PandaLabs Uncovers Evidence – Cyber-criminals Creating their own Search Engines
Today PandaLabs, Panda Security’s Malware Analysis and Detection Laboratory announced that they have uncovered evidence that 
cyber-criminals are starting to create their own search engines and use them to guide users to malicious pages, often created for distributing malware.
This new trend emphasizes how cyber-crime is becoming increasingly professional. Beforehand, cyber-crooks would use malicious SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or “blackhat SEO” techniques to enhance the ranking of their pages among popular search engines. They are now starting to use their own search engines which guides users directly to pages designed to infect or deceive them. PandaLabs has already detected one such malicious search engine that has already received roughly 195,000 visits.
This is how the search engines operate: Once the users enter a search term, the engine returns just five or six results. Clicking on any of these will redirect the user to a Web page created specifically to distribute malware. These pages may include content such as pornographic videos, which asks the user to download the latest version of “Web media player” in order to watch the clip. However, the file downloaded is really the adware WebMediaPlayer. These pages are also being utilized to distribute fake antivirus programs.
This method is known as social engineering, and basically involves infecting users by tempting them to click a link or run a malicious file.
PandaLabs advises users only to use trusted search engines, and to be cautious of Web sites offering sensational videos or unusual stories. Prevent yourself from becoming a victim to these attacks.
