Google Chrome has denied me access to the link http://www.nation.co.ke/business/yuMobile-staff-block-bid-to-sell-firm-stake/-/996/2199036/-/ss6xng/-/index.html which has the story yuMobile staff block bid to sell firm’s stake. The error message Chrome displays whenever I try to access the page reads:
Danger: Malware Ahead!
Google Chrome has blocked access to this page on www.nation.co.ke.
Content from deals.n-soko.com, a known malware distributor, has been inserted into this page. Visiting this page now is likely to infect your computer with malware.
Malware is malicious software that causes things like identity theft, financial loss, and permanent file deletion.
To help protect Internet users against phishing, Chrome introduced a setting that warns the browser users against sites that might contain malware under the Privacy Setting. One can un-check this by going to Setting under Customize and Control Google Chrome, then to Setting (again) then to Privacy. Under privacy you can un-check “Enable phishing and malware protection” tab. Google has developed a massive database that contain a list of blacklisted websites known to host malware. Unmask Parasites, a website with information about websites security, hacking, and vulnerability states, “The majority of blacklisted sites are in reality legitimate websites into which hackers have inserted malicious content.”
However,Chrome is not always accurate in blacklisting sites. A year ago Danny Sullivan of Marketing Land experienced the same problem when trying to read an article at The Huffington Post. Chrome informed him that the site had content from images.buddytv.com that was a known malware distributor. He also experienced same issue when attempting to visit other websites like CNET. It appears that Chrome was right to blacklist some sites but was wrong in others.
N-soko is the Nation Media Group’s classified website for property (property.n-soko.com), cars (motors.n-soko.com), jobs (jobs-n-soko.com) and general items (deals.n-soko.com). Given that N-soko is owned by Nation Media Group, it is difficult to imagine how it could be a malware distributor unless it has been hacked. Since Chrome is right most of the time, it is important to take the warning seriously.
