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    Google Webmaster Tools Adds “Security Issues” Section

    Google has announced the addition of a new section within Webmaster Tools named “Security Issues.” This new section is aimed at better communicating to website owners security issues, such as site hacks, malware, and so on and then giving a more detailed and concise method of fixing the problem and submitting a review request. In […]

    google-webmaster-tools-video-1330350240Google has announced the addition of a new section within Webmaster Tools named “Security Issues.” This new section is aimed at better communicating to website owners security issues, such as site hacks, malware, and so on and then giving a more detailed and concise method of fixing the problem and submitting a review request.

    In the new security issues section, you’ll be able to:

    • Find more information about the security issues on your site, in one place.
    • Pinpoint the problem faster with detailed code snippets.
    • Request review for all issues in one go through the new simplified process.

    Find More Information:

    You’ll be able to see all sorts of security issues that may be on your site, including malware code injection, error template injection, SQL injection, content injection for spam and much more.

    Here is a screen shot of some of these security issues as seen in Webmaster Tools:

    sec-issues-1k

    Pinpoint The Security Threat:

    Google will then let you zoom into the actual hack or malware, so you can quickly scan your site for a match on that suspicious snippet of code or content. Here is an example of what that may look like:

    content-injection-1k

    Easier Review Requests:

    Finally, after you fix the issue(s) you can quickly check the box that reads, “I have fixed these issues” and then click the “Request a review” button to expedite the review process. This should expedite the process of removing a malware or hack warning on your site’s Google snippet and/or inclusion of your site back in Google’s search results.


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    About the Author

    Barry Schwartz
    Barry Schwartz is a technologist and a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics.

    In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land, in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here and in 2023 he was listed as a top 50 most influential PPCer by Marketing O'Clock.

    Barry can be followed on X here and you can learn more about Barry Schwartz over here or on his personal site.