• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 2, 2010

The king of search also reigns over the kingdom of malware. In fact, Google distributes more than twice as much malware as Yahoo, Bing and Twitter combined for searches on popular topics. Surprised? I'm not. Here's why.

The findings from Barracuda Labs 2010 Midyear Security Report based on a two-month study of more than 25,000 trending topics and 5.5 million searches suggests Google serves up 69%, Bing, 12%; Yahoo, 18%; and Twitter 1%.

No wonder why search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search experts have difficulty ranking keywords at times. Everyday hundreds of pieces of malware are found by simply searching for popular terms, Search engine ranking and optimization contribute to the effectiveness of attacks. The top domains hosting malware, according to the report, include xorg.pl kazaa.com, and songlyrics.com.

The report highlights trends that resulted from shifts in consumer behavior, growth of the Web and amount of data collected, noting the growth of Facebook and Twitter as being fuel for malvertisers. The average amount of time for trending topics to appear on the three top engines after being served up on Twitter varies: Google, 1.2 days; Bing, 4.3 days; and Yahoo, 4.8 days.

More than half of malware appears between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. GMT. The top categories for malware include spyware, 35%; entertainment, 15%; forums and newsgroups, 8%; peer-to-peer, 7%; hosting sites, 75; businesses, 5%; and proxies, 5%.

The top 10 terms used by malware distributors include the name of a NFL player, three actresses, Playboy Playmates and a college student who faked his way into Harvard, according to the study.

After reading some of these numbers, one must wonder if Google and other search and social sites do enough to protect consumers from malicious code. Granted, it's the consumer's responsibility to install virus protection software, along with added protection from Verizon Fios or AT&T U-Verse because the broadband speeds are so fast that the normal Norton antivirus protection won't save your soul if a virus comes knocking. At least that's what they'll tell you.

As part of an ongoing study Barracuda Labs released in June 2009 and then in March 2010, the security firm analyzed more than 25 million Twitter accounts, both legitimate and malicious. The study reviews several key areas it calls True Twitter Users, Twitter Crime Rate, and Tweet Number. "True Twitter Users" are tweeting more often and even casual users are becoming more active. But as people become more active, the malicious activity also increases. The study suggests only 28.87% of Twitter users are real. Half of Twitter users tweet less than once daily, yet one in 10 users tweet five or more times daily and 30% of Twitter accounts have never tweeted.

Malware doesn't only sit in search keyword terms, but also in ads. Viruses have been found last year in sites like The New York Times and earlier this year in ad delivery platforms from Yahoo, Google DoubleClick and Fox Audience's network. Much of the world has moved online. No site or person is immune. Even the biggest out there: Google.