Security News > 2023 > January > Hackers push malware via Google search ads for VLC, 7-Zip, CCleaner
Hackers are setting up fake websites for popular free and open-source software to promote malicious downloads through advertisements in Google search results.
The distribution method was unknown at the time but separate reports in December from cybersecurity companies Trend Micro and Guardio revealed that hackers were abusing the Google Ads platform to push malicious downloads in search results.
Following NFT God's thread, BleepingComputer conducted its own research and uncovered that OBS is one in a long list of software that threat actors impersonate to push malicious downloads in Google Ads search results.
BleepingComputer also found a website filled with fake software downloads distributed solely via Google Ads search results.
We could not verify if the downloads were malicious but given that the domain is a typosquatted URL, the site blocks search engines from indexing content and promoting the downloads only through ads in search results, there is a strong indication of malicious activity.
Germán Fernández of cybersecurity company CronUp provides a list of 70 domains that are distributing malware through Google Ads search results by impersonating legitimate software.
News URL
Related news
- FIN7 hackers launch deepfake nude “generator” sites to spread malware (source)
- N. Korean Hackers Use Fake Interviews to Infect Developers with Cross-Platform Malware (source)
- Fake Google Meet conference errors push infostealing malware (source)
- Lazarus hackers used fake DeFi game to exploit Google Chrome zero-day (source)
- North Korean Hackers Target Crypto Firms with Hidden Risk Malware on macOS (source)
- North Korean hackers use new macOS malware against crypto firms (source)
- Unpatched Mazda Connect bugs let hackers install persistent malware (source)
- North Korean Hackers Target macOS Using Flutter-Embedded Malware (source)
- Iranian Hackers Use "Dream Job" Lures to Deploy SnailResin Malware in Aerospace Attacks (source)
- Russian Hackers Exploit New NTLM Flaw to Deploy RAT Malware via Phishing Emails (source)