A major online attack aimed at stealing passwords used for online gaming has been identified by internet security company McAfee.

10,000 web pages at least have been subjected to the assault, which was detected on Wednesday this past week.

"Given how quickly some of these attacks have come on, it does seem like some automation has gone on," said McAfee researcher Craig Schmugar.

The infected websites had a JavaScript code added, which allows the computers of visitors to the sites to be attacked.

McAfee's newest security system has won praise from industry experts.

Frost & Sullivan gave the company's new McAfee OK system a prestigious award for strategic technology innovation in mobile security.

The McAfee OK tool was released in response to the increase of mobile content and application usage and sharing. It provides a mobile content certification program for content providers, aggregators and network operators.

"McAfee has brought a new edge to the mobile security market and introduced new business models," explained Katie Gotzen, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan.