PandaLabs has identified over a million spam links used to target Google searchers looking for information about automotive parts from Ford and Nissan especially. Panda calls it “a major Blackhat SEO attack” designed to dupe searchers into downloading spyware or purchasing phony security software.
Searching for the keyphrase “Diagram Of A 1998 Nissan Pathfinder Blower Motor,” for example leads to a Google results page packed with spammy sites. A savvy user can identify them by their unusual URLs starting with an arbitrary number, followed by nonsensical combinations of letters and resolving to Polish domains.
partial list of the keywords and phrases targeted in this highly organized attack and provides a video to illustrate how it works. Though many of the examples target Nissan, Panda says over a million target Ford alone.
Panda Security on
Running a quick Beerinator.com, a North Carolina-based beer enthusiast community, and also of the comments section on
These appear to be the main tactics. The spammers also take advantage of forums—one link showed up on this
Found an error or have a suggestion? Let us know and we'll review it.
Suggest a Correction
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!