Yahoo and McAfee have announced an exclusive partnership under which potentially unsafe Web sites appearing in Yahoo's search results will be flagged with a red exclamation point and warning text.SearchScan, now in beta, relies on McAfee's SiteAdvisor software, which has been integrated into Yahoo's search technology. Warnings are triggered by sites that host spyware, adware, or virus-infected downloads; have links to other Web sites with dangerous material; or have a track record of harvesting e-mail addresses later used to send spam. Sites that are found to be automatically installing malicious code or attempting to exploit browser vulnerabilities will be completely dropped from search results.

"Consumers who use Yahoo! Search will now be alerted to high-risk Web sites. This protects users from known malicious threats such as browser exploits that will wreck their PC with a single click or spyware that can lead to identity theft," a McAfee VP said in a statement.PC Pro, CNET News