Search Results are Getting Safer
A recent survey done by security leader McAfee found that the amount of search results which led surfers to risky websites was was lowered to 4.4% down from 5% six months ago (May).
The survey defines risky websites as those which led Web surfers to malicious sites designed to infect computers with spyware, viruses, pop-up ads, junk e-mail, or other malware. In checking the different results, McAfee had chosen a list of 2,500 keywords and evaluated SERPS in the top 5 pages for each keyword.
AOL topped the list as the “safest” search engine with 3.6% while Yahoo and MSN were, reportedly, the worst with 5.1%.
Surprisingly (or not) the survey labels many “Sponsored Results” to be of “bad” nature, as well as many adult related searches and those which include the word “free”. In Google, for example, 13.8% of all links obtained with a search containing the word “free” were risky, compared with only 4.2 percent of all its searches.
I recently had to help a friend recover their infected computer from malware. In the process (over the phone), I suggested that she downloaded Adaware SE which I find to be a great solution. When she searched for the software, and after visiting several “sponsored” results on Google, her computer was more infected than before… So when it comes to search engines and sponsored listings, cash is still king.
[via NewsFactor]
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POSTED IN: General News
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