[the-facts-machine] Google program alerts users to unwanted software'
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <the-facts-machine@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2015 14:06:30 -0400
BlankI wonder if this warning is accessible.
Google program alerts users to unwanted software' By Michael Liedtke Associated
Press
SAN FRANCISCO Get ready to see more red warning signs online as Google adds
ammunition to its technological artillery for targeting devious schemes lurking
on websites. The latest weapon is aimed at websites riddled with "unwanted
software" a term that Google uses to describe secretly installed programs that
can change a browser's settings without a user's permission. Those revisions
can unleash a siege of aggravating ads or redirect a browser's users to search
engines or other sites that they didn't intend to visit. Google had already
deployed the warning system to alert users of its Chrome browser that they were
about to enter a site distributing unwanted software. The Mountain View,
California, company just recently began to feed the security information into a
broader "safe browsing" application that also works in Apple's Safari and
Mozilla's Firefox browsers. Microsoft's Internet Explorer doesn't tap into
Google's free safe browsing application. Instead, Explorer depends on a similar
warning system, the SmartScreen Filter. Google's alerts about unwanted software
build upon the warnings that the safe browsing system has already been
delivering for years about sites infected with malware, programs carrying
viruses and other sinister coding, and phishing sites that try to dupe people
into sharing passwords or credit card information. Whenever a potential threat
is detected by the safe browsing system, it displays a red warning sign
advising a user to stay away. Google also is demoting the nettlesome sites in
the rankings of its dominant Internet search engine so people are less likely
to come across them in the first place. Google disclosed Thursday that the safe
browsing application has been generating about 5 million warnings a day, a
number likely to rise now that unwanted software is now part of the detection
system. As it is, Google says it discovers more than 50,000 malware-infected
sites and more than 90,000 phishing sites per month. The safe browsing
application had gotten so effective at flagging malware and phishing that
scammers are increasingly creating unwanted software in an attempt to hoodwink
people, said Stephan Somogyi, Google's product manager of safe browsing. .
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