Going by the proverb “Prevention is better than cure”, we have mentioned here a list of the most risky keywords or terms to search online.
People search everything and anything online; from a simple search term like “Invention of Aero-plane” to unusual search requests like “How do I make my Pet love me?” And that is where, risky search terms on the Web come into the picture.
While Google and other renowned search engines themselves are alert of the popular search terms on the Internet, even hackers holds a fair knowledge of what people are looking on the internet. And using these skills, they trick innocent users into browsing unsafe websites that later end up infecting their PC with a nasty malware. For example, a malware artist first designs several websites and blogs that contain malicious codes. Then, they opts the most popular search terms referred as keywords, searched by users on Google or any other search engine. After done so, they manage their websites with these keywords so that they come on the top search results presented to the user.
The below is a list of risky keywords or search terms that are basically used by hackers to lure users into exploring fake and infected websites.
Web’s Most Dangerous Keywords to Search for:
- Free games
- Free screensavers
- Free game cheats
- Free music downloads
- Work from home
- Free downloads
- Free coupons
- Lyrics
- My space
- Make money
- Watch movies online
- Free ringtones
- Searches for pornographic sites
- Amazing deals online
1.) Search terms linked to torrent downloads.
2.) Seasonal search stuffs such as ‘Christmas discount offers’, ‘New Year discounts’, etc.
3.) Topical search terms such as, ‘Free world cup videos’, ‘Live football streaming’, etc.
- Search terms related to downloading videos, songs, images, etc., of trending personalities such as movie stars, singers, athletes, etc.
How to Stay Away from Unsafe Websites
- Even if you search for the terms described above, only visit official websites that are known, and those which you are familiar with.
- If you found any website to be unsecure or unusual, use the Google Safe Browsing tool. Here’s what you have to do. Copy the URL of the site you want to visit, and paste it after “www.google.co.in/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=”
- Be alert against links that claim to show highly anticipated movies, recently released and TV series.
- It is a great idea to find out some information about websites that are particularly related to the above search terms. Many a time, on forums and similar websites, users share their experience about visiting a website. You can Google something as simple as “Is mytree.com safe or infected?”
- According to a study by conducted in Jan 2017, Google delivers less infected websites in its search results than Bing. So, use Google to other search engines.
- Most websites that host infected codes take advantage of security vulnerabilities in your PC. So, always make sure that your desktop OS and software are up-to-date.
- Have genuine antivirus software on your PC like Computer Optimizer that receives automatic software updates. The antivirus software should also be able to block infected, fake, and phishing websites automatically.
It is not for certain that searching for the above listed dangerous keywords will always take you to an infected website. However, the chance of coming across an unsafe site is always high. So, exercise precaution and stay safe!
