Microsoft launches Webmaster tools to sniff for malware
The software giant's new Webmaster malware detection tools aim to find malware on indexed sites and alert users before they click on a link.
Microsoft announced Tuesday that it updated its Live Search Webmaster Center with the ability to detect malware on a publisher's site as well as any outbound links contained on that site. It also announced the launch of a simplified authentication process that makes accessing the company's Webmaster tools much easier.
According to Microsoft's senior director of Live Search, Angus Norton, the company's new malware detection tool will crawl sites for malware. Where there is malware present, it will automatically disable all the links that contain it and alert Webmasters to the issue. A report, which can be downloaded from Microsoft's Webmaster tools page, details which pages are affected and how the site can resolve the issue. Until the malware is removed, Microsoft will flag all the harmful links contained in search results as malware.
Microsoft's new Webmaster tools are active now on the company's page.
