2023/11/26 by Mohamed Alqadhi, Alqadhi, Mohamed, Aziz Mohaisen +1
Computer Science · #Caching and Content Delivery #Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting #Spam and Phishing Detection
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2311.15363
openalex publication_date 2023/11/26 · openalex created_date 2023/11/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Free Content Websites (FCWs) are a significant element of the Web, and realizing their use is essential. This study analyzes FCWs worldwide by studying how they correlate with different network sizes, cloud service providers, and countries, depending on the type of content they offer. Additionally, we compare these findings with those of premium content websites (PCWs). Our analysis concluded that FCWs correlate mainly with networks of medium size, which are associated with a higher concentration of malicious websites. Moreover, we found a strong correlation between PCWs, cloud, and country hosting patterns. At the same time, some correlations were also observed concerning FCWs but with distinct patterns contrasting each other for both types. Our investigation contributes to comprehending the FCW ecosystem through correlation analysis, and the indicative results point toward controlling the potential risks caused by these sites through adequate segregation and filtering due to their concentration.