Posted by
arandomguy on Monday, August 07, 2006 11:37:20 PM
Google announced today that they will begin a program to warn users if they are about to enter a site with malicious spyware or adware, or other programs that might be undesireable to the user.
The warnings will be fairly generic to begin with, but as developers visit various sites and discover just what programs appear, and what their effect on users PC's are, the warnings will become more specific.
A search done in May 2006 revealed that during an average internet search, 4% - 6% of all results lead to sites with harmful content on them. Some searches, like "free screensavers," or "nude women" leap up to 64% or higher.
Though it will be an annoyance to the viewers of hardcore pornography, to the average joe, this should be a handy feature. Spyware and Adware is generally more dangerous than viruses, because most computers have some form of anti-virus protection. Many computers have no protection from spyware and adware, and many uninformed users do not know their PC's are infected at all.
I think the Google warnings will be a big help to stop developers of Adware and Spyware from releasing it into computers.
And if you haven't done so already, I would recommend you get some spyware protection for your computer. Spybot is an excellent free download, but there are also good programs you can buy from any local software store. Don't forget to run it, and don't forget to update it once a week or so, because new types of spyware and adware are always being developed.