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Google Aims to Block Malicious Sites

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

August 4, 2006, 3:39 PM

Google officially launched a feature Friday that will alert users of its search engine when they visit a site suspected of distributing badware. The service is a partnership between Google and StopBadware.org, an organization aimed at stopping the spread of malicious software.

Before accessing the offending page, a page will list what issues StopBadware had uncovered in its own investigation of the page. Additionally, the page will offer the owners of the page suggestions on how to have the page removed from the organizations list.

The group is continuing its research, so not all pages will include detailed information just yet, it said. "But as we finish researching sites, we'll replace the general page with one of our individual website reports," of which it provided an example.

"Hopefully this next step will bring us that much closer to fulfilling our mission of providing people with reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help them make better choices," it continued.

StopBadware.org was formed in January and is led by the Berkman Center at Harvard and the Oxford Internet Institute. The group also has the support of several technology companies, including Google, Sun and Lenovo.

Google had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

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By wwwnewbidnet

edited Sep 2, 2008 - 5:41 PM

I could use some help on malware, can't see anything google and yahoo. I bought exterminate-it and it recognized it but didn't remove it. (my son opened some crappy email) Anyone know some malware that blocks google and pops up searchportalinformation.com

Lou

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 11:53 AM

...well, they better block microsoft.com too. It definitely falls into the "BADWARE" category.

Score: 0

By DotNet_Coder

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 12:03 PM

LOL, I was waiting for a MSFT basher to surface... funny thing though, this isn't even a MSFT story ;-)

~dnc

Score: 0

By ladylust

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 2:11 AM

Good luck. Make 100000000000000 doorway pages (fake pages) that auto forward to the site you want the user to go to. Unless they plan to also crawl the links on that page, which would disqualify 60% of the web.

Score: 0

By DotNet_Coder

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 11:01 AM

Like this is a bad thing? Hell, if we could invalidate 80% of the web to get the the "real" content, it would be a good thing.

(And yeah, I know, you make your living off this crap).

~dnc

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 11:43 AM

Amen to that.

Score: 0

By gawd21

edited Aug 6, 2006 - 1:04 PM

Google's new slogan 'Taking away free will, one day at a time'.

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Aug 6, 2006 - 3:26 PM

What free will are they taking away? You can still visit the sites, it just displays a warning message before you do.

Score: 0

By Zoroaster

posted Aug 6, 2006 - 12:39 PM

I think the danger with announced protection (Google's new alert feature, OpenDNS and its antiphishing offer, SiteAdvisor etc...) is the fact one may rely on that protection and believe that if a website is not told to be dangerous, then it is safe. Let us stay aware, whatever!

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

edited Aug 6, 2006 - 12:33 AM

Badware?

*sigh*

First it's viruses and spyware.

Then it's malware.

Now were going to dumb it down even further to 'Badware'?

And lo, the internet becomes the anesthesia for the masses.

"The Internet has expanded our ability to pacify average americans better
than ever by offering fantastical adventures to every corner of the
imagination. Your home office is the window to your world, and the heart of
your social life." - Bad Religion

It's late. But trust me, in these are all related....somehow. ;)

Score: 0

By dmainzman

posted Aug 6, 2006 - 4:41 AM

You're totally right...
But I guess badware is just more broad of a term than any of the others. Here's my logic:
Adware is different than Spyware (even though no one refers to them separately, they do technically mean different things) and viruses are completely different from those as well.
The connotation of malware has come to mean adware and spyware, but not necessarily viruses.
So even though badware technically means the exact same thing as the word malware, the connotation can be thought of as broader.

I know that's a stretch, but it's all I've got, and we're going to have to live with it since google is going to popularize the hell out of the term badware.

Score: 0

By mjm01010101

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 10:43 AM

I just tried it with goggle.com and it didn't flag that site as malware.

Score: 0

By gregzeng0

edited Aug 5, 2006 - 12:40 AM

Wish I was a lawyer now. Think of the millions of $$$ if I worked on these thousands of court cases, appeals, convictions, etc.

Score: 0

By Joe Dirt

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 11:09 PM

I don't need Google telling me what sites are "good" and what sites are "bad".

That's just the beginning.

Google is the devil!

Score: 0

By smarterthanyou

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 2:07 AM

Just like you don't need Symantec/Mcafee/Alwil/Microsoft and other vendors telling you that you have a virus or spyware on your computer.

Score: 0

By JacenSolo

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 8:57 AM

and you don't need the above companies, Zonelabs, etc, telling you your being hacked.

Score: 0

By Paul Skinner

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 1:06 PM

The simple answer to that is: don't get hacked.

Score: 0

By y0himba

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 10:07 PM

http://digg.com/tech_new...uld_OpenDNS_do#c2578300

Score: 0

By The MAZZTer

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 5:38 PM

I don't see any difference. Searching for "themexp" and then clicking on the link doesn't produce anything, unless the popup is being blocked.

Which would be funny. Replace one annoyance with another.

Score: 0

By JKimbley

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 5:48 AM

Go to Stopbadware.org the is a screenshot on there site. And it looks like it uses pop-ups!

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 7:06 PM

Hmmm... I tried the same thing, and you're right. Nothing.

I doubt Google has actually implemented it yet, and I wonder if they will today, seeing as they haven't confirmed this story themselves yet.

Score: 0

By thegameny2002

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 4:46 PM

Google is on the ball with this one.
Great move!

Score: 0

By Eeyan

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 5:44 PM

Its a good move by Google, et al, until the litigation kicks in for fingering incorrectly

Score: 0

By xyzcb1

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 4:28 PM

Good move Google. But somehow I sense a lawsuit will be file against this by all these malicious sites.

Score: 0

By AlanRivaldo

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 9:59 AM

Only the dumb ones that want to lose. There are alternative search engines to Google. The offending malware site publishers can change their web pages so they are not labeled as such, and are even offered guidance on how to do so. Finally, the sample webpage offered up by StopBadware even spells out its detection methodology, and the page is worded in such a way that it is not all-damning of the sites in question.

Score: 0

By irdepesca572

edited Aug 4, 2006 - 4:20 PM

Lol, badware? Never heard of that before.

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 8:42 PM

Badware is a relatively new term that's been thrown around lately. I guess it's so that your average Joe will think "well, it must be bad. It's badware!"

Although mal means bad in the first place...

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Aug 4, 2006 - 7:04 PM

I had the same reaction. One would think that the general term "Malware" would have been sufficient.

Score: 0

By AlanRivaldo

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 9:54 AM

Not when the company's name is "StopBadware". Notice they didn't name themselves "StopMalware". They don't want to be the next Kleenex or Xerox, in which people use their company's name or products interchangeably with generic equivalents.

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 12:09 PM

They don't want to be the next Kleenex or Xerox

Who would? No-one needs *that* much money.

lmao...

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Aug 7, 2006 - 11:45 AM

1. I know the company's name is StopBadware. That's what I was referring to when I said "You'd think Malware would have been sufficient."

2. Your argument for why they chose "badware" makes absolutely no sense.

Score: 0

By Paul Skinner

posted Aug 5, 2006 - 1:08 PM

But isn't that the best situation possible?
Sellotape made a fortune from being the generic name for sticky tape.
You earn millions from it.

Score: 0

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