Deceptive Ascent: How Attackers Poison Search Results

Abstract

To promote websites among search results Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques are often   used and over the past few years the rising rate of increased spread of malware through the Internet has opened up new dimensions for the attackers along with the traditional techniques for spreading malware (such as through links or attachments in spam emails). The attackers are continuously devising advance methods to launch attacks among which a technique that has came into the limelight is the selection of search engines for  distributing malware with high potential to produce devastating results. SEO attacks poisons the search results for popular queries by spreading malware, although recent, appear to be both widespread and effective where legitimate Websites are compromised and a large number of fake pages targeting trendy keywords are generated as a result.