Immunet Blog

In this month's Virus Bulletin, Microsoft's Terry Zink recounts "The top ten spam, malware and e-security stories of 2009" and talks about Black SEO (#7 on his list of top 10 spam/malware stories of 2009):

"7. Black SEO

One of the biggest trends in spam over the past two years has been Black Search Engine Optimization, or Black SEO. 2009 was not the year it started but it certainly was the year in which it really accelerated.

Black SEO comes in two main flavors:

1. Malvertising – This is when sponsored links at the side of the screen in search engines come up, and they are links to malware (which you have the honor of paying for if you so desire).
   
   
2. Page Rank Optimization – This is when a spammer uses various sundry techniques to get his spammy pages near the top of a search result, such as when a user searches for ‘Jessica Biel’.  Of course, there is no ‘Jessica Biel’ but instead is a spam landing page.

Black SEO in each flavor destroys the confidence of the end user. As spam became less profitable except to the elite spammers, they moved onto other techniques and Black SEO is the growth industry of 2009."

VB Subscribers can access the full article by clicking here. Or go to Terry Zink's Anti-malware Blog here.

Black SEO and other malicious methods used by spammers, hackers and scammers to steal sensitive credentials and financial data from consumers are only increasing with the rise of social networks. As millions more users flock online to connect through Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites, the target audience for cybercriminals and the possible financial gain (or loss to consumers) is immense.

Now, as more sites gain access (with your consent) to your Twitter and Facebook login credentials, the risk of having your accounts hacked so that spammers can tweet or post spammy links on your behalf increases. Think your social network account is somehow safe from being hacked? Think again! See Mashable's "Famous Twitter Users Get Hacked" post, and you'll see no one is immune - not even entire Facebook Groups (see Mashable's "WARNING: Facebook Design Flaw Abused; Hundreds of Groups Hacked") or the Chairman of the FCC (FCC Chairman's Facebook Account Got Compromised).

The Bottom Line: Users must constantly be wary of clicking on links when they are unsure if they come from reputable and trusted sources. Even advertisements and text links found on legitimate sites such as Google are not always assured to be malware free. Clicking on a friend's Tweet or re-tweet if their account has been unknowingly hacked can also result in malware, as can any links posted to Facebook Walls. Cybercriminals hack accounts not only for the exploit of embarassing the poor account owner, but mostly for the purpose of spreading malicious software (malware). Ultimately, you must think BEFORE you click on anything. Then go the extra mile to ensure you are protected in case of threats.

Protect Yourself, Protect Your Community/Social Network

To ensure that you aren't downloading malware or unknowlingly spreading it across your social network, consumers must protect themselves with the proper security tools, including AntiVirus. Just having AV protection isn't enough, however, and users must ensure that their AV protection is not only ON, but also up-to-date and able to ensure a sufficient detection level to catch malware fast enough before it's too late.

Our analysis of Immunet's current userbase of 48,000+ users shows that MOST users were unprotected prior to downloading our free Immunet Protect AntiVirus! Over 76% of Immunet users currently have Immunet Protect as their only form of AV protection. Translate that figure to the Internet community as a whole, and you have a significantly exposed population that lies vulnerable to all malware threats. One benefit of having Immunet Protect specifically is that any one threat encountered by a single user in the Immunet Community translates to ALL users in the community being protected from that same threat simultaneously. That is the power of Collective Immunity.

Do you know someone who is currently unprotected? If yes, please share Immunet Protect free AntiVirus with them by forwarding this link: http://www.immunet.com/user/new -- Get Immunet Protect Free AntiVirus.

Immunet Protect is free, lightweight, fast AntiVirus protection. Share it now, because friends don't let friends get viruses.

By sharing Immunet Protect, you are doing your friend a favor and protecting them against malware, but you are also doing yourself a favor as it ensures any friend using Immunet Protect AV is unlikely to infect you from their PC. It's a win-win situation all around.

Become a Friend of Immunet and share Immunet Protect on your blog, website or email newsletter. Read more details about our Immunet Friends Program here.