Thursday, September 8, 2011

Bits from Bill: Dangerous Downloads on Legitimate Websites & Search Engines

Bits from Bill: Dangerous Downloads on Legitimate Websites & Search Engines:

'via Blog this'

I've often recommended using CNet's Download.Com site as a safe source for downloads but this points out a subtle but important caveat to that recommendation. When searching Download.Com, the first several listings on the search results page will invariably be "sponsored" matches, which means they're paid ads and following those links may lead you to the a malware or "scareware" site that will infect your system. One obvious solution is to skip over these "sponsored" matches, even if they look legitimate. Another technique is to use the 'SORT BY' option to re-order the screen. This usually dumps the paid ads and gets you to the real sources.

Good luck,
Harry