They whacked Google!

Well, here's a new one on me - Roger Karlsson has dug out a site that installs - can you believe it? - the Google Toolbar without consent, along with some other things. Check out how many Google domains it redirects - someone has it in for the Big G. A little digging of my own has found a link to some of the typical .biz hijack websites - more shocking is the flagrant way that the people behind this are trying to pass themselves of as being affiliated with Google in some official kind of capacity - when nothing could be further from the truth. Check out these screenshots (click to enlarge, so on and so forth)...

First off, after the install, when you open up Internet Explorer, you will find (to your horror) that you now have a new homepage, launched from the temp files. Search the web - great idea! Except, searching the web results in no results. Doesn't matter what (dubiously named) category you click in - nothing happens. They're all emptier than a spyware maker's 40th birthday party. But when you hit the back button in your browser, you suddenly get a popup with a vaguely relevant search result returned to you.

Click here for a wonderful example of this. Nice, ain't it?

However, here comes the killer. Check out the first screenshot again. See it? Where it says "Search the Web! Premium Search"? Good. Now that you have that image burnt into your brain, check out the sucker above. You may want to imagine music from The Omen playing in the background or something. Look what's appeared! That's right, Jimmy-skank pants browser hijacker man has the gall to plaster the good name of Google on his damn hijacker!

Rest assured, I'm using all my mad crazy leet skills to pass this info onto Google as we speak...type....whatever....to see if they can pop a cap in these suckers. The scum behind this obviously have no ties with Google, other than the rather large length of rope the G-men will no doubt gladly wrap around the perpetrators necks.

Start crossing your fingers right about.....now.