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Virus Writers Target Google's Sponsored Links

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like the bad guys are gaming Google's sponsored links to spread their junk to people who click on the ads with unpatched versions of Internet Explorer. Attackers apparently bought the rights to several high profile search terms, including searches that would return results for the Better Business Bureau, among others. The story notes this was bound to happen, given the way Google structures sponsored links: "The bad guys behind the attack appeared to capitalize on an odd feature of Google's sponsored links. Normally, when a viewer hovers over a hyperlink, the name of the site that the computer user is about to access appears in the bottom left corner of the browser window. But hovering over Google's sponsored links shows nothing in that area. That blank space potentially gives bad guys another way to hide where visitors will be taken first.""

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  1. Re:Opera helps by Rui+del-Negro · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I don't find the interface awkward at all. That might be because I've been using it since version 4 but what I see is the other browsers copying Opera's interface and features, not the other way around.