Google gets tough in the fight against badware

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Search giant Google is now warning users if they visit a potentially harmful website so that they can make an informed decision as to whether they carry on regardless.

The move is part of Google's responsibility as a member of online neighbourhood watch scheme, Stopbadware.org. Lenovo and Sun Microsystems are also behind the initiative, which is led by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute.

Together, the group aims to fight the proliferation of spyware, malware and deceptive adware that monitors users' online actions and feeds that data back to disreputable marketing groups who use it for their own gain advertising-wise.

At present, the warnings link to a general page on StopBadware.org. But, once additional research into badware sites is conducted, they will link to an individual website report instead. The group believes that the latter activity will help keep people better informed about the downloadable applications and the potential harm they can do.

StopBadware.org was set up in January of this year. Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google said at the time: "For the last decade, we have been amazed and delighted by what we can do online. And yet people feel increasingly powerless to stop unscrupulous individuals and companies from infecting their computers with programs that they didn't request.

"The providers of Internet services and software simply must get this problem under control so the users can realize the full potential of their access to the Internet."

Working with dedicated staff, a working group and an advisory board, StopBadware.org has some bold aims to live up to. "We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and to become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware," claims its website.

"...We view ourselves as a complement to the best other efforts in the field. We believe that our unique take will act as a complement, as we all share data to better attack the same end goal."

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