Cyber Lesson from Oprah?

Oprah Winfrey kicked off the campaign "No Phone Zone" to combat texting while driving. I'm no O, but I've got a public service announcement of my own. It's called "Report Wicked Websites."

If your computer system has been compromised by a malicious website, do us all a favor and share what you've uncovered with free security solutions. Sometimes the good guys forget they can leverage the Internet for good will every bit as much as the bad guys can leverage it for foul play.

Those of us who monitor our systems have a duty to share our findings. We've covered a lot of topics in this blog since its inception, many of which have focused on ways to protect your sensitive data. But the one thing I hadn't considered was just how much stronger a united front makes us all. The united front is all about sharing information, and making sure the information goes viral. There are some tools we can all use to help achieve this mission, accumulated by our friends at the Internet Storm Center:

Google Safe Browsing

- Google is one popular search engine, so this is one of the better ways to make an impact. The safe browsing site is really straightforward. You just fill out the url to the malicious website, enter a security code, and provide additional information for google's investigators.

Open DNS

- If you have an account, you can submit a domain for tagging as malicious content within their dashboard.

BlueCoat K9

- Advertised as Web protection for children, but you can easily submit URLs and classify them. Again, the site is set up for the user. Input the URL and continue doing what you're doing.

Malware Domain Blocklist

- Just as advertised. A DNS-BH project that creates and maintains a listing of domains used for malware and spyware.

You aren't limited to using these sites to fulfill "Report Wicked Websites," but they can be a start. If you've found others that you've relied on please share in the comments field.