Paedy-Googling is a growing problem in British offices and involves a troublesome member of staff typing paedophilia words into a Google search box when the person is away from their desk and, when they return, making loud fun of them. This can lead to senior management involvement and instant dismissal.

We were told: "In a standard attack, two office co-workers are involved, one will act as a look out while the other types incriminating key words into the search engine before pressing the Enter key, they then scarper."

An IT consultant confirmed: "Once the words have been entered, most corporate web logs will record that the user has searched for these words. This inevitably leads to an entry in their personnel files. Disciplinary action is then instituted when convenient. Office workers are being told to log out of their PCs when they leave their desks for even the shortest period.

Google is favoured by attackers as it is the best search engine, there have been no prosecutions from Paedy-Lycos attacks as the results returned are rarely relevant.