SQL injection attacks and other automated techniques are now used to seed redirecting scripts and malicous objects on web sites. It is more important than ever to use safe practices, and some of these include:
 
 -- Avoid visiting sites suggested in email messages
 -- Avoid numeric IP sites only
 -- Stay with Mainstream websites (and enter them directly rather than from email messages)
 -- Stay up-to-date on AV protection
 -- Stay up-to-date on Microsoft security using Automatic Updates (e.g., Windows, Office, IE, etc.)
 -- Keep other products updated (e.g., Flash, Firefox, etc)
 -- Use IE 7 rather than IE 6 (if you have Windows XP)
 -- Look at the URL names carefully and avoid unusually named sites (a few seconds of caution may prevent hours of repair work)
 
 GNC - Malicious code makes Web surfing risky
 http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/46417-1.html
 
 McAfee's more detailed study
 http://www.mcafee.com/us/local_content/misc/mapping_the_mal_web_2008.pdf
 
 QUOTE: The chance of downloading malicious code from a Web site has increased 41 percent in the past year, according to a recent study of malignant sites by McAfee Inc. ... During the last three years, the exploitation of browser vulnerabilities through code hosted on Web sites has become the primary method for compromising computers. Some of the sites are set up for to host and distribute the code, although increasingly the malware is being placed surreptitiously on legitimate sites.