Google gets overprotective, flags whole internet as malware

Google has some built in tools that will warn you before you click a link that could take you to a website running code that could harm your computer. And usually that's a good thing. But this morning Google started returning warnings for virtually every single search result.

When you conduct a search, you may notice "This site may harm your computer" warnings under the headlines of each search result. And when you click a link to visit a site, there's a good chance you'll see a window warning you to go back to where you came from.

Google seems to be in the process of correcting the error. A few minutes ago we couldn't find a link that wasn't labeled as malware, but now a search for Download Squad fortunately comes up clean. But when a company as large and influential as Google indiscriminately labels sites as dangerous, even for just a few minutes, it's not pretty.

Update: And the crisis seems to be over. But it lasted long enough for Download Squad reader Kewal Shah to capture a funny image which you can see after the break.

Update 2: Google has issued an explanation. Basically Google maintains a list of dangerous sites, and that list gets updated from time to time. Today it was updated, and one of the values added to the list this morning was "/" which covers, you know, the whole internet.

Tags: google, malware