One of the most common internet related questions we get at StoneHill, is “Which sites are dangerous?” or “How do I know if a site has spyware or viruses?” It’s a tough question and one that may never have a complete answer. That being said, we have found some the most dangerous search terms in the entire internet. By far the most dangerous search terms you could use would be “free music downloads.” Searching for that phrase seems to put around 20% of web surfers into the hands of websites that distribute malicious software, also known as “malware.” We all love free things but searching for the anything coupled with the word “free” is also one of the most dangerous searches in terms of malicious results.
The study that our researchers found examined 2,600 popular keywords on five major search engines — Google, Yahoo, Live, AOL and Ask — and analyzed 413,000 Web pages. The categories that had the highest risk of run-ins with malware: screen savers, free games, work from home, Olympics, videos, celebrities, music and news. The riskiest specific terms are: word unscrambler, lyrics, myspace, free music downloads, phelps, game cheats, printable fill-in puzzles, free ringtones and solitaire.
When we saw the results of the study, we all scratched our heads and noticed those terms and categories that were the riskiest were definitely not risque. This certainly points to the level of sophistication and social engineering that is going into luring users to these malicious sites. It may explain how your grandma got that virus; she searched for “word unscrambler.”
