Google Doodle Search Results Tainted by Rogue Antivirus Links
In the latest quest for hackers to spread their malicious applications, they have manipulated Google search results to hide them behind the Google Doodle image found on the front-page of Google Search.
Do you ever notice Google's Doodle image on the Google home-page before you perform an internet search? Have you ever clicked on that image and you received several internet search results related to the topic of the Doodle image? Just imagine some of those links leading you to a malicious web page that is designed to download and install a rogue antivirus application onto your computer. That is just what is happening as of late as hackers have discovered a way to poison search results of the popular news event which is showcased as a Google Doodle image for the day on the front-page of Goolge.
Of course this is not the first time hackers have poisoned search results with links to malicious sources. It is happening time after time and the cybercrooks are not letting up in the least bit. In one of the most recent incidents, scammers poisoned the sites offered up to surfers that click on the Google Doodle sketch image on the front-page related to the 150th anniversary birth date of the Esperanto language.
Among the top 10 web search results listed when the Google Doodle image is clicked, a tainted result appeared among them in the Esperanto language Doodle search result list. The link actually sent users to a site that was previously compromised for the intent to spread malware. Since then, the sites have been identified and removed from the results. Unfortunately, the hackers will still make attempts to poison additional search results in the same manner.
Security experts and Google's researchers are always in a continuous fight against such incidents. It is estimated by the FBI's IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) that the scammers have brought in upwards of $150 million in scam related income in a certain period of time currently not specified.
Do you fear that you could be the next victim that clicks on a poisoned search result with links that lead you to malicious sites that either compromise your personal information or offer a download of a malicious application such as rogue antivirus programs? Have you been the recent victim of such a case? Share your experience by posting a comment below.