A Longitudinal Study of an SEO Botnet :lol: automantic traff and infected for big botnet
Black hat search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns
attract and monetize traffic using abusive schemes. Using
a combination of Web site compromise, keyword stuffing
and cloaking, a SEO botnet operator can manipulate search
engine rankings for key search terms, ultimately directing
users to sites promoting some kind of scam (e.g., fake antivirus). In this paper, we infiltrate an influential SEO botnet,
GR, characterize its dynamics and effectiveness and identify
the key scams driving its innovation. Surprisingly, we find
that, unlike e-mail spam botnets, this botnet is both modest in size and has low churn—suggesting little adversarial
pressure from defenders. Belying its small size, however,
the GR botnet is able to successfully “juice” the rankings
of trending search terms and, during its peak, appears to
have been the dominant source of trending search term poisoning for Google. Finally, we document the range of scams
it promoted and the role played by fake anti-virus programs
in driving innovation.
http://goo.gl/4XO8M :arrow: :mrgreen:
Black hat search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns
attract and monetize traffic using abusive schemes. Using
a combination of Web site compromise, keyword stuffing
and cloaking, a SEO botnet operator can manipulate search
engine rankings for key search terms, ultimately directing
users to sites promoting some kind of scam (e.g., fake antivirus). In this paper, we infiltrate an influential SEO botnet,
GR, characterize its dynamics and effectiveness and identify
the key scams driving its innovation. Surprisingly, we find
that, unlike e-mail spam botnets, this botnet is both modest in size and has low churn—suggesting little adversarial
pressure from defenders. Belying its small size, however,
the GR botnet is able to successfully “juice” the rankings
of trending search terms and, during its peak, appears to
have been the dominant source of trending search term poisoning for Google. Finally, we document the range of scams
it promoted and the role played by fake anti-virus programs
in driving innovation.
http://goo.gl/4XO8M :arrow: :mrgreen:
