Google has announced a new tool that will send samples
of malicious code to website administrators in an attempt to help
clean up the internet.
The information will be provided through Google's Webmaster
Tools, which is designed to provide other data about websites such
as the number of visitors.
The information will come from Google's
automated scanners, which detect malware on websites that have
been indexed and flagged as suspect by its search engine.
"We understand the frustration of webmasters whose sites have
been compromised without their knowledge and who discover that
their site has been flagged," wrote Lucas Ballard on Google's
online security blog.
Google's Webmaster Tools already emails registered site
administrators to warn them of suspicious content, but the new tool
provides webmasters with samples of the malicious code, said
Ballard.
"Webmasters will see a list of their pages that we found to be
involved in malware distribution and samples of the malicious
content that Google's scanners encountered," he said.
Google says the tool will help administrators address
vulnerabilities quickly, and once they
notify Google that their site is clean, it will be given the
all-clear.
"We hope you never have cause to use this feature, but if you
do, it should help you quickly purge malware from your site and
help protect its visitors," wrote Ballard.