Hackers exploit 'Kanye West died' rumors to push malware
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Hackers following hot stories on the internet are exploiting the latest news about Kanye West to poison search results with websites containing malware.
False internet rumors suggested that West, the hip-hop artist with a knack for publicity, had died in a car accident this week. The rumors created a storm of web traffic to websites with articles about West's supposed death, which turned out to be a hoax started on the 4chan website.
Security researchers at Sophos spotted malicious websites popping up in search engines after the false reports went viral.
Known as blackhat SEO, hackers use the technique to quickly establish websites full of keywords matching top-trending topics - in this case, "RIP Kanye West," "Kanye West died," and others following that theme.
Web searchers browsing to malicious sites could have their PCs infected by fake anti-virus malware (scareware) or other types of malware that can take over their system for nefarious purposes.
Internet users are advised by security experts to keep their computers secure with up-to-date software and anti-virus scanners - and to use some common sense when browsing to suspicious sites.
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