from www.metro.co.uk – Criminals lie in wait behind hundreds of thousands of porn sites, web security firm Symantec warned.

It said 44 per cent of search terms which led internet users to malicious websites were for adult entertainment.

The company said it detected more than 4.4million malicious web pages per month last year after observing more than 310,000 web domains found to be harmful.

Symantec also warned that a large recruitment drive for cyber criminals takes place on underground internet forums, where step-by-step attack kits are being sold for as little as £10.

Such kits are becoming easier to use, meaning cyber crime is no longer limited to those with advanced programming skills. ‘In the past, hackers had to create their own threats from scratch, limiting the number of attackers to a small pool of highly skilled cyber criminals,’ said Stephen Trilling, senior vice-president at Symantec.

‘Today’s attack toolkits make it relatively easy for even a malicious novice to launch a cyber attack.

‘As a result, we expect to see even more criminal activity in this area and a higher likelihood that the average user will be victimised.’

The kits are software programs that can be used to help launch widespread attacks on networked computers.

Symantec said 61 per cent of malicious web attacks can be attributed to these types of kits. It said the Zeus kit posed a serious threat to small businesses, which have fewer safeguards, by stealing bank account details.