[LINK] Why does Firefox send non-URL text in the location bar to Google etc.?

[Birch, Jim]

Alex (Maxious) Sadleir wrote:

> I don't think Google would let an actual malicious page get that high
(#1) before being removed but the fact that a blog post with the right
title/inbound links is able to rise so quickly and so high against a
giant like facebook is a little worrying.

Yes, but,

Google checks sites for malware:
https://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=4544
9

Google also tries to identify other compromised sites:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20026015-245.html

Firefox will block these sites by default.  Not sure about other
browsers, but I think IE does something similar.

Compromised sites and plain bad sites are major attack mechanisms that
are hard or impossible for me to detect by other means.  This makes
Google a major security benefit to me rather than a risk.  

More generally, the company is in the business of tracking your
interests obtained from your web activity to target ads.  If you think
this makes Google already nefarious, so be it, but for me there's just
about no one on the web I would trust more with my information than
Google; they have a massive investment in using your information
ethically, and, in keeping it to themselves.  I'm more concerned about
giving information to smaller sites with unknown provenance and
processes than to Google.

(I also use the community rating plugin Web of Trust (WOT) that provides
more nuanced human evaluations of privacy and security as an icon next
to links.  I NoScript everything at first looks, but this won't help if
a site I already trust is compromised.)

- Jim  



CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER

The information in this transmission may be confidential and/or protected by legal professional privilege, and is intended only for the person or persons to whom it is addressed. If you are not such a person, you are warned that any disclosure, copying or dissemination of the information is unauthorised. If you have received the transmission in error, please immediately contact this office by telephone, fax or email, to inform us of the error and to enable arrangements to be made for the destruction of the transmission, or its return at our cost. No liability is accepted for any unauthorised use of the information contained in this transmission. If the transmission contains advice, the advice is based on instructions in relation to, and is provided to the addressee in connection with, the matter mentioned above. Responsibility is not accepted for reliance upon it by any other person or for any other purpose.