Facebook, MySpace, YouTube - most blocked, most allowed sites

Reflecting the push and pull of allowing social sites in schools and workplaces, a report from OpenDNS, a pioneer and leader in the Security as a Service space is also the leading provider of DNS-based security and infrastructure services, shows that the social networking sites Facebook, MySpace and video sharing site YouTube are among the most blocked and the most allowed websites.

In the 2010 report on Web Content Filtering and Phishing, Facebook topped the 'Top Ten Blacklisted Websites' with 14.2 percent of networks blacklisting the site. MySpace followed in the second spot with 9.9 percent and YouTube came third with 8.1 percent. Twitter also figured in the fifth spot with 2.3 percent, while Pornhub.com and Playboy finished off the list at the ninth and tenth spots with 1.2 percent each.

On the Top Whitelisted Websites, Facebook came in second with 12.6 percent after YouTube in the first position with 12.7 percent.

Whitelists are typically used when there is a desire to block entire categories, but access to selected websites is granted on an exception basis. These sites represent the most trusted sites in their category, the report stated.

Besides Facebook and YouTube, MySpace was the other site that was featured on both the Blacklisted and Whitelisted lists.

Explaining why some of the websites figured in both the lists, the report said, The fact that many of the same sites that appear on the Top Ten Blacklisted Websites list appear on the list below may indicate the diverse perspectives people have regarding many of these sites.

On Phishing

The report from OpenDNS, which also runs PhishTank, the free community Web site where anyone can submit, verify, track and share phishing data, listed Top Targets of Phishing Websites and Top Countries Hosting Phishing Websites in 2010.

PayPal topped the targets list with 45.9 percent phishing sites verified in 2010. Facebook followed with 5.3 percent. Another social networking site, Orkut, figured seventh with 1.7 percent.

United States topped the list of countries hosting phishing websites in 2010 with a whopping 53.8 percent, following by Germany at 6.3 percent and Canada at 5.2 percent. The other countries on the list were United Kingdom (4.8 percent), France (3.5 percent), Russia (2.9 percent), China (2.8 percent), South Korea (2.8 percent), Italy (2.5 percent) and The Netherlands (2.4 percent).