Shields Up!: Searching for danger

Most people think nothing of firing up Google or one of the other popular search engines when they want to find information, but perhaps they should. A recent report by McAfee revealed a list of dangerous search terms. These commonly searched keywords are considered dangerous because they’ve been exploited by scammers, meaning many of the search results may be malicious.

McAfee used results from Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, AOL and Microsoft Live to compile the list. They investigated over 2,000 keywords from a variety of popular sources and examined the first 5 pages of results from each search engine. They counted the amount of links marked as dangerous by their software and came up with the percentage of risk for each keyword. Here’s the list:

• free music downloads” (20.7 percent)
• “game cheats” (16.7 percent)
• “word unscambler” (16.1 percent)
• “lyrics” (14.8 percent)

For further keyword analysis, McAfee contracted with Hitwise, an Internet data company, to collate risk levels from individual keywords into categories:

• “screensavers,” (34.4 percent)
• “free games” (6.8 percent)
• “work from home” (3.1 percent)
• “Rihanna” (2.4 percent)
• “Wekbinz” (1.9 percent)
• “powerball” (1.5 percent)
• “iPhone” and “Jonas brothers” (both at 1.2 percent)

Now obviously there are plenty of legit sites that come up in search results for these keywords as well. The best way to protect yourself is to stick to well known sites and if you click on a result and it brings you to a page that looks like another search engine, hit the back button – fake search engines are the newest tool in malware distributor’s arsenals. It’s also highly recommended to install an anti-virus program that offers a plug in for your browser that scans search engine results and tells you if they are safe. I use AVG and it works wonderfully.

Searching for downloadable items like games, music, or wallpapers is always risky. If you must download executable files, stick to well known sites and have your anti-virus program scan them before you open them. Avoid sites like Limewire where malware often lurks, and make sure you have a pop up blocker. If you should wind up on a site that tells you you need to download an update to view its content or asks you for personal info, hit that back button or shut down your browser.

Finally, it goes without saying that if you’re searching for shady things like game cheats, illegal music or movies, or porn, your risks of getting malware are much, much higher! Good luck and remember to keep those shields up!