LifeLock review: Some search terms are infectious
Just like the phrase “open sesame” gave Ali Baba access to the thieves’ cave full of treasure, there are certain search terms that provide surfers with malware designed to commit identity theft.
New research by antivirus software company McAfee reveals search categories and search terms will take the user to malware infested web pages at least 20% of the time.
The arrived at their conclusions by analyzing the search results of 2,600 often-used terms on search engines Google, Yahoo, Live, AOL and Ask. After examining the 413,000 pages, they found some pages came with a much higher likelihood of cyber attacks.
Generally, searches within the categories of screensavers, free games, work from home, Olympics, videos, celebrities, music and new were most likely to end badly.
Specifically, the most dangerous search terms on the Internet are:
- Word unscrambler
- Lyrics
- Myspace
- Free music downloads
- Phelps
- Game cheats
- Printable fill-in puzzles
- Free ringtones
- Solitaire
(I don’t know about you, but I’ve used at least four of those terms in the last 6 months.)
So, how do you protect your computer and, ultimately, your personal and financial information? To protect your computer, install a firewall, keep your anti-virus software up to date and stay aware of any newly released patches for your operating system. You might even consider trading in your PC for a Mac, as far fewer malware programs are written for them.
To protect your personal and financial information, consider enrolling in LifeLock’s identity theft protection services. Enroll using the LifeLock promo code DEFENSE to get the deepest discount available.
