Warning to all those who use Google – dangerous searches can cost you

EXPERTS have uncovered the most dangerous things to look for online that increase your chances of stumbling across a virus.

Software downloads and torrents are a prime target for malware that can wreak havoc on your devices.

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Expensive user licenses and off-brand apps create a high demand for illegal torrents, making it an attractive opportunity for hackers to spread dubious rip-offs.

And even with free apps, it can still happen.

According to Surf Shark, one in three software search results contains potential malware.

Their research concluded that Avid software is the most dangerous software to look out for.

The expensive tool is used by creative people to edit videos professionally.

Their results indicate that more than 64 percent of web addresses found lead to potential malware.

Substance 3D Painter, an Adobe app for sculpting 3D models on the Windows desktop and in VR, is second at over 57 percent.

Sketch software and Substance 3D Stager come in at 56 percent.

And Maxon Cinema 4D is 55 percent.

Experts have also broken down their research by category.

So, on the browser front, Vivaldi Browser scores the worst, with 39 percent of URLs referring to it likely to contain malware.

Further down the list you have Microsoft Edge in four at 32 percent, Safari and Opera in five and six respectively at 30 percent.

Google Chrome is just below at 29 percent.

The researchers came up with the study by looking on Google and adding the terms “download” and “torrent” to each search.

Then they collected URLs from the first five pages of search results and ran them through a malware detector.

The percentage of URLs with the potential malware metric reflects the percentage of URLs that were flagged as “moderate risk” or higher by the tool used.

Therefore, these results only apply to apps downloaded from malicious and illegal torrent websites – there is no reason not to download them from their official websites.

But it serves as an important reminder why you should always go through official sites and not try to avoid costs – as it could cost you a lot more in the long run if a nasty piece of malware gets onto your computer.

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