Microsoft’s Bing search engine returned nearly five times as many links to websites containing some type of malicious code than Google, according to a recent study by the German independent testing lab AV-Test.
AV-Test conducted an 18-month study during which they collected 40 million websites provided by seven different search engines – 10 million each from Bing and Google, 13 million from Russian search engine Yandex, and the rest coming from Blekko, Faroo, Teoma, and Baidu, said Slashgear’s Craig Lloyd.
Out of the 40 million websites reviewed by the German company, only 5,000 contained malware. Of those, 3,300 came from Yandex, 1,285 came from Bing, 272 from Google, and 203 from Bleko, explained Max Eddy of PCMag.com. The results suggest the odds of malware exposure as a result of a Google search is approximately one in 40,118, he added.
Based on the results of the study, only 0.0025 percent of the Mountain View, California-based company’s search engine results could be compromised, said PCWorld’s Daniel Ionescu.
However, as the study also pointed out, Google deals with approximately two to three billion search requests worldwide each day, meaning the total number of websites found by the website is still a considerable number – leading tech experts to urge caution and common sense while surfing the Internet.
“The chances of coming across a malware-infested website in either Google or Bing is slim to none, so whether or not you use Bing or Google, it’s always important to remember to know what you’re clicking on and make sure it’s not a website that’s infested with malicious code,” Davies said. “Web browsers will usually warn you if you come across such a website, but it’s always good to have a little common sense anyway.”
“Google is a service people trust, and most users don’t consider that malicious sites are playing a numbers game. Instead, users assume that they’re safe because they’re not important or targeted,” added Eddy. “It is, however, heartening to see that the number of malicious results from Google is so low. I certainly hope that Bing can follow suit and get their numbers down as well.”
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online
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