PROJECT TITLE :

Hacking Is Not Random: A Case-Control Study of Webserver-Compromise Risk

ABSTRACT:

We have a tendency to describe a case-control study to spot risk factors that are related to higher rates of webserver compromise. We have a tendency to examine a random sample of around two hundred,00zero webservers and automatically determine attributes hypothesized to have an effect on the susceptibility to compromise, notably content management system (CMS) and webserver kind. We then cross-list this data with data on webservers hacked to serve phishing pages or redirect to unlicensed online pharmacies. We tend to realize that webservers running WordPress and Joomla are more possible to be hacked than those not running any CMS, and that servers running Apache and Nginx are more possible to be hacked than those running Microsoft IIS. We have a tendency to conjointly identify several WordPress plugins and Joomla extensions that related to compromise. Furthermore, using a series of logistic regressions, we tend to realize that a CMS's market share is absolutely correlated with website compromise. Surprisingly, we have a tendency to realize that webservers running outdated software are less probably to be compromised than those running up-thus far software. We have a tendency to gift proof that this can be true for core WordPress software (the most standard CMS platform) and many associated plugins. Finally, we examine what happens to webservers following compromise. We notice that beneath five p.c of hacked WordPress websites are subsequently updated, however people who do are recompromised about 0.5 as typically as those who do not update.