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How hackers are exploiting Google to target you

How hackers are exploiting Google to target you

Cybercriminals are quick to take advantage of any opportunity, especially when it comes to vulnerabilities in widely used web services. The Google ecosystem, with its vast reach and popularity, is a particularly tempting target. While its search algorithms and security measures are very advanced, even these strong defenses cannot completely stop every determined attacker who finds a way in.

Even though engineers at tech giants are working hard to catch and block black hat SEO tactics, cybercriminals are always developing smarter ways to tip the balance back in their favor. The examples below show how these attackers manage to stay one step ahead, demonstrating just how challenging this cat-and-mouse game can be for regular users.

From Google News Alerts to Trojans

Google Alerts is designed to email users about new content that matches their interests, ideally by providing quality articles based on personalized criteria. However, malware gangs have found a way to exploit this feature by flooding it with fake stories which lead to dangerous applications instead of reliable information.

To trap unsuspecting users, cybercriminals publish dubious news articles filled with carefully chosen hashtags and keywords related to trending topics. Once indexed, these posts slip into Google Alerts, landing directly in the inboxes of targeted targets.

Instead of leading to the expected content, these links redirect users to pages promoting fake gifts or disguised software updates, which eventually infect their devices with information-stealing trojans or hidden cryptocurrency miners.

Some of these pages display a prompt asking visitors to allow web push notifications to access the main content. By granting permission, victims unknowingly open the door to a flood of pop-up ads that appear outside the browser, often containing links to rogue extensions or leading to tech support scams.

Trusted sites, hidden threats

An easy path to high-ranking Google search results involves exploiting vulnerabilities in popular CMS platforms like WordPress violate websites by prominent organizations, including well-known nonprofits, US government entities, and universities. In this campaign, the attackers even gained access to local government websites in several US states, universities, healthcare organizations and UNESCO.

The attackers have published tutorials claiming to provide tools and techniques for hijacking social media accounts, with titles such as “How to hack an Instagram account”.

Because these fraudulent articles appeared on reputable websites, they received a boost in search engine rankings. This shady SEO tactic has attracted significant page views despite its illegal nature.

Disguised as account hacking tools, the attackers primarily distributed spyware. In some cases, this scam redirected users to phishing pages asking them to enter personal information to enable password cracking.

Using Google Analytics

If you own a small online store, you probably know that hackers can target you to steal customers’ credit card details. For this stealth theft, cybercriminals need backdoor access to your website. If they succeed, they implant malicious code into the back-end system that handles online payments. However, exfiltrating stolen data on your own servers is difficult because it often triggers security alerts.

Cybercriminals have he devised a cunning way circumvent security measures by disguising their activities within trusted systems. Instead of sending stolen information to external servers, they direct it to their Google Analytics accounts, which are generally trusted by security tools. By injecting tracking IDs into web pages – similar to how webmasters set up traffic monitoring – these attackers also add hidden scripts that cause the backend to transmit stolen data instead of site statistics. This tactic allows for a seamless, undetected flow of illegally collected records.

Redirects attacks on sight

In another title capture schemethreat actors exploited a well-known web application security flaw called Open Redirect to funnel traffic to adult content. This vulnerability allowed them to manipulate Google search results, making entries appear as legitimate government sites, while actually linking to untrusted material.

To launch this scheme, the attackers created numerous deceptive URLs formatted like this: hxxps://your-state.gov/login.html?relaystate=hxxps://bad-page.com. Normal users would only see the trusted .gov portion, but instead of landing on a legitimate page, their browsers would redirect to the hidden, inappropriate domain.

Exploiting Google Maps for digital fraud

Certain quirks in Google Maps’ design can become powerful tools for cybercriminals when exploited by skilled attackers. The impact can vary widely, from misleading users to seriously damaging reputable businesses.

If you assume that Google Maps is based on flawless algorithms, think again. A single researcher managed to create a fake jam simply by walking around with a handcart loaded with 99 smartphones. Google Maps interpreted this cluster of devices as a sign of heavy congestion, triggering real-time traffic alerts and rerouting suggestions.

A more advanced way for hackers to mess with GPS navigation is through something called ghost map trick. Here, a hacker uses a small device to send fake GPS signals to a car’s navigation system, replacing the real map with a fake one. This setup includes a small Raspberry Pi computer, an antenna, a transceiver, and a battery. Once activated, this kit sends false locations, causing the car’s GPS to display a false map and misdirect the driver.

Conclusion

Google’s platform is constantly experiencing new waves of exploitation, showing that even the most advanced defenses and resources cannot stop every attack. The advantage is that Google quickly shuts down new threats as they appear.