14 DAY TRIAL // Scareware distributors are exploiting the search traffic generated by Google's anniversary doodles to infect users with fake antivirus programs.
Google has made a habit of honoring different individuals or celebrating various holidays by changing their logo with graphics drawn specifically for that occasion which are dubbed "doodles."
If the celebration has an international significance, Google changes the logo on all of its localized websites.
When clicked, these doodles lead users to a Google search page for a set of keywords related to the event.
For example, this week the company replaced its logo with a doodle to honor internationally recognized American modern dance legend Martha Graham.
As usual, clicking on the doodle took users to Google search results for "Martha Graham," with the third entry on the page being a slide of image results from Google Images.
According to security researchers from German antivirus vendor Avira, several of the images displayed in those search results were linking to malicious scareware pages.
Clicking on them took users to websites displaying fake antivirus scans and distributing a rogue security application to help them clean fictitious infections found on their computers.
These fake antivirus products are collectively known as scareware or rogueware and try to trick users into paying for a useless license.
Scareware distribution is one of the most profitable cybercriminal activities and the money gained from it are used to fund other operations.
Cyber crooks manage to push malicious links up in results for popular search keywords by leveraging the search ranking of legitimate websites that have been compromised.
Users are strongly advised against downloading and installing applications offered automatically by websites which claim their computers have stability or security problems. Security products should only be obtained from reputable vendors or from trusted download sites.