When You Think its Safe its Not!
by Frank Jovine on 01/10/2009 in Security, Security Info
I always surf the web with my trusted WOT add-on for Firefox, it warns me when a site is rated dangerous. What would 
you think if we told you that Google’s developer site was serving up more than cool content? I am sure you would feel safe on any site that is part of the mother ship called Google, but think again. Google’s free code-hosting Web site for developers is being used to distribute malware, a security researcher said on Friday.
Google Code is a place where programmers can host projects and code. Along with the legitimate code are links to fake videos that direct users to download a missing codec, said Dave Marcus, director of security research for McAfee Avert Labs. The codecs turn out instead to be password-stealing Trojan horses and programs geared toward stealing financial information for identity fraud, he said.
“They’re using it as a way to send out links or as a place to house their links and redirects because it’s Google and obviously it gets highly ranked in the index,” he said. “The bad guys look for services like this as a way to push out code.”
A Google spokesman said the company has removed malware-distributing projects from Google Code and search results.
Google can’t make the world a perfect place, but they’re working hard to keep users safe from malicious code.
freelance writer
Jan 10th, 2009
Wow. That’s kind of scary. It’s a good thing someone discovered it. I don’t use WOT. I have the McAfee Site Advisor. I think that does the same thing as the WOT. My internet security software also has some kind of phishing application that alerts you to bad sites. However, since I am starting to use my Firefox browser more, I am going to check out that WOT add-on. Thanks for the info.
Kelli
Frank J
Jan 10th, 2009
Get WOT you will thank me later. It’s a warning add-on that tells you if a site is safe or not. It’s not an antivirus program.
Deborah
Jan 12th, 2009
Without WOT, I would certainly have trusted that the Google dev site was safe. Another victory for the good guys! Thanks for sharing WOT Frank.
Frank J
Jan 12th, 2009
Victory to all of us and I never leave home without it (WOT).