSTe, Google Safebrowsing, and other security resources, the ParetoLogic database now provides a further layer of defence for users scanning with the VirusTotal service.
“It’s a fairly straightforward operation,” explained Jerome Segura, Security Researcher at ParetoLogic. “The user enters a website address into the VirusTotal search box, and then VirusTotal queries multiple databases of sites that are known to be malicious. Ours is among these databases.” In addition to home users, VirusTotal is popular among universities, security companies, governments, and independent malware researchers.
Online security researchers form a tight-knit community, sharing information and URLs freely. “We all have a common goal,” said Segura. “As security researchers, we’re all on the same team.” To that end, ParetoLogic shares their malware samples with other security researchers, and their URL database is integrated not only with VirusTotal, but also URLVoid, a similar service.
ParetoLogic’s Security Team welcomes average users to join the fight to stop malware. If a user comes across a site that they believe is malicious, they can submit it to the ParetoLogic URL Clearing House: http://mdl.paretologic.com/. Users can also scan the database for sites to see if they are already known to be malicious.
Segura notes that even with VirusTotal’s URL scanner, users still need to protect themselves with a reliable security software product. “It’s not just a matter of avoiding sites that are known as dangerous, because legitimate sites can be compromised, and there are many other vectors – including email and peer-to-peer downloads.” Segura pointed to ParetoLogic’s range of security products to ensure complete protection.