Google has decided to harness their powers for the good of the people, and they are doing it in a very interesting way.

So here is the scenario.  You are browsing the web on your PC and you decide to use Google Search.  As you enter your search term, a big yellow warning appears that says your computer is infected with malware.  I know your first thought is probably that the malware itself has redirected to a page and wants you to buy their “antivirus” scanner for a chunk of change.  But this isn’t the case at all.

It is actually Google’s servers that have identified the malware on your PC, and notifying you of the infection.  Yes, Google is actually the good guy in this case.  It seems some security engineers at Google have found a way to use Google Search as a means of identifying infected PC’s.

Seems complicated, but it isnt.  Here’s what Google’s Online Security team says about the new scanning procedure.

This particular malware causes infected computers to send traffic to Google through a small number of intermediary servers called “proxies.” We hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections.

Basically an infected machine acts differently, and sends out different data to Google’s proxy servers.  Google is able to identify this, and in turn send you a big, bright yellow notification telling you that “Your Computer appears to be infected.”

I know this seems a little farfetched, but it is 100% legit.  Google has already loaded the script and the program is up and running.  So if you get a yellow warning on top your Google Search page, don’t fret.  It’s just Google trying to help.

via Google Online Security Blog