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Brandy Alexander has been writing professionally since 2001. She is a glass artist with a Web design and technical writing background. Alexander runs her own art-glass business and has been a contributor to "Glass Line Magazine" as well as various online publications.

Affiliation networks: Google AdSense for hackers

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The next big threat to Web security has less to do with phishing and more to do with affiliation networks, according to a recent Web security report.

According to Finjan, a San Jose, Calif.-based Web security provider, hackers are now using sophisticated affiliation networks that provide a hosting model for malicious code. Webmasters and bloggers who include the infected code on their sites are then paid according to the number of infected visitors they accumulate.

Think Google AdSense – but for hackers.

Users who run blogs or small Web sites can generate small money through services such as Google AdSense or DoubleClick.

“You hope somebody will click on those ads to get some pennies,” Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CTO of Finjan, said. “But, hackers have realized that with their own affiliation programs, they can encourage bloggers and Webmasters to include their hidden ads in exchange for big dollars.”

In a malicious code package obtained by Finjan, payouts are shown to range from as low as $15 to as high as $500 (per 1000 infected users) depending on the country. Interestingly, generating infected users from Australia will earn affiliates the high dollar amount.

Ben-Itzhak said that these hackers can afford pay these huge rates because of the valuable information they gather from infected users.