Credit: Paweł Czerwiński Google has begun alerting users whenever they click on a search result that may take them to a dangerous website.The new feature, which was spotted early last week, went live officially Friday, according to an announcement from The Stop Badware Coalition, which is collaborating with Google on this effort.When users attempt to click over to a website considered to be potentially dangerous, Google shows users an alert page that informs them of the possible risk and gives them the option to click back to the results page or continue on to the questionable website.The flagged websites have been reported as dangerous to The Stop Badware Coalition. Google will progressively replace the generic alert page with pages containing specific reports about the websites. The Stop Badware Coalition will provide these individual reports as well. The Stop Badware Coalition is a nonprofit organization led by Harvard University and the University of Oxford and backed by Google, Lenovo Group and Sun Microsystems.This new Google feature attempts to address a real problem: Search engines routinely display links to websites that download spyware and adware to visitors’ PCs, exploit security vulnerabilities and attempt to scam users and include them in spam lists. In the United States, people land on malicious websites about 285 million times per month by clicking on search results from the five major search engines, according to a recent study conducted by McAfee’s SiteAdvisor unit. Google didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service (Miami Bureau)Related Links: Google Offers Click Fraud Stats for Transparency The Enterprise Gets Googled Faux Google Website Hides Trojan HorseCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery interview WestRock CIDO Amir Kazmi on building resiliency Multidimensional resiliency is vital to setting yourself, your teams, and your organization up for success. Kazmi sets the tone at WestRock by recognizing the pace of change, instilling a learning and growth mindset, and being transparent with his te By Dan Roberts Dec 07, 2023 8 mins IT Strategy Staff Management IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe