Malware Targets Through Search Engines

In 2011, malicious sites increased 240 percent, according to recent research from security firm Blue Coat Systems. Malware networks, or malnets, infiltrate through search engines in 40 percent of attacks, followed by email at nearly 12 percent, and social networking at just over 6 percent.

Using a search engine seems safe from a user standpoint, but the new data suggests otherwise. As more malnets find ways to expose users' vulnerability to privacy breaches, search engines and other networks must find ways to notify unsuspecting users, and keep their platforms secure.

The malnet increase in 2011 suggests more to come this year. Nearly two-thirds of all new cyber attacks will derive from malware networks, according to Blue Coats.

"The ease of buying, customizing and deploying malicious software kits, coupled with a faster rotation through domain names, drove a 240 percent increase in malicious sites", said Chris Larsen, senior malware researcher, Blue Coat Systems, in a press release. "With the average business now facing 5,000 threats per month, identifying and tracking malnets to block attacks at the source before they are launched is the most effective protection".

Statistics show one in 142 searches on an engine like Google or Yahoo leads to a malicious site, which is frequent when running a search is common throughout the day on a computer, smartphone or tablet. Combined with the other ways malnets can compromise security, like social networking, risk multiplies for people and businesses who are online on a variety of platforms.

Malnets targets through search terms, taking advantage of the search engine optimization used by a variety of Internet businesses. From there, malnets get to their users in multiple forms.

For example, Blue Coat's research found that a malnet, Shnakule, was responsible for much for the malicious activity through fake anti-virus programs, pornography, gambling, "malvertising" and work-at-home scams.

The predicted increase of malnet attacks in 2012 means search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! must work out how to protect their users.

In the case of Google, searches that turn up sites that could be malicious trigger notifications, but well-disguised malnets pose a new challenge. In the past, Google has responded to malware attacks by notifying affected users by determining what web traffic is coming from proxy servers controlled by the attackers.

Facebook was a target of malware that ended up compromising user accounts. In addition to compromising individuals, malware is able to take down whole systems and jeopardize social functions, like the recent case at a Georgia hospital.

Blue Coat's study suggests that the free services Internet users rely on can betray their privacy even without the provider's knowledge. As malware networks continue to find ways to infiltrate major services like Google and Facebook, the pressure is on those same Internet pioneers to focus their trademark innovation on user security.