Security experts are warning Google search results for phrases such as "christmas gift shopping," "christmas holiday sales," and "holiday shopping fun" have been steering users toward malware-laced Web sites.
Trend Micro warns that Google is likely being targeted by Russian Business Networks who have worked for months to rig thousands of malicious sites to show up high in Google search results. These sites host exploits that attempt to install malware on computer systems that do not have the most recent security patches installed.
Trend Micro's security expert Paul Ferguson says Google appears to have removed many of the dangerous search results from its index, however he estimates thousands of dangerous links still exist.
Dangerous Web sites found in search results are nothing new. However Ferguson says cyber criminals are particularly devious this time around by using holiday phrases and search engine optimization techniques to maximize the damage to Google users.
The news comes on the heels of a report from Sunbelt Software which detailed yesterday that hundreds of legitimate phrases searched for using Google lead to similar dangerous malware-spewing sites.
Sunbelt observed those Google searches were not holiday related and included phrases such as "how to cisco router vpn dial in" and "how to teach a dog to play fetch," according to an IDGNS report.
(This is an image of Google search results that link to malware infected sites, courtesy of Trend Micro)
"Since September, cyber criminals have been boosting their search engine rankings using a variety of methods such as 'comment spam' and 'blog spam' in preparation for the Christmas period," said Raimund Genes, CTO of Trend Micro. "With shoppers visiting these sites likely to purchase goods online after infection, their credit card details become a main target for cyber criminals looking for financial gains this season."
