programming and human factors
by Jeff Atwood
The Ghost In The Browser: Analysis of Web-based Malware (pdf) describes how Google is leveraging their overwhelming search dominance to combat browser malware installations. In a blog entry last summer, Matt Cutts said:
Given how much I hate web pages that install malicious software or abuse browser security holes, I'd like it if we did even more to protect our users.
Apparently, they've done even more to protect users since then. Here's a Google search result tagged with the ominous warning "This site may harm your computer":
Clicking "This site may harm your computer" leads to a Google support page. Attempting to click through to the actual website results in an interstitial warning, offering no way to click through:
I think this is a fairly effective method of warning away most rational users from a clearly evil website. Of course, users who desire whatever media, software, or pornography the site is hawking can still type the URL in their address bar. Users will find a way to see the dancing bunnies if they really, really want to, no matter how many warnings and barriers you blast in front of them.
If you want to see what's behind that URL, fair warning: in addition to being outright dangerous for a machine that's not patched to the gills, it's NSFW in a big way. A little investigation showed that it's doing the following:
If you accept that Google wields the immense power of being the de-facto start page for the internet, then maybe this kind of policing effort comes with the territory. To do nothing-- to let these purely evil sites show up in Google results with no warning whatsoever-- would be irresponsible. Although a person might be performing questionable searches to get this page in their results, it's irrelevant. Despite the individual ethics of the person using that one computer, a compromised computer will be used for attacks and spam against everyone.
Still, I'm a little curious. Why does Google deploy the ultimate weapon of search delisting on sites using black-hat SEO techniques to game search rankings, while known evil malware sites get stern warning interstitials instead? I brought up the Google result by doing a direct search on the domain name. The very same search produces no results on live.com or ask.com. Clearly that site has been delisted by everyone except Google. The domain still has a PageRank of four. I applaud the effort, but what value does keeping a site like that in your search index have for users?
Even if your web site is not evil, it's possible for others to inject malicious code into your page if you're not careful. The Google whitepaper provides three external vectors that can turn a good web page to the dark side:
It's scary how many ways this can happen. I strongly urge you to read the whitepaper to get all the gory details.
Google's paper says one in ten webpages contains malicious code. The most direct way to address malware delivered via web pages is to increase the security of the operating system and the browser, so "drive-by downloads" cannot happen without the user's explicit consent. But a problem as large as malware should be attacked on multiple fronts. Search engines are in a unique position to help index and identify malicious webpages, and prevent them from being accessible in search results. It's encouraging to read about Google's architecture for automatically identifying malicious URLs. I don't think it's fair to call this Google policing the web; it's just good, ethical business to filter out the evil.
Won't this affect their claim to be common carriers? Did they even make that claim, or am I imagining things?
Josh on May 13, 2007 11:44 AM"Why does Google deploy the ultimate weapon of search delisting on sites using black-hat SEO techniques to game search rankings, while known evil malware sites get stern warning interstitials instead?"
Sites are delisted because they try to work around advertising system and get some money FROM Google. Evil sites still attract users, so they can be presented with ads that bring money TO Google. Just a business.
Iggi on May 13, 2007 12:36 PMA certain country has tried to be the world's policeman. Gets lots of complaints. Is accused of being a bigger threat than the evil it tries to remove. I predict the same fate for Google.
mpbk on May 13, 2007 12:36 PMfred: No, they'd just assume Google was wrong, since "I didn't send any spam!".
Sigivald on May 14, 2007 2:24 AM"Why does Google deploy the ultimate weapon of search delisting on sites using black-hat SEO techniques to game search rankings, while known evil malware sites get stern warning interstitials instead?"
There's a difference (alluded to above). One is commercial and the other moral. Most people will accept the defence 'I do this to protect my business' whereas 'I do this because it's good for you' is less acceptable due to its subjective nature.
nickd on May 14, 2007 2:35 AMGoogle have been doing this for a while now. It's a bad idea that will inevitably lead to lawsuits. They will not be able to catch all bad sites, and by implication any site they don't flag is ok. They could flag sites with nothing wrong, which could be potentially devastating to a websites reputation.
Google is a search engine, it is not their role to pass judgement on the sites returned in search results. Far from making the internet safer, they are actually increasing the risk to themselves and others. They really haven't thought this through at all.
http://bbaadd.com/blog/2007/01/whos-watching-watchers-stopbadware_11.html
What a coincidence, I was literally just at that Life in Hell fansite last week via a Google search. It must have been cleared since January, because I certainly didn't see the malware warning in my Google results. I just searched for it again, and it's clean.
Point taken about notifying people whose websites are compromised or otherwise accidentally hosting malware. Removal from the search index is more subtle (and more painful) than a prominent, hard-to-miss warning with links back to the Google support page for the malware topic.
Perhaps they should warn people they are using flawed browsers while they are at it.
Like I said, I think the malware problem is so big that you have to attack it on multiple fronts. I agree that users should be nagged about using a modern browser.
Jeff Atwood on May 14, 2007 2:58 AMI am very, very happy that google does this from a website admin point of view.
A few weeks ago I logged in to my site via a hotel (5 star I might add) to check mail and traffic etc. No problem, logged out and enjoyed my hoiday.
A couple of weeks later I get several emails from Google saying that my site is hosting malware, huh? They gotta be kidding!? But sure enough I went to the page they mention and my virus checker and IE started going mental showing warnings left, right and center.
I nearly died! I quickly checked the page html and a single line of javascript was inserted, I checked the update time and it was on the same day as I logged into that PC at the hotel. I then found that they had updated one other page. Someone had added some spyware to the hotel's pc which somehow detected that I had logged into a website and then FTPed updates to a couple of pages (this was in my ftp log). I didn't even use an FTP connection, just a webpage admin tool.
Google then had my site listed with the above warning, which of course meant my traffic went into free-fall. I then followed the procedure to clear my site.
So I went into lock-down mode and changed all my passwords to practically everything. My partner also changed all the passwords on everything she visited as well.
So yes, I lost quite a bit of traffic for about a month or so but I prefer that than having my visitors get infected via simply visiting my site.
So two things, never EVER trust any PC other than your own, and Google, for me, is still a friendly giant.
Kevin on May 14, 2007 3:47 AMIf you ask me, if Google did NOT show these evil sites then people would just think the Internet is one big, safe place. It is not. By doing so, Google makes everyone aware of the fact that there are certain dangers on the Internet. Others are just hiding these facts just to give people a more happy fealing.
I am aware of those risks. And considering how dangerous the Internet can be, I hope others are just as aware of the risks as me. Or maybe even more aware. Google has my support. The other search engines are just masking reality.
"A certain country has tried to be the world's policeman. Gets lots of complaints. Is accused of being a bigger threat than the evil it tries to remove. I predict the same fate for Google."
Based on what??
I couldn't even begin to list everything wrong with what you just said. Honestly, I want some of whatever you're on, just not as much as you're taking.
A little naive Jeff. "Drive by downloads" happen the moment to fire up IE, and have been for years. FF is a little better.
No one should be allowed to put 1 thing on my PC without my express consent (cookie, GIF, etc.), now look who's being naive.
I guess it's the *type* of garbage, not if there is garbage, that a site writes to my hard-drive...
Steve on May 14, 2007 7:32 AM"what value does keeping a site like that in your search index have for users?"
You answer you own question in the next sentence. Many of the sites are legitimate but may have held off on applying a certain patch to their web server just a little too long. It's a tough call- how do you distinguish a site that is merely unlucky or only a little bit negligent from one that is intentionally malicious? Where do you draw the line? Obviously removing the latter type of site from the search index is the best policy, but what about the former?
One one hand, by keeping non-purposefully malicious sites listed users may still be able to view Google's cached and sanitized version as well as the other normal information included in the listing. This way they may perhaps still provide some utility for google's users and the site's owners.
One the other hand, what about possibly permanent damage to a site's reputation resulting from being labeled as "potentially harmful"? Is there a scenario where that could constitute libel or slander? And that's aside from the people who may go on to the site anyway and then become infected.
Joel Coehoorn on May 14, 2007 7:47 AMWhat would happen if google warned people using it
that *their* IP had been used to send out spam.
Seems simple to implement as it's easy to receive
spam and check the source IP.
Would this get more people to fix their home
computers security?
How about site advisor which is now part of macfee.
AjiNIMC - Gmail a part of my personal nerve center on May 14, 2007 9:16 AMI use McAfee's free SiteAdvisor, but you can't be too careful, so I think it's great that Google is getting involved. I am curious why Microsoft is so far behind providing help to its customers. Once again, Microsoft missed the boat.
fxp on May 14, 2007 9:37 AMKevin,
Don't blame the hotel. If you typed your passwords on a wireless connection in plaintext (ie, non-SSL connection) they could have easily been sniffed off the air.
"what value does keeping a site like that in your search index have for users?"
If the user starts off in Google and does a search for the site, and gets a result back that tells them not to go to the site, the user may avoid the site. But if Google simply does not return any results, the user may try another avenue of getting to the site, thinking that Google is missing that site in its lists. The user then arrives at the site and gets infected.
I'd much rather the site come back in the results and then have Google tell me not to go there. Otherwise, I will find another way to get there and I'll never be warned.
Jeff Handley on May 14, 2007 10:35 AMI agree with mpbk. Nobody likes it when an authority (person/company/thing/group etc) starts taking decisions out of your hands instead of warning, guiding and educating you. I definitely want to know when a site or link is likely to be harmful but if I really want to click that link, then that should be my right. And if I get a rig full of crap-ware then that’s my problem. Users, at some point, need to take responsibility for their actions. Making the internet (and Google) uber-safe for the lowest common denominator only serves to bring the whole thing down, not move it forward.
David Hodges on May 14, 2007 11:37 AMSo if I go to a site, click through several pages and then come across a link and click on it, does google warn me it's malicous? Nope, because google's my search engine and not my browser. So to me, it's a CYA tatic on Google's part. If they have a site listed or advertised that infects someone's pc in this legtigous society, someone will eventually sue Google. But where it really needs to be is the responsibility of the browser. It's downloading the page and is capable of doing the same payload evaluation. The only problem is that the browsers that have holes in them the size of the Grand Canyon are the reason why Google is warning people of malicous sites. Perhaps they should warn people they are using flawed browsers while they are at it.
Tim on May 14, 2007 11:54 AMBut... who's watching the watchers?
http://bbaadd.com/blog/2007/01/whos-watching-watchers-stopbadware_11.html
Sorry, Jeff, it sounds like you're about four months behind the news cycle on this one, and on the wrong side of the issue. I don't care what Google thinks of Website X; I just want a search engine that will let me go to Website X if that's what I want to do. Computers (and Web utilities) should make our lives easier, not harder!
Anonymous Cowherd on May 14, 2007 12:55 PMI saw this feature a few months ago. Given that they still have the feature enabled, I guess people haven't complained much. I mean, it's there to protect users (like the IE phishing filter) and you can, after all, still visit the site it you want to.
Andrew on May 14, 2007 1:11 PMImagine a friend telling you to visit a site that you think sounds evil, how would you research your suspicion if google doesn't keep them listed?
Kris on May 14, 2007 1:23 PM"StopBadware.org: Incompetence, or McCarthyism 2.0?"
http://www.adwarereport.com/mt/archives/stopbadwareorg.php
Still, I am a little skeptical, when *anything* is proclaimed to be better, stronger, more useful and - *FREE*. Why anybody cares for my convenience and safety? Just a pure philanthropy?
But - and it si not only about the SW technologies - can anybody imagine the warning "This site may harm your mind /brain"?
Maximus on May 14, 2007 1:42 PMI saw this feature a few months ago
This is the first time I had seen it. I had to search for a site referenced in the article (and boy, there are some big-E Evil sites referenced in that article) to trigger the warning.
I'm thinking that's a *good* thing. :)
Jeff Atwood on May 14, 2007 1:47 PM"I applaud the effort, but what value does keeping a site like that in your search index have for users?"
A common user will see that Google blocked the page. He will not see that the other engines delisted it. What does the better marketing for you?
Right, if you do something good for the user: Let him know. It doesn't help him, but it does help your image.
Hinek on May 15, 2007 2:28 AM"To do nothing-- to let these purely evil sites show up in Google results with no warning whatsoever-- would be irresponsible."
I disagree, Google is a search engine - not the internet police. Its great that Google is offering such features as value-add to the users. But if they dont do it, its not irresponsible or negligence.
The line must be drawn as to what is a great offering, and what a provider must provide (ie your expectations). And in this case Google does not need to provide anything. Youo should be happy with what you get - its free.
Ivan G on May 15, 2007 5:51 AMgoogle, if they are serious about this, may need to visit a page more than once, firstly as usual (aka googlebot) and secondly a simple script that identifies itself as IE, to see if the result is different. they may already do this but i can see 'bad' sites being modified so google sees no evil to game this one.
its a good idea, but a browser warning isn't, people will ignore it.
I'd like to see the "this site may harm your computer" link being a bit more obvious, maybe having the link in a different colour, also the advanced seacrh being able to filter out such sites (off by default)
claire rand on May 15, 2007 10:36 AMMark,
It happened from their internet cafe (guests only) from what I understood to be a wired in network. My feeling is that the PCs were infected with spyware. It would make sense for someone to install stuff like that on PCs in such an exclusive hotel, anyone logging into anything there is more likely to be connecting to some fairly interesting stuff.
Kevin on May 15, 2007 1:57 PMI am not so sure they do it correctly.
The best way would be to have a tool in their
webmaster control panel to say the issue has been fixed.
They also should show which webpages and why they are infected.
Just like any other anti-virus program does.
I have several sites who got the uniqu-soft.com javascript
at the end of the index.php and now basically all my sites are not accessible although i removed the script.
Thats pretty lame from google. It should be quick and automatic. but waiting and waiting for my indexed pages to be recognized again as clean is just stupid and old technology
hi
My Site www.etatvasoft.com is displayed on google page in
THIS SITE MAY HARM YOUR COMPUER. So what i do remove the HARM.
and also i Google or and one site me inform any time me alert form
your site HARM. So can also remove the HARM..
Rakesh
eTatvasoft
hi,
My site http://www.scarves-stoles-pareos.com is displayed on google page in This site may harm your computer. so what i do that my website and computer has cleaned. pl. give me some idea.
chandan
Email :- chandan@syscommsolutions.com
:- chunnu.chandan@gmail.com
Hi ,
Our site http://www.relaxindochina.com getthe same trouple with some code of script at our bottom sites, when we found it and removed , even we use the Stopbadwave Form to receive what we did to make our site safer, but Goolge still flag us
Google's Matt Cutts has an update which describes the "This Site May Harm Your Computer" initiative in more detail. It also provides instructions on how to fix your site if you've been flagged by Google:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/closing-the-loop-on-malware/
Jeff Atwood on August 15, 2007 6:24 AMWhy should any website harm anyone's compuer stupid people.!
Eduardo Guerrero on August 17, 2007 9:34 AMNice that you're all sharing the thoughts you have on badware/malware and that many of you feel this is neccesary.
Websites can hamr your computer if you're not technically inclined to fix everything yourself. It's a fact that most users of computers are users, and not administrators or don't have the knowledge to see the problems. As a matter of fact, many of the webmasters having his site marked as possibly dangerous doesn't even know what is going on.
Google is making people aware, and by joining with Stopbadware.org they are trying to give a place where you can seek some comunity help and possibly get the issues fixed quickly. I can only encourage webmaster experiencing this problem to visit the Stopbadware site and google group to get to know more about the subject.
As for hotels, Internet cafe's and public computers in general not to be blamed for badware or any kinds of abuse, I think they should be blamed fully. The respective owners of the computers, even though they are publicly shared, should make sure that this cannot happen, they owe that to their visitors. I've had an internet cafe for 10+ years, and it's never happened to me or any of my customers, so it's absolutely possible with a little work.
Cometcom1 on August 24, 2007 10:08 AMHere's where Google is bad: To have your innocent site unflagged, Google's form will not work unless you first admit that you believe your site has done bad things...even when it hasn't. In my opinion, this is an abuse of power.
Bill on September 13, 2007 1:11 PMmy site virtualdarpan also is recently flagged with warning message. when i check my site code then i found some hackers insert unescape(%jhasgd%hg%) something like that a big javascript code. which when unescaped gives few iframes with link to hackers site which downloads viruses and keyloggers etc.
but still i am wondering how spammers insert such code at the end of each file in my server. ?!?
damu on October 9, 2007 6:57 AMMy Site www.allhoteldeals.net is displayed on google page in
THIS SITE MAY HARM YOUR COMPUER. So what should i do to remove the HARM. explain me breefly
thanks regards
ravi
ravi_seo@yahoo.co.in
Even my site "Free ebooks collection" was getting this message. After reading on internet I came to know that this message was there because of one advertiser network whose script I was using in my site. After removing that script from my site and requesting for review , the message got removed.
Shahid(Free ebooks collection) siddique on February 8, 2008 8:42 AMLet me tell you guys what happened to me yesterday.
I run a celebrity blog and went searching for info on a female singer. I followed a link via Google to her website and I got the above warning. I had seen that warning on previous sites and stayed away. However, when I saw it for this site, which I had just visited about 2 weeks earlier I ignore it and clicked the link.
The site was moving slowly and after about a minute or so my computer shut down and restarted. When I got back to desktop I had a error saying my comp was infected and there was a NEW anti virus software on my computer that shut down my McAfee virus software.
To save my life I cannot remember the name of this software but I did a search on how to remove it and nothing worked as it installs an icon in your tray that keeps re-installing it, even after you un-install it. As a last resort I had to do a system restore which solved the problem- hopefully.
So my advice is heed that WARNING when you see it- I should have.
The instructions on how to fix this are at Matt Cutts blog, which I linked in an earlier comment.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/closing-the-loop-on-malware/
Use the Google webmaster tools!
http://www.google.com/webmasters/
Some features of the Google webmaster tools:
--
* New: Request a malware review from Google and we’ll evaluate your site.
* New: Check the status of your review.
* If we feel the site is still harmful, we’ll provide an updated list of remaining dangerous URLs
* If we’ve determined the site to be clean, you can expect removal of malware messages in the near future (usually within 24 hours).
--
Why would google want to state that my site is harmful for Hawaiian Blog? WHY? No script is installed except their adsense javascript thats it! ...today i noticed google flaged my site with "this site may harm your computer" WTF?????????
if you go to http://www.hawaiib.com you will clearly see there is nothing harmful except few pictures from hawaii and posts..
but if you go to google.com type let say hawaiian blog you will get prompted and asked if you really want to access it?
I hate this i swear.
LiveCrunch on February 27, 2008 12:35 PMGreat mate !! This article might be helpful as this is simple and short !! http://ankitrawat.com/blog/remove-google-search-warning-message/
Ankit on March 13, 2008 1:37 PMGoogle has flagged every single web page on the entire Netscape/AOL MyWebPage free web site service with the This site may harm your computer warning - just do a Google search for anything at all and put mywebpage.netscape.com in the Search within a site or domain field. I use some free space there, I have absolutely nothing on my page that would harm anyone, so I assume that the harmful code, if indeed there is any, is in the top masthead inserted by Netscape/AOL when the page is served to the web site visitor. What p1sses me off is that Netscape is a Google partner (they use Google for their branded Netscape search) and they don't seem to be the slightest bit interested in dealing with this problem. I'd love to contact Netscape and tell them to either remove the bad code, deal with Google, or I'm pulling my page off of there service (which I'm doing anyway). Unfortunately Netscape/AOL has no feedback form or email address anywhere that I could find. So Netscape is having the search on their web site returning results branding all Netscape MyWebPage sites as harmful to Netscape user's computers and they're happily letting this go on. Those that administer Netscape/AOL services have to be the biggest morons on the face of the earth.
MyWebPage User on July 22, 2008 3:43 AMPerfect a href=http://www.boonbox.net/devfense.htmweb security/a is a difficult thing to enforce or deliver. Individuals and organizations can deploy all the IT solutions available, but if humans don't change their behavior while using the humble browser, the rate of hacking and suffering will continue apace.
I'm just waiting for the legions of bloggers to get stuck with a href=http://www.boonbox.net/devfense.htmThis site may harm your computer/a warnings. Most bloggers, like myself, don't have the budget to shell out if the problem requires people to bring in IT consultants or buy new hardware.
Jonathon on September 9, 2008 3:54 AMevery time i go on it said this web site may harm ur computer
samsam on November 20, 2008 12:02 PMevery time i go on it it said this web site may harme ur computer. whys that?
samsam on November 20, 2008 12:05 PM-evertime i go one it it saidd thisweb may harm ur computer. whys that
samsam on November 20, 2008 12:10 PMhello r u there
??????????????????
If anyone has an idea of how to get google to stop flagging me erroneously as a spyware site; I am doing nothing more than Adsense ads (from GOOGLE) and I'm being flagged as an unsafe site. I have no way of contacting them about this problem as far as I can see. The stupid so-called webmaster tools is useless, and there is never a real body to talk to.
I can't help but feel that I am being singled out because the big names like imageshack or photobucket have tossed some grenades (complained about my site) and because I don't have an advertising budget with Google I'm being squashed. I'm just a @$@$ image hosting site using coppermine gallery. Why am I being labeled dangerous and the other image hosting sites are not? There is absolutely no information about why my site was flagged, and I cannot fight this if I can't talk to someone at google.
vindog on December 1, 2008 11:01 AMi don't want this page blocked
DJ Midas on January 10, 2009 3:33 AMHi everyone. I'm looking for some help in getting the google warning removed from my site. Myself and my programmer are 100% sure there is no harmful contents on it and I have requested that google review the site again, still the same result. Can anyone assist?
Thanks in advance.
-dave
David Doggett on January 22, 2009 8:38 AM!!^FRUCKING RETARDS^!!
fruck on January 31, 2009 5:38 AMHey guys, if i search for something with google toolbar, everything has the *this site may harm your computer* warning, even google itself (lol)
Joel on January 31, 2009 6:40 AMWell for my all of the results on Google have the warning at the current time; even Google itself.
Jeg on January 31, 2009 6:40 AMWell, I go onto google this morning
and under every website it says,
This site may harm your computer.
And yet these are sites I go to everyday.
I type in yahoo just to make sure,
and there is says:
This site may harm your computer.
What?
Christine on January 31, 2009 6:41 AMI'm having the same problem. All of my search results suddenly have that this site may harm your computer warning and I can't access any of the results. Did google get hacked?
Johnny on January 31, 2009 6:42 AMI just started getting the warning today. In fact, not only am I getting it, it's on EVERY DAMN RESULT. I had to copy the URL just to get to this page. Is this some kind of bug?
Albert Mond on January 31, 2009 6:43 AMHoly crap! You guys see it too?
Albert Mond on January 31, 2009 6:44 AMAre you aware that _this_ very page, to which we're all posting comments, is identified by Google as being potentially harmful to my computer?
Similarly unlikely threats include ESPN and newspaper websites with sports news, which is how i _first_ encountered this stupid feature on Google.
I think they've totally botched it.
jeff on January 31, 2009 6:44 AMWell I am seeing this on every search result too, time to switch search engines (until they fix this mess)
rod on January 31, 2009 6:44 AMyes, i've got the same every flippin site is dangerous. f**** malware again !!!!!!!!!!
Oli on January 31, 2009 6:44 AMWTF? that same message on every page including google itself! LMAO
gintor on January 31, 2009 6:44 AMI'm having the same problem. I had to use www.altavista.com search engine to google up this page to find out what's going on. Har har!
Albert on January 31, 2009 6:45 AMyep, every result! glad its not just me... thought i might have a virus or something xxxx hope not xxx
leo on January 31, 2009 6:45 AMAt first I thought my computer had contracted malware. Whew!
Jen on January 31, 2009 6:46 AMHa ha! I Googled it too! This is the place to be, right now, I guess.
Albert Mond on January 31, 2009 6:46 AMyeah mine is doing the same thing.. every single website may harm my computer
tricia on January 31, 2009 6:46 AMI'm having the same problem. I think Google just got hacked.
Adam P on January 31, 2009 6:46 AMevery single website from every single google search is now flagged with this banner
leng on January 31, 2009 6:47 AMWow, interesting. I hope it gets fixed in short order!
DH on January 31, 2009 6:48 AMThat's funny. I googled up google on www.google.com and google is coming up as a harmful link. When I click on www.google.com in the search results, I get a Warning page. =D
Matt on January 31, 2009 6:48 AMGoogle has done this to every page on the internet today! They have messed up big style
Craig on January 31, 2009 6:48 AMMe tooOO and even the Cached page link has gone.
D on January 31, 2009 6:48 AMhoh woah i got scared too then i saw others are having the same problems.
Jeremy on January 31, 2009 6:48 AMI hope this goes away soon! I use google all the time!
Dan S on January 31, 2009 6:49 AMGlad to here others are having the same problem!!
John on January 31, 2009 6:49 AMwtf is going on? is google hacked or what? whoever the brainchild behind this shd be fired immediately
vj on January 31, 2009 6:49 AMme too .
ollie on January 31, 2009 6:49 AMWe're under attack, turn on the tv and watch the news, telephones are going to be next.
Steve Butters on January 31, 2009 6:50 AMGoogle must be having a bad day.
As of today, be it on www.google.com, www.google.com.tw or www.google.com.hk, every search results I get back has This Site May Harm Your Computer under it. Even the link to this page.
Alex on January 31, 2009 6:50 AMYes, today Google searches mark Google itself as a harmful site. Ah well, at least I know it's not just me.
Brian on January 31, 2009 6:50 AMEven GOOGLE pages (help pages specifically) are being tagged as this site may harm your computer. Pretty funny, but there is not one single hit on the google search page coming back as safe.
Irritating that it's now everything is unsafe, can't click through, and now I'll be using another search engine, email homepage.
Good job Google! You've big brothered yourself right into no longer being user friendly.
Pk on January 31, 2009 6:51 AMWhat the FUCK IS wrong with google!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????
Josh on January 31, 2009 6:51 AMI guess misery loves company, I'm so glad to see all of you are having the same problem as me. Well, not glad - but you know what I mean.
BC on January 31, 2009 6:51 AMWE ARE BEING ATTACKED ON OUR COAST.
Steve Butters on January 31, 2009 6:52 AMUnavailable, I’m seeing the same thing…all the sites are marked as potentially dangerous!
At least now I know I’m not the only one...
i'm getting that warning on every search result also. I'm glad I ran into this forum (actually the only one turning up on search that had this issue) because I thought google was targeting my IP or something... I think google finally went nuts with power and went trigger happy
Collin Q on January 31, 2009 6:53 AMwith luv! lt;3
i'm sure it will be back :p
Steve Butters on January 31, 2009 6:53 AMGoogle's definitely messed it up this time. This blog is marked by their This site may harm your computer tag. I've not noticed this tag before today and decided to do a search to find out more about it. Your blog was #3 on Google and tagged as a bad site. How liable is Google for committing liable?
Jim on January 31, 2009 6:54 AMLOL, this newspost is so old, but all the people searching this problem today have congregated here!
Col on January 31, 2009 6:54 AMTheyve well and truly screwed that up eh !
Hugster on January 31, 2009 6:54 AMAnother having the same problem...
D on January 31, 2009 6:54 AMyes wtf!!
every single website is flagged!!
is it just us or everyone??
Yep the whole internet is fucked now because of google. no one can go to any website via google, YAY! QUICK LETS MAKE A SEARCH ENGINE AND TAKE THEIR MARKET SHARE!!
steve on January 31, 2009 6:54 AMSome engineer at google fucked up some settings?
or are they opposing to some new laws or political stuffs?
Yup... seeing it on every search result!
Mike on January 31, 2009 6:55 AMI was using it this morning (GMT) and it worked fine, came back a few minutes ago and it was all the same. Whereabouts is google's main server and its relation to time zones? Maybe a system checkpoint at 3am messed up? :S
Col on January 31, 2009 6:55 AMThe comments to this entry are closed.
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