In the wake of a failed buyout by Microsoft, search company Yahoo! is collaborating with security software maker McAfee. Web searches, in addition to producing a number of relevant and helpful results, can also inadvertently lead users to malware, spam, and spyware. The two companies are implementing a system called SearchScan, a means by which malicious or harmful search results can be identified and culled before the user clicks on them. This partnership may give Yahoo! the boost it needs to compete with Google without Microsoft’s help.
The average search results page is compose of 12% malicious content, mostly due to unsafe ads hosted on those landing pages. Yahoo! Search will employ a McAfee tool called SiteAdvisor which will alert users to potentially unsafe pages. As a McAfee press release states, SiteAdvisor “provides always-on alerts to users for “risky” sites with security concerns such as spyware, adware and other malicious software that can infect and damage a user’s PC.” The alert described will be in the form of an exclamation mark inside a red triangle with the phrase “Warning: Unsolicited Emails” or a similar sentiment. The new tool is in place for Yahoo! users in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
Security on the web continues to be a hot button issue for users, and this is a major step towards preventing viruses and malware from spreading. Falling just after children’s safety online, a Yahoo! press release claims, “65 percent of Americans online are more worried about clicking unsecured search listings than the threat of neighborhood crime, getting ones wallet stolen or email scams.” Yahoo! seems to be the first search company to take action that will comfort users, though some have questioned the true effects of the partnership.
The McAfee program could potentially harm sites unfairly. Undoubtedly, any search result flagged with the red triangle will see a drop in traffic. A quick search for “ringtone downloads” turned up the warning about unsolicited emails, though it’s only fair to point out that almost any site you visit these days will send you unsolicited emails. A search for “movie downloads” warns about “Dangerous Downloads”, though this is more speculation on SearchScan’s part that anything concrete. After all, the software is obviously not scanning all content hosted on the site, just making an educated guess about its quality. However, fear of being singled out in this way could prompt suspect sites to clean up their acts. In all likelihood, though, the malware will just evolve to fly below the radar, and McAfee’s technology will have to race to keep up.
Google does not have formal ties to a security firm like McAfee, though they have been providing some level of warning about suspicious search results. An Ars Technica article asks how SearchScan differs from Google’s warning messages which alert users, “This site may be harmful to your computer”. “Yahoo’s notification is significantly more eye-catching than the simple link Google provides, but actually clicking on the Yahoo link promptly displays its destination. Clicking on a flagged Google link, in contrast, displays an interstitial page informing the end-user that the page in question has been classified as malware. It’s possible to continue to the infected page, but only by manually copying and pasting the URL in question.”
SearchScan will expand to other countries beyond those listed above as the tool moves beyond beta testing. As Yahoo!’s SVP of search Vish Makhijani said in a press release, “Through this partnership with McAfee, we can offer users a safer search experience and drive more users to make Yahoo! Search their starting point on the Web.” This level of security just might give them the advantage over Google that they so desperately need to attract users.