Help Fight Malware via Google Toolbar

…we need your help in filling in the gaps. If you come across a site that is hosting malware, we now have an easy way for you to let us know about it. If you come across a site that is hosting malware, please fill out this short form. Help us keep the internet safe, and report sites that distribute malware. - Google’s Security Blog

If you come across a site that’s hosting some evil evil bad bad stuff: you should report it. Doing so will be good for the health of the internet as a whole and might save you from having to pass by your Uncle Bud’s house to remove some garbage from his PC so he can get back on “The eBay”. The only problem is that people (you, me, Michael Jackson to some degree) quickly become complacent with reporting such stuff if it’s not super quick and easy to do. So… I tossed together a button for Google’s toolbar that makes reporting malware hosting urls easier than your little sister.

How you would normally go about reporting urls:
1. Copy the malware hosting url. That requires a click, drag, click, click.
2. Access your bookmarks and visit the page where you report these things. That requires a click, seek, click.
3. Paste the url into their form. That requires two clicks.
4. Enter the captcha. That requires being human ;-)
5. Click the submit button.

How you will report urls with the nifty little button:
1. While on the malware hosting url, you click the custom Google toolbar button.
2. Enter the captcha.
3. Click the submit button.

That breaks down an eight click, one seek, one drag, and captcha entering process into two clicks and the captcha. And, I used a skull icon for the button so it has a decent presence on your toolbar. The mere presence of that should get you into the habit of reporting stuff as you come across it. For all the security nuts out there, I added the feed from StopBadware.org’s blog. The skull’s eyes will turn red to alert you to any new posts they toss up.

If you already have Google’s toolbar it’s a ‘one click to install’ kinda thing. If not, you can click the same install link to get their toolbar and the button will already be there when the install is done.

To install the “Report Malware Hosting URL” button, Click Here.