20070604 Study Music tech search terms riskiest

Study: Music, tech search terms riskiest

June 4^th, 2007

I wish that I had saved the article – but I ran across an article not too long ago that essentially explained that “yesterday’s trauma is today’s routine” with regard to being bothered by spam and viruses, malicious code and insidious spyware.

It, as I remember, explained that technology is catching up with preventing such attacks on our computers…

Maybe yes, maybe no. With many of my colleagues, dealing spam and viruses and such is still quite a headache and I can only imagine is still costing individuals and businesses a great deal of time and money.

I don’t know the answer. I guess the cyber-world of technology is reflective of the “real” world, whatever that is, and “stuff” is going to happen.

I just wish we could get a better grip on handling it…

Anyway, I came across this article, below, that I wanted to share. I have noticed that often it is the very young and the much older technology users that often will end up with their computers all gummed-up.

Older folks are relatively incredulous that “someone would want to do that.” And the younger folks are naive and inexperienced…

But the article, to which I refer to below, perhaps explains another reason why young folks end-up with their computers all gummed-up; music searches…

Read the entire article… The other troubling matter that seems to persist, is the perception that too many of the ads contain problems… It is extremely important that we get a handle on this, as revenue from ads is an important component to sustaining the web… and Wi-Fi...

Study: Music, tech search terms riskiest

By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer Mon Jun 4, 2007

Search terms related to music and technology are most likely to return sites with spyware and other malicious code, a new study finds.

[…]

In many cases, the programs come bundled with adware and toolbars McAfee considers unwanted, according to McAfee's "The State of Search Engine Safety" report, scheduled for release Monday.

Nonetheless, McAfee found it slightly safer to use search engines overall. Although about 4 percent of search results lead to sites deemed risky, that's down from 5 percent a year ago.

[…]

Risks are greater when clicking on keyword ads that make up much of search companies' revenues: According to McAfee, 7 percent of such links produce risky sites, down from 8.5 percent a year ago.

[…]

Search companies have taken steps to mitigate the risks. Google, for instance, sometimes flags links to sites it deems risky, and McAfee found a notable drop in risk when using Google, AOL and Ask.

[…]

Read the rest of the article here: Study: Music, tech search terms riskiest

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