I tried to avoid the obvious puns of “online search can get you burned” or “only you can prevent cybercrime.” Out of respect to my old friends at the US Forest Service and Smokey Bear, I’ll demonstrate my editorial restraint. The most important news to report is that, as predictably as smoke will indicate fire, big tragedies attract malicious cybercriminals to take advantage of consumer curiosity and generosity. In the case of the current California wildfires, an innocent web search for news or an attempt to donate to the victims can lead you into some serious hotspots.
By simply searching for information on the fires, a web user might light upon search results that include websites infected with malicious code. Some examples we’re seeing online include pages offering video footage that the visitor needs to download a special video player for. Others include drive by downloads of keystroke loggers, so that even without taking any further action than visiting the site, the victim is infected.
I’m using Norton Internet Security and have Norton Site Safety giving me information about web site safety before I even click on a search result. Simple graphics with green, yellow, red or grey marks help me to know if others in the Safe Web community have found problems on these sites. Even if I were the first to click on an infected site, my Norton Internet Security would pop up and warn me from taking further action and block any attempted downloads. For example, typing in “Tujunga Fire” gives me hundreds of thousands of results but just the fourth one in the list shows up with a yellow exclamation mark. This tells me something suspicious lurks on that site, even before I visit it. Clicking for more information tells me the site is infected with Trojans.
California State Attorney General Jerry Brown has issued a warning to consumers to be aware of these online scams and threats. He advises all of us, online and off, to be suspicious of emails requesting donations or websites for copycats of legitimate charities. At all times, we need to temper our concern for our fellow man with normal levels of caution and safety. The best practice is to rely upon traditional sources for news information and charities with long standing reputations of service. And avoid punning.