Study: Religious Sites Offer More Malware Than Porn Sites

SAN FRANCISCO — In a surprising report, security firm Symantec says that religious and ideological websites can carry three times more malware threats than porn sites.

Symantec made the announcement in its annual Internet Security Threat Report, finding that the average number of security threats on religious sites was around 115, while porn sites only carried around 25 threats per site.

Symantec also said that only 2.4 percent of porn sites were found to be infected with malware, compared to 20 percent of blogs.

"We hypothesize that this is because pornographic website owners already make money from the Internet and, as a result, have a vested interest in keeping their sites malware-free — it’s not good for repeat business," researchers wrote.

Symantec measured an increase of more than 81 percent in malware in 2011 over 2010, while the number of malware variants increased by 41 percent. The firm said that its determined that 61 percent of malicious sites are actually "regular websites that have been compromised and infected with malicious code."

"It is interesting to note that websites hosting adult/pornographic content are not in the top five, but ranked 10th," Symantec researchers said.

The security firm also noted that threats to mobile devices continue to grow, particularly with Google’s Android mobile OS.   

The report found more than half of all Android threats collect device data or track user activities. One-fourth of the mobile threats identified were designed to make money by sending premium messages from infected phones.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Texas Resumes AV Lawsuit Against Aylo Following SCOTUS Decision

A district court judge in Texas has unfrozen the state’s $1.6 million lawsuit against Aylo for allegedly failing to comply with age verification requirements, Bloomberg Law is reporting.

JuicyAds Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

JuicyAds has won its World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) case against a website using a similar domain to impersonate the company's site and defraud customers.

Anissa Kate, Jordan Starr Top AEBN for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top-selling stars for the second quarter of 2025, with Anissa Kate landing atop the leaderboard for straight theaters and Jordan Starr heading up the gay rankings.

AEBN Reveals Eva Maxim as Top Trans Star for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top trans stars list for the second quarter of 2025, with Eva Maxim landing atop the leaderboard.

France Reinstates Age Verification Rule for EU Sites

France’s highest court, the Council of State, on Tuesday reinstated age verification rules for EU-based sites under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law, ruling in favor of the French government and against Hammy Media.

Whisper Fans Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Whisper Fans has joined the ranks of over 70 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Utherverse Launches 'Red Light Center' Virtual World

Virtual reality and metaverse technology company Utherverse has launched its new virtual world, RedLightCenter.io.

European Commission Approves AV Guidelines, Unveils Prototype App

The European Commission on Monday released its final, approved guidelines for protecting minors online under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and made public a “white label” age verification app intended to help sites and platforms comply with age verification rules under the DSA.

Show More