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TwitPic snared by Google's malware detector

The popular photo site denies being a security threat and says it's trying to resolve the situation with Google.

Steven_Musil2.jpg
Steven_Musil2.jpg
Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Steven Musil
Google tags TwitPic as malware host. Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET

Google's Web site malware checker identified TwitPic as a security threat today, a classification that has the popular photo site baffled.

Instead of the usual archiving and sharing tools they are used to, users attempting to visit TwitPic today are being greeted by a message informing them that the site has been blocked because "visiting it now is very likely to infect your computer with malware."

TwitPic denied on Twitter that it was a malware threat and said it was trying to contact Google to resolve the issue:

The Web giant's Safe Browsing API is designed to protect its users from malware and other attacks. Google said in June that it finds about 9,500 new malicious Web sites each day, either innocent ones that have been compromised by hackers or sites built specifically to distribute malware or for phishing. It also said it sends several million warnings every day to users of Chrome, Firefox, and Safari about malware and phishing on sites the users are about to visit.

CNET has contacted Google for comment on the action and will update this report when we learn more.