A surge in covert SEO poisoning attacks has been linked to the underground Hacklink marketplace, where cybercriminals exploit compromised websites to manipulate search engine rankings. This tactic, recently uncovered by Netcraft researchers, targets sectors like online gambling by injecting malicious links to deceive search engine crawlers and elevate scam content in search results.
The Hacklink platform facilitates the browsing and purchase of access to compromised websites, enabling threat actors to inject hidden code containing specific keywords and anchor text. These injected links, strategically embedded in source code, aim to boost the ranking of scam domains in search results, often surpassing legitimate websites.
What distinguishes this campaign is its technical sophistication. Instead of overt defacements, the injected links are discreetly integrated into websites, with a preference for domains with high reputational value like .gov and .edu, enhancing the fraudulent content’s visibility in search results.
Neon SEO Academy and SEOLink, organized groups offering these services, have been identified as key players in these SEO poisoning attacks. Neon SEO Academy, for instance, targets Turkey’s online gambling sector with phishing and fraud campaigns, while SEOLink provides tools for bulk link injection and Private Blog Network exploitation.
These SEO poisoning campaigns typically involve compromising vulnerable websites, injecting optimized links, associating scam content with reputable domains, redirecting users to malicious pages, and manipulating how legitimate sites appear in search results.
The implications of this SEO poisoning method extend beyond compromised websites, impacting Google’s ranking signals and potentially tarnishing the reputation and trust of legitimate sites. This shift towards combining technical compromise with marketing manipulation reflects a broader trend in cybercrime, with industries like online gambling particularly vulnerable to such attacks.
To mitigate these threats, organizations are advised to conduct regular backlink audits, address vulnerabilities, and monitor changes in their search presence through tools like Google Search Console. By staying vigilant against these evolving tactics, businesses can safeguard their online reputation and user trust in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
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