Something is going to happen. That’s right, something is going to happen that is going to garner nationwide, if not worldwide interest, and when it does be very wary of where you get your information. We all will use those big name news sites to find out about the story, but then our curiosity will get us. Our thirst for ever more information; the details behind the event, the conspiracy theories, what really happened will drive us to open our browsers, turn to our favorite search engine and type in the event.
An earthquake, tsunami, or terrorist incident will cause us to query away. Perhaps our guard is somewhat lowered as we search for news of the event, or our need for more information steers us further and further into the deep-dark net. And in this net, there are those who seek to use your query, your desire for more information, to compromise your machine.
The “storm” is the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and email to take you to sites that will attempt to compromise your computer and install malicious software on it. Search engine optimization is a way a marketer, through the use of a variety of techniques; attempt to get a site to rank higher in search results. When a significant event happens that has a national or international interest, nefarious people on the “net” will now use SEO to get their sites to rank higher in search engines with seemingly legitimate reports of what happened or perhaps high interest alternate theories. Once users are tricked to their sites, malicious software is installed.
Using email combined with high interest events or news topics has been a common means of driving traffic to malicious web sites; it is now common practice for these malicious sites to employ SEO to bring them victims as well. Be wary when searching for a topic of interest to avoid being a victim of these storms, and always use a combination of anti-virus software and a desktop firewall to help protect your machine.
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