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Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA List Master

NRT-0198 Increased Spyware Risks:

Search terms related to music and technology are most likely to return sites with spyware and other malicious code, according to a new study. Some 42% of the results using the term "screensavers," for example, led to sites flagged wth a "red" warning or a cautionary "yellow" by McAfee's SiteAdvisor service, which rates sites based on whether they result in spyware, viruses, excessive pop-up ads, junk email or other threats. Other keywords McAfee deemed risky include names of file-sharing software such as "BearShare," "LimeWire," and "Kazaa." In many cases, the programs come bundled with adware and toolbars McAfee considers unwanted, according to MacAfee's The State of Search Engine Safety report, scheduled for release on 11JUN. McAfee found it slightly safer to use search engines overall, however, with about 4% of search results leading to sites deemed risky, compared to 5% a year ago. Risks are greater when clicking on keyword ads that make up much of search companies' revenues, according to McAfee, which found 7% of such links produce risky sites, down from 8.5% a year ago. The study was conducted by running about 2,300 popular keywords through the top five search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, and ASK.

(www.cbc.ca 04JUN07)

Last Modified: Tuesday, 12-Jun-2007 18:52:19 EDT