Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity
    • Database
    • PC Hardware

    Finjan: Bogus Anti-virus Is Big Business

    By
    Brian Prince
    -
    March 23, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The stock market may be struggling, but the market for purveyors of rogue anti-virus is going strong.

      In a report, researchers at Finjan offered a peek into the inner-workings of the market for rogue anti-virus. The company focused on a group of cyber-crooks running a rogueware affiliate network that hauled in an average of $10,800 a day in profits.

      The affiliate network is divided into two teams, one responsible for compromising legitimate Websites and injecting Web pages with popular keywords and typos. These pages redirect users to Websites owned by Team B, which tries to install the rogue AV on the user’s desktop.

      “Team B pays Team A for every user Team A manage to redirect to Team B Website,” explained Finjan CTO Yuval Ben-Itzhak.

      The profits can be impressive. A look at a traffic management server based in the Ukraine found 1.8 million users were redirected to the rogue anti-virus software site during a 16-day period. The installation rates varied from 7 percent to as high as 12 percent. Some 1.79 percent of the victims who installed the AV paid $50 for the fake software, with 58 to 90 percent flowing back to the network.

      The group behind this operation relied heavily on search engine optimization (SEO). Fellow security vendors Symantec and McAfee have found similar SEO-poisoning techniques being used in malware campaigns, and said the trend has been increasing since the beginning of the year.

      To further improve their chances of placing high in a search, the hackers inserted SEO targeted pages to compromised Websites. According to Finjan, the injected pages were actually PHP scripts dynamically generating search keywords with typos and popular terms. The script is based on a parameter passed in the URL, hxxp://[compromised-domain]/talk/page.php?id=1503. Each of the dynamically generated pages was linked to other dynamically generated pages to increase the probability the search engine would index even more keywords for the compromised sites.

      The end result was users searching for popular keywords (with or without typos) on search engines were sometimes directed to a malicious page that tried to install the rogueware on their PCs.

      “In the last two months we have seen these SEO techniques a lot,” Ben-Itzhak said. “It is happening on legit Websites that were compromised and fill the Web page with keywords. These pages trick the search engine spider.”

      “I believe there are a few dozen groups doing that today,” the CTO continued. “Having the great numbers they make, the number of groups increase and their techniques are improving.”

      Brian Prince

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×