Search engine malware tainting Google results

A study recently released by web security provider Barracuda Networks found Google to be the search engine most frequently responsible for malware attacks hidden into its search results. Google accounts for 69 percent of search engine malware, while Bing, Twitter and Yahoo round out the top four, Barracuda found in its study.

Cyber criminals have become increasingly adroit at quickly implementing trending topics into their websites containing malware. As a result, Google’s ability to quickly turn a trending topic on Twitter into a popular search topic funnels substantial malware into its search results. The study found Google typically takes 1.2 days to leverage a trending topic, while Yahoo can take up to four.

"Our study shows that attackers have serious efforts devoted towards getting in front of the billions of eyeballs that are using search engines everyday and the millions of users that are connecting on social networks like Twitter," Paul Judge, chief research officer and vice president of Barracuda Networks, said. "Therefore, we continue to analyze their approaches and build new techniques to find them and protect users."

With substantial malware appearing in its results, Google’s status as the second-most-popular website in the world can lead to countless infections. Only Facebook is visited more frequently than Facebook, according to website rankings from Experian HitWise.