Cybercriminals' SEO Techniques

After reading a McAfee report on The Web's Most Dangerous Search Terms, I got thinking about the SEO techniques which can and are being used by everyone from "solo operators to organized criminals", to fraudulently and illegally con the everyday searcher into clicking on a site. These online criminals' increasingly sophisticated efforts are said to be raking in as much as £7,300 a day according to one web security firm.

Image from Net-Security.org

A popular method used by cybercriminals is the inputting of popular keyword typos (such as Obbama), found through Google Trends, into their site's meta data, as these are uncompetitive and therefore easy to get a site indexed for, are searched for on a daily basis and mean their site can easily be mistaken by users as a trustworthy link. Once the link has been clicked the website (most likely a blog) will spread a malware virus onto the computer through a "video codec" file, or to other users through email or instant messenger.

Another technique these cybercriminals use is the common desire by people to 'work from home', which lures many of them into a cyber trap. According to Hitwise the most popular and risky of these terms is "free work from home". In my opinion if you are ignorant enough to be searching for a 'free' job (presumably implying that you either don't have to put much effort into the interview process, or you work for free) then you may well deserve to be lured into a scam.

Image taken from McAffee report

The true depravity of the cybercriminals is revealed by those attempting to target global disasters terms (such as 'tsunami') to con potential charity givers into spreading a virus or donating to fund their crime. Back in 2005 'Google bombing', as it's known, was more effective, yet the search engines have retaliated in an attempt to lessen this type of crime.

An obvious popular term at the moment is "World Cup" searched by millions of football hungry fans on a daily basis. This, and related terms, are being targeted by SEO criminals to push fake tickets and malware to unsuspecting punters. This is a particularly appropriate event to use for cybercriminals as many countries have less internet savvy populations, searching for updates on their football team.

According to MacAfee the highest risk categories for search terms were 'Lyrics', 'Free' and 'Web'. All fairly popular terms that make up a number of keyword variants when combined with other words. The UK currently stands at 26th out of 27 listed countries most at risk from search cybercrime with the Czech Republic coming 1st.

We (being non criminals) still don't understand a great deal about the way cybercriminals operate, particularly with the fast moving pace of the internet and changing SEO techniques. What we do know is that as much as virus protection software (such as McAffee) and search engines try and fight the battle against cybercriminals, popular culture will continue to drive more people thier way, seeking celebrity gossip, freebies and get rich quick schemes. McAfee points this out by stating "hackers are now motivated largely by profit, the biggest profits can be wrung from the largest pools of potential victims".

Be aware when searching and always think before you click.

For a guide to cybercriminals' exploitation of the World Cup visit Search Engine Watch.

For more reports on Cybercrime and malicious sites visit Finjan.