Tip of the Week! Web Sites with Security Issues

See the notification under the first entry

I was searching for an article published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender and was just about to click on the relevant link when I noticed references to "impotence drugs" in the snippet that Google's search results show under each entry. Since I knew the article in question did *not* address impotence, I searched on the journal's URL and discovered a message from Google indicating that the site "may have been hacked." (See image.) Even more importantly, Google will also include a notification for sites that "may harm your computer."

As I noted in this earlier tip on link expanders, I tend to be cautious when searching online.  While anti-virus software and updated browsers are your best protection against malicious sites, it's useful to know about other online security resources. Google's notifications represent yet another tool to help searchers stay safe. So next time you are presented with a list of search results, remember to read before you click!


Tagged Tips.