Killer phrase will fill your PC with spam...

[mechmike0034]

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31675

I love the British English... :)


THERE IS ONE phrase which, if you type into any search engine will expose your PC to shed-loads of spam, according to a new report. Researchers Ben Edelman and Hannah Rosenbaum reckon that typing the phrase "Free Screensavers" into any search engine is the equivalent of lighting a blue touch paper and standing well back.

The writers of the report work for Site Advisor, recently acquired by AV firm McAfee, so might be said to have some self interest in all of this.

More than 64 per cent of sites that are linked to this phrase will cause you some trouble, either with spyware or adware. The report found 1,394 popular keywords searches found via Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask that were linked to spyware or adware and the list is quite amusing. Do not type in the following words into any search engine:

Bearshare
Screensavers
Winmx
Limewire
Download Yahoo messenger
Lime wire
Free ringtones

Site Advisor reckons that the search engines should do more to point people who might type these words into their search engines away from the dodgy sites.

All in all, not bad advice, though perhaps a little sensationalist... I'll take anything Ben Edleman says to the bank.

[Markel]

I read that article at work yesterday. Very interesting. I've gotten into the habit of checking the inquirer almost every day.

[mechmike0034]

Ben Edelman was referenced in the article. He's a noted/quoted spyware/malware researcher. More details with much less sensationalism can be found on his site: http://www.benedelman.org/

The actual article that Mr. Edelman wrote (referenced in the Inquirer article quoted/linked in my firstpost) can be found here: http://www.siteadvisor.com/studies/search_safety_may2006.html

Very interesting reading...

[Dem0072]

In all actuality if your using internet explorer & baby-butt bare windows, sure.

Try properly configuring the security, disabling java & flash, and using a proxy (don't need anonymous, use a public one, your not hiding from the NSA your hiding from a server that logs ip's). I reccomend firefox for this, also keep a decent spyware & antivirus program, always a common sensible measure of security, be sure to blacklist personal details via software firewall, such as your email address, host, and other electronic contract information.

Once done, type anything you'd like into google. I'm not so sure of how friendly the others stand anymore, but I've never had a spam problem from google within their services or as a result of their services.

On a last note, who the h*ll uses screensavers anymore anyway? At best, one night, I decided to leave a screensaver of an acquarium up just to stare at fish while I was trying to fall asleep.