Google is trying to do its part to warn computer owners that their system is infected with malware. The search giant has started putting a message at the top of Google search results that clearly says, "Your computer appears to be infected." Many folks are wondering if Google has some way of knowing information about the files on your computer, but Google assures users that is in fact, not the case.
Google is stating that the way it identifies malware on a user's machine is that the specific malware in question likely hijacks Google Search results and redirects that traffic back to another website. Google has been monitoring this type of traffic for quite some time, even going so far as to provide open source tools for Web security research. This is the first time Google has actively involved themselves in notifying users of malware detected via their search results.
The specific malware that Google is detecting is telling Windows computers to send traffic to Google through a proxy server instead of directly. Google can track traffic that comes to them through these specific servers and then notify the user that the malware has infected their system. All of the details are outlined in a nice blog post written by Damian Menscher, Security Engineer.
Google is reporting that it has detected several million Windows computers that are infected and that they have notified several hundred thousand people already. What's more, Google claims the malware is actually masquerading as antivirus software. Should you find your system infected, Google can help. The company has laid out a few steps for removing the malware from an infected computer.
It's nice to see Google inform users of malware on their systems. It will be interesting to see if the company continues to track statistics on the number of users who are still infected after they have been notified. Tracking, if these notifications are actually effective to reduce malware infections, might be worthwhile in the long term.
