Gov Websites Host Porn & Malware: A Digital Dirt Scandal

Numerous government and university websites across the United States have become unwitting hosts for explicit material and malicious links. Reports indicate that PDFs embedded on these official platforms lead to scam websites promoting adult content, while other compromised sites redirect unsuspecting users to adult retailers or even trigger malware downloads.

The affected sites span various levels of government, including local agencies in Irvington, New Jersey, the New York State Museum, and federal entities like Reginfo.gov. A researcher named Brian Kelly has been instrumental in identifying and reporting these instances, alerting both the agencies and the media.

Investigations into how this inappropriate content proliferated suggest several possibilities. Some agencies suspect that user-upload features, such as public calendars or document portals, were exploited. Others point to a significant surge in bot activity targeting public-facing applications, while one state's transportation department highlighted a potential issue with a third-party software provider serving government organizations.