Downloading digital music more risky than porn? - GoFuckYourself.com

SykkBoy · 06-04-2007, 09:32 AM

Despite the fact that the Internet is made up predominantly of pornography Web sites, a great deal of which are little more than traps-in-waiting, crammed to the rafters with damaging and unwanted code, a new survey has revealed that cautious Net users should perhaps be more wary of music downloads.

According to a report in the LA Times, a study carried out by online security specialist McAfee Inc. claims that 19 percent of digital music Web sites returned after searches were found to be carrying potential system security risks including the likes of adware, spam, and spyware. By contrast, the same study revealed that only 9 percent of pornographic Web sites contained such threats.

It?s also worth noting that other potentially risky search targets include Web sites for electronic gadgets and on-screen computer background wallpaper. While the sheer volume of online legitimate pornography perhaps nullifies that lessened 9 percent when judged beside the drop-off in online music site population, McAfee believes that pornography, by its own business definition, doesn?t need to shoehorn such hidden adware and spam into its paid-for content in order to boost its marketplace positioning.

In terms of most potentially dangerous digital music-based file-sharing program searches, the survey uncovered the term BearShare as the most likely to deliver dodgy content to users, raking in an impressive 46 percent of possibly perilous related Web sites. Somewhat oddly, McAfee?s survey also revealed that other popular search terms are likely to see users pounded with unwanted code, with the now defunct Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston combination proving to be 36 percent riskier to search for than the current Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie grouping.

Also likely to cause some head scratching is news that sponsored search results, those paid for by the actual advertisers to appear separate from the standard results listed, are actually twice as likely to include risky material. The survey, the third such assessment carried out by McAfee, also included a comparison of the leading search engine options. The results returned showed that Yahoo had the safest unpaid standard search results, but also the riskiest paid results.

According to McAfee?s free SiteAdvisor tool, which assesses each listed search result for users and grades them as Red, Yellow or Green (risky, somewhat risky, and safe) for suitability as per their level of content risk, Yahoo came out on top across thousands of popular searches with only 2.7 percent of Red or Yellow standard returns, while Ask.com emerged worst with 3.3 percent.

http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/n...isky_than_porn

06-04-2007, 09:32 AM	#1
SykkBoy Jesus loves bacon Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Sin City, Motherfucker Posts: 19,969	Downloading digital music more risky than porn? Despite the fact that the Internet is made up predominantly of pornography Web sites, a great deal of which are little more than traps-in-waiting, crammed to the rafters with damaging and unwanted code, a new survey has revealed that cautious Net users should perhaps be more wary of music downloads. According to a report in the LA Times, a study carried out by online security specialist McAfee Inc. claims that 19 percent of digital music Web sites returned after searches were found to be carrying potential system security risks including the likes of adware, spam, and spyware. By contrast, the same study revealed that only 9 percent of pornographic Web sites contained such threats. It?s also worth noting that other potentially risky search targets include Web sites for electronic gadgets and on-screen computer background wallpaper. While the sheer volume of online legitimate pornography perhaps nullifies that lessened 9 percent when judged beside the drop-off in online music site population, McAfee believes that pornography, by its own business definition, doesn?t need to shoehorn such hidden adware and spam into its paid-for content in order to boost its marketplace positioning. In terms of most potentially dangerous digital music-based file-sharing program searches, the survey uncovered the term BearShare as the most likely to deliver dodgy content to users, raking in an impressive 46 percent of possibly perilous related Web sites. Somewhat oddly, McAfee?s survey also revealed that other popular search terms are likely to see users pounded with unwanted code, with the now defunct Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston combination proving to be 36 percent riskier to search for than the current Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie grouping. Also likely to cause some head scratching is news that sponsored search results, those paid for by the actual advertisers to appear separate from the standard results listed, are actually twice as likely to include risky material. The survey, the third such assessment carried out by McAfee, also included a comparison of the leading search engine options. The results returned showed that Yahoo had the safest unpaid standard search results, but also the riskiest paid results. According to McAfee?s free SiteAdvisor tool, which assesses each listed search result for users and grades them as Red, Yellow or Green (risky, somewhat risky, and safe) for suitability as per their level of content risk, Yahoo came out on top across thousands of popular searches with only 2.7 percent of Red or Yellow standard returns, while Ask.com emerged worst with 3.3 percent. http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/n...isky_than_porn __________________ Support my new movie “The Second Coming”