The attack began late last week, and by Monday morning, more than 10,000 Web sites had been compromised, according to security firms Trend Micro and Websense.
Although attackers have hit targets around the world lately, more than 80 percent of the infections are on Italian Web sites, said David Perry, global director of education with Trend Micro. "Almost all of the Web sites we saw this weekend were in Italy; We were referring to it as 'Italian Job 3,' in-house," he said referring to the Michael Caine heist film that was remade in 2003.
Most of the infected Web sites are legitimate, Perry added. "These aren't porn sites, they aren't gambling sites; they are hotels, fish-and-tackle sites, tourist information," he said.
