July 12, 2006

The 8 Most Dangerous Search Words Ever - Netscape Gadgets & Tech It's not just online pornography, gambling and free MP3s that put your computer at risk. Search terms will do it, too. The most dangerous search term you can use? It's "free screensavers." Why? Type "free screensavers" into any search engine, and it will lead you to unscrupulous Web sites that will try to infest your computer with spam, spyware and dangerous downloads, reports the BBC News. Fully 64 percent of the sites found using this phrase caused problems for users, according to a report from the British company Site Advisor. Led by from Ben Edelman and Hannah Rosenbaum, the researchers entered 1,394 popular keywords into Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and Ask. Using the Site Advisor security tool, they analyzed the results for each search term. Site Advisor warns users when Web sites are known to be dangerous. What is "dangerous"? The most benign would try to change users' browser settings to direct them to specific ad sites, while the most insidious would deluge users with spam or bundle adware and spyware with downloads. Using security flaws and loopholes in the browsers, some sites install software on the sly, which can allow the PC to be hijacked or lead to the loss of personal data, reports the BBC. Here's an example: Once users registered their e-mail addresses, one particularly sinister Web site sent more than 300 spam messages a week. 9:12:11 PM

Sony pulls controversial Dutch PSP ad (Reuters). Reuters - Sony Corp. said on Tuesday it had pulled a Dutch billboard advertising campaign for the new white version of its PlayStation Portable video game player and apologized to anyone offended by the ad, which critics dubbed racist. [Yahoo! News: Odd News] 8:06:51 AM

Bad to Worse. Earlier today, Hezbollah terrorists based in southern Lebanon carried out a raid across the border with Israel in which they murdered several Israeli soldiers and captured two, whom they took back across the border into Lebanon. IDF forces followed the terrorists into Lebanon in an effort to recover the captives. The most recent news from Israel, via the Jerusalem Post, is ominous: In the IDF's latest evaluation of the battle on the northern border, it arose that the kidnappers of the two IDF soldiers had most likely succeeded in moving them deeper into Lebanese territory, reducing the chances of rescuing them. The IDF estimated it was headed toward a full-blown confrontation with Hizbullah. There are indications of close cooperation between Hamas, which triggered the current crisis by kidnapping an Israeli soldier a week ago, and Hezbollah, which executed the most recent outrage. Perhaps a "full-blown confrontation" with both Hezbollah and Hamas is the only course now open to Israel. This is the pass to which years of "peace" talks and "peace" agreements have brought the Israeli people. Via Power Line News. [Power Line] 7:48:47 AM