Security researchers from Panda Security warn that malware pushers have poisoned the search results for numerous Halloween-related keywords with malicious links.
Halloween is only a few days away and, as we estimated a week ago, the attacks targeting this holiday are intensifying.
Halloween is only a few days away and, as we estimated a week ago, the attacks targeting this holiday are intensifying.
Some of the most popular Halloween searches, such as "Halloween costumes", "Halloween decorations", "Halloween ideas", "adult Halloween costumes" or "free pumpkin pattern", have been affected by the latest black hat search engine optimization (BHSEO) campaigns.
Black hat SEO is the practice of artificially increasing a website's PageRank, through various techniques, in order for it to appear higher in search results for particular keywords.
Cybercriminals have gotten so good at it, that they frequently manage to push their malicious links in the top spots.
The method is usually used to direct visitors to scareware websites, but in this latest series of attacks, the malware pushers are using a "free video" lure.
An image mimicking a Web player is displayed on the landing pages and an associated message instructs users to click on a link, in order to install Flash, if the video doesn't start.
The file served for download actually installs a computer trojan, which is used as a distribution platform for other malware.
In such pay-per-install schemes, other criminals pay the trojan authors to have their own malicious applications delivered to the already compromised computers.
"Installing the software results in a trojan infection monetized via fake antivirus software," warns Sean-Paul Correll, a security researcher at Panda.
The fake antivirus family of malware is comprised of applications posing as legit security programs, that try to convince users to pay for licenses.
They achieve this by employing scare tactics, such as displaying fake alerts about fictitious threats allegedly found on the computer and claiming that an additional pay-only component is required to remove them.
Users are advised to surf with an up-to-date antivirus installed and to be very suspicious of any website, that asks them to install software in order to access content or warns them about infections on their systems.
Black hat SEO is the practice of artificially increasing a website's PageRank, through various techniques, in order for it to appear higher in search results for particular keywords.
Cybercriminals have gotten so good at it, that they frequently manage to push their malicious links in the top spots.
The method is usually used to direct visitors to scareware websites, but in this latest series of attacks, the malware pushers are using a "free video" lure.
An image mimicking a Web player is displayed on the landing pages and an associated message instructs users to click on a link, in order to install Flash, if the video doesn't start.
The file served for download actually installs a computer trojan, which is used as a distribution platform for other malware.
In such pay-per-install schemes, other criminals pay the trojan authors to have their own malicious applications delivered to the already compromised computers.
"Installing the software results in a trojan infection monetized via fake antivirus software," warns Sean-Paul Correll, a security researcher at Panda.
The fake antivirus family of malware is comprised of applications posing as legit security programs, that try to convince users to pay for licenses.
They achieve this by employing scare tactics, such as displaying fake alerts about fictitious threats allegedly found on the computer and claiming that an additional pay-only component is required to remove them.
Users are advised to surf with an up-to-date antivirus installed and to be very suspicious of any website, that asks them to install software in order to access content or warns them about infections on their systems.
