Google Video the Victim of SEO Poisoning

First things first, SEO poisoning is a tactic used by 'black hat' hackers to raise the profile of something in a search engine. Naturally search engines frown on such 'black hat' practices, and while it's nothing new, this case is exceptional because it's the first time that a "trusted online brand" like Google has been targeted.

But how does this affect you? Do you care which videos rank near the top of Google Video? It's more malicious than that, and internet security company Trend Micro reports that "... up to 400,000 search queries have been poisoned with irrelevant content which leads to malware virus sites."



In English: Your computer could be infected. That's how it applies to you.

From directtrafficmedia:
The sites in question target specific videos and then redirect users to install a new Flash Player which is supposedly required in order to play the video. Once the malware is installed, the virus can spread to other computers via USB drives and other portable devices.

Further clarification from Jake Soriano at TrendLabs' Malware Blog:
A user, thinking that top search results are reliable, is then unknowingly trapped into visiting a malicious website. This is typical of most SEO poisoning attacks, but it does not end there. This new threat also comes with a detection-evasion technique: only users who are redirected from Google Video are prompted to download FlashPlayer.v3.181.exe.

Trend Micro detects the malicious executable as WORM_AQPLAY.A. This worm -- file name FlashPlayer.v3.181.exe and from that alone one can already guess the social engineering strategy -- spreads via removable and network drives when autorun is enabled. It masquerades as an Adobe Flash installer, which users who visit certain spoofed versions of video streaming websites are prompted to download and install.

So there you have it. Don't install a new Flash player if Google Video tells you to, and make sure your antivirus/spyware/malware or Internet Security Software is up to date!

We've reviewed Internet Security Software from the best security software makers, so if you're under-protected or altogether without any form of anti-virus/spyware/malware, check our reviews.

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