Web's Most Dangerous Search Terms

2009-05-28

McAfee's new report reveals which popular search terms lead to risky results. Scammers today are using a blackhat SEO approach in an attempt to lead users to malicious sites. For their study, McAfee analyzed the risk of searching for more than 2,000 of the most popular words and phrases used in search engines in 2008. During their research, they discovered:

* Nearly six out of the top 10 search results for "screensavers" contain malware

* One of the single riskiest search terms in the world is "lyrics"

* Searchers clicking on results that contain the word "free" have a 21.3 percent chance of infecting their PCs with spyware, spam, phishing, adware, etc.

* Categories with the safest risk profile were health-related search terms and searches concerning the recent economic crisis

"Like sharks smelling blood in the water, hackers will create related Web sites laden with adware and malware whenever a particular topic increases in popularity. Unsuspecting consumers are then tricked into downloading malicious software that leads them to blindly hand over their personal assets to cybercriminals." said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Product Development and Avert Labs.

Read the full report here: The Web's Most Dangerous Search Terms