Coleman Technologies Blog

The Internet is pretty great. You can watch videos of cats being weird, and then watch the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Then you can go on Reddit and learn how to replace the drywall in your bathroom. Just another typical Sunday afternoon with the Internet, right? 

Unfortunately, the Internet isn’t always perfect. It can be pretty dangerous, and we’d like to share some surprising terms that can lead to dangerous websites and malware if you search for them on Google.

Quick disclaimer: None of these topics are necessarily dangerous on their own, and there is bound to be a lot of great, wholesome and family-friendly content about each of these terms out there on the Internet. That being said, we’re going to explore how these terms ended up being so dangerous to show you why you, your family, and your coworkers should be careful online.

Threats Lurk Beyond Innocent Family-Friendly Topics

A lot of the things that kids really enjoy are often targeted. Cybercriminals know that a child might not be as well-versed in cybersecurity as an adult, so if they can spread malware to kids doing innocent searches for shows and movies, they will.

According to Home Security Heroes, an organization dedicated to helping families stay safe online, over half of the search results for terms like “The Boss Baby,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” and “Pokémon” could lead to malware or other online threats.

Video game-related search terms like “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” carries a pretty strong risk of malware as well, with 46 percent of the results containing malware-infected domains. This is a cute game where players move onto an island and make friends with talking dogs, frogs, and other adorable animals and give each other gifts. The content of the game itself is extremely kid-friendly, but websites offering guides or illegal downloads of the game could be dangerous.

The Most Dangerous Celebrities to Search For

Several years ago, long before the pandemic, Emma Watson was one of the most dangerous celebrities to Google search, with a shocking number of websites having links to malware or other potential threats. 

Today, the prom king and queen of dangerous search results go to the fabulous Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway—so the mighty Thor and 2012’s Catwoman for the comic book nerds out there. Interestingly enough, Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway were set to star in a movie together back in 2013 called Robopocalypse, but it doesn’t seem to have come to fruition.

To no fault of their own, these two celebrities suffer from a similar affliction to the family-friendly movies above, but an estimated 75 percent of the search results for their names potentially contain harmful content or malware.

Other actors and actresses like Kaley Cuoco, Olivia Rodrigo, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Pine, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, and Zendaya also have a ton of risky search results.

But We Can’t Ignore the Queen

She’s always having her best year ever, and is loved and adored by fans of all ages. Yes, we’re talking about the infamous Taylor Swift. Tay-tay, or T-Swizzle, or Queen America herself might be one of the greatest musical icons of our time, but a whopping 79 percent of her search results are potentially dangerous.

That doesn’t mean you can’t search for her and find safe content, but it does mean that there are thousands of websites out there that are trying to trick users into reading up on the brightest star in the music industry, only to infect your computer with malware or steal your personal information.

If you are a little more old school, the Backstreet Boys are right behind her with 76% of their results being sketchy and potentially dangerous.

The Huntsman Spider

What’s bigger than your hand, has eight legs, and eats mice?

You don’t really want to know, but it’s the huntsman spider.

We’re not sure what percentage of websites about this horrific monstrosity have malware; in fact, Googling it is probably a lot safer for your computer than searching for Chris Pratt. Still, these spiders are huge and anyone without ironclad constitutions should probably avoid giving themselves nightmares and not go down that rabbit hole.

All Joking Aside, the Internet Can Be a Dangerous Place

There is a lot of great information and opportunities on the Internet, but there are plenty of people trying to take advantage of everyone else as well. In order to protect yourself, you need to have the proper security measures in place, including antivirus and anti-malware. Your organization needs to be monitoring your endpoints and security, and equip your network with firewalls and security policies that keep your employees and customers safe.

If you want help securing your business, give us a call at (604) 513-9428.

There is a scam going around that convinces organizations to pay for their Google Business Profile, and if you paid for this free service, you’ve fallen for the trick. Google is taking legal action against the scammers who have dragged their name through the mud, using Google’s notoriety to defraud businesses who just want to look competitive.

Let’s look at the announcement to determine what your business should keep in mind regarding these scammers.

Google Wants Consequences for the Scammers Who Charge Businesses for Business Profiles

The first thing you need to understand is that a Google Business Profile is free for business owners to claim and use to share information about their business with the public. This means that anyone who calls you to tell you to pay up for the profile is straight-up lying to you and attempting to scam you.

The problem has escalated to the point where Google needs to take action against these scams. The idea is that taking public legal action against the scammers will keep would-be scammers from acting while also increasing public awareness of these issues. Google’s blog post claims they were able to stop 12 million scammers from creating fake Business Profiles, and that there were 8 million attempts to fraudulently claim Business Profiles.

Again, Google charges nothing for Business Profiles. Such accounts are mutually beneficial; they give you a platform to show off information about your business, and Google can make their search engine better as a result. If you ever receive a phone call from someone claiming to be Google to sell you a profile, then you can rest assured it is most definitely a scam.

How You Can Identify Phishing Scams

Phishing scams can be tricky to identify, but with a little knowledge and training, you and your staff can be well-prepared to deal with any scams that might come your way.

• Look for urgency: Most scams will operate with a sense of urgency to get you to act before you have had a chance to think things through. Don’t fall for it; nothing is so important that it can’t wait 10 minutes while you verify the request.
• The devil is in the details: If you receive a call from someone who claims to be from Google, for example, you can always check the Google Business Profile page to view details on account creation. In this case, the page confirms that it is free, so you know you’re the target of a scam.
• Don’t take any risks: If you have reason to believe that a call or a message is a scam, don’t give yourself any room to make a mistake; just hang up or ignore the message until you can confirm that the message is legitimate or fake. If it’s not, then the person on the other end will surely have to respect your caution.

Let’s Make Your Business Security a Top Priority

If you are ready to take scams and cybersecurity seriously, Coleman Technologies can support you throughout the process. To learn more, contact us today at (604) 513-9428.

Since its domain was first registered on September 15, 1997, Google has exploded from a relatively simple search engine to the massive assortment of platforms and services that fall under the Alphabet umbrella. That being said, most people tend to think of very specific aspects of Google’s Search function… like the amusing Easter Eggs that the platform has become somewhat famous for.

Let’s explore some of the many, many jokes and entertaining features that Google has added to Search over the years. Who knows, you might find out about a new favorite.

Full Disclaimer: Google Has WAY Too Many Easter Eggs to Cover Here Comprehensively

Honestly, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. With these Easter eggs first being secreted into Google’s assorted offerings back in 2000, the sheer volume of these hidden features has grown to be truly significant. Plus, some of them are no longer active, being tied to a specific day or event—for example, the search for “2/22/22” made the phrase “Happy Twosday 2You!” appear on that day, but no longer. 

Others have been rendered inoperable with Google’s shift to an infinite scroll format, rather than pages, as the “Goooo…gle” indicator housed many of these Easter eggs as well.

Many, many of them, however, are still active, with more being added all the time… just do a quick search for “Barbie” for a practical example of how up-to-date these Easter eggs are kept. So, let’s explore some that are (as of this writing) still active.

A Tiny Sample of Google’s Easter Eggs

• Searching for “dvd screensaver” will cause the Google logo in the top left corner to begin bouncing around the screen, changing colors as it goes, similarly to—you guessed it—the screensaver that DVD players would display after remaining idle for too long.
• Searching for “text adventure” and then using the Ctrl+Shift+J shortcut to open the developers console will give you access to a Google-themed text-based adventure game, where you set out in search of the letters in the word “Google.” As a bonus Easter egg within an Easter egg, responding “no” to the introductory prompt “would you like to play a game” produces a reference to the 1983 movie WarGames.
• Searching for “puppy/puppies/dog/canine” or “kitten/cat” will produce a button that, when clicked, will cause a paw belonging to the corresponding animal to swipe up and leave a paw print behind.
• Searching for “define anagram” asks you if you meant to search for “nerd fame again,” which itself is an anagram of “define anagram.”
• Searching for “pi” will produce the Google calculator with the pi symbol prominent. Clicking it will start a memory game that takes the player through the digits of pi.
• Searching for “meteor shower” will darken the screen momentarily as three meteors pass by, shifting back to the way it was once they have passed.
• Searching for “netwon/Isaac Newton” will produce a button with an apple tree on it, which causes an apple to fall down the screen when clicked, just as the legend goes about how the physicist conceptualized the theory of gravity.
• Searching for “han/greedo shot first” will show the alternate result, posed as a “Did you mean” at the top of the screen. 
• Searching for “the one ring” will ask if you meant “my precioussss,” in a nod to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
• Searching for “world’s best boss” will ask “Did you mean Michael Scott” as a reference to Steve Carell’s character from The Office.
• Searching for “breathing exercise” will pull up a functional breathing exercise that you can follow along with.
• Searching for “pac-man/google pacman/play pacman” will pull up a functioning game of Pac-Man with a board designed around the Google logo. 
• Searching for “the answer to the ultimate question of life the universe and everything" brings up the Google Calculator, presenting the answer “42.” This is a reference to the Douglas Adams novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and has been around since the first Easter eggs were developed—even predating the calculator feature it now appears in. 

When We Said This Was a Tiny Sample, We Meant It

There are dozens more Easter eggs to have fun with, and we encourage you to seek them out and see what the developers at Google do in between major projects to keep themselves sharp. If you find a fun one, be sure to let us know when you call us to learn more about our managed services!