Top Search Topics Return Malicious Results

According to a new Norton study, more than one in three of the top-trending search terms returned at least 10 percent malicious results, putting people’s computers and personal information at risk from cybercrime. It turns out that between February and May, searching for ’tropical dreams sweepstakes’ could actually have been a nightmare, and searching for ‘red hot laugh riot’ could have been anything but funny. At the peak of their popularity, these two particular search terms returned a staggering 99 malicious links out of the first 100 results.

This week, celebrity news, online gaming and diseases were among the most poisoned top-trending topics, with terms such as ‘constance francesca hilton,’ ‘atomic dove’ and ‘melorheostosis’ returning more than 45 percent malicious links out of the first 100 results.

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To counter these search engine optimisation (SEO) poisoned threats, Norton has introduced Norton Safe Web Lite, a free downloadable tool that identifies risky sites before users click on them in search results.

“Cybercriminals are always looking for the next opportunity to find victims, as evidenced by the high volume of SEO poisoning. Unfortunately for consumers, simply searching for a popular topic and clicking on a poisoned link can have serious consequences,” said Jens Meggers, Vice President- Engineering, Norton. “Consumers need to arm themselves with tools like Norton Safe Web Lite that are specifically designed to defend against these types of threats.”