SEO Fraud/Poisoning: What, How, and Why?

Search engine optimization, better known as SEO, uses search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and others. The way a search is performed is by typing specific phrases and keywords which fetch the relevant information.

SEO is the backbone of successful marketing campaigns and why brands enjoy the presence, they have today. However, there’s a sinister side to search engine optimization that’s known as SEO poisoning.

What is SEO Poisoning?

Search engine optimization poisoning (SEO poisoning) or Black Hat SEO is a relatively old technique that involves the following activities:

•       Shady practices to achieve high search engine ranking
•       Skimming through and exploiting vulnerabilities to spread malware

Two types of people use SEO poisoning. Some legitimate websites commit SEO fraud to unfairly increase their search engine ranking (appear in the top results), and some use SEO poisoning to target website visitors with malware.

What’s the purpose of SEO poisoning?

The intention of any individual conducting SEO poisoning is to increase the web traffic of a website drastically. Typically, SEO poisoning occurs on malicious sites that may host malware or engage in social engineering attacks. An attacker takes advantage of popular search terms to inject malware on sites.

How SEO Poisoning Takes Place

SEO poisoning has become an industry norm that can be regarded as SEO fraud as a service. Not all SEO individuals want to play by the book and build genuine long-term successful links on their sites.

Unethical SEO practices bring increased website traffic and result in the short term, but they’re not sustainable. This is primarily because the search engine giant, Google, conducts core updates every month where unnatural and malicious links are nonindexed and given less priority.

For those engaging in SEO poisoning, their intentions are primarily malicious, meaning the attacker aims to install malware such as trojans, attack the user’s machine, or trick the user into providing their sensitive data.

An attacker creates a fake website bearing the name and description of a trending event and injects the website with malicious links leading to a bogus website. The website then asks for your private information, including your bank details. The website might also urge you to send a small amount to a particular address.

The information you submitted can be used for identity theft, and the malware link you just clicked may corrupt your computer. What’s worse is that the malware could be spyware or ransomware. In such an event, you’ll be locked out of your computer unless you pay the ransom. 

Why SEO Poisoning Takes Place

Since SEO poisoning is about gaining the maximum amount of traffic by reaching out to many people quickly and in relatively less time, the malicious attacks often revolve around trending search terms. For example, SEO poisoning attacks escalate during significant events such as Halloween, Christmas, New Year, Black Friday, and other prominent days.

Malicious individuals spare no event and capitalize on anything that can get the maximum return. For example, during natural disasters, attackers carried out SEO poisoning attacks to have victims send monetary aid to fake accounts. Natural disasters aren’t the only events as political events such as Elections and other sports events are also targeted.

How to Protect Yourself Against SEO Poisoning

Protecting yourself from search engine optimization poisoning attacks is a straightforward process:

•       Ignore links and ads you’re unfamiliar with
•       Keep your browser up to date
•       Update your antivirus software and other apps
•       Don’t provide your personal information to shady websites

It comes down to how cautious you are about your online privacy and security which is linked with your IP address. Make sure to hide your IP address for online anonymity. In today’s time, one can never be too sure, so unless you’re certain the website is authentic and your transaction is secured, don’t disclose any details.

Author

Usman Khan is a curious soul and spends his time learning and researching new subjects every day including – technology and digital security. He regularly pours out his learnings as a blog on various platforms and wants to leave his mark on the digital landscape.