iCloud Searches Can Lead to Scareware

Security researchers from antivirus vendor Trend Micro warn that searching for Apple's upcoming iCloud service can lead to scareware websites.

iCloud is a new platform announced by Apple earlier this month that is set replace a series of services the company currently offers and bring new ones as well.

There's been a lot of buzz surrounding the new unified platform because of its ability of syncing emails, contacts, calendars, bookmarks and other data across all iDevices, Macs and even Windows-based PCs.

One feature that everyone is waiting for is a cloud-based music service called iTunes Match which will allow subscribers to obtain high-quality DRM-free versions of songs they already have.

It's no wonder that people are keeping an eye out for any news and rumors about the upcoming platform, however, those doing so should be careful because scareware pushers are trying to capitalize on the topic.

Security researchers from Trend Micro warn that some searches can result in links that redirect users to pages trying to scare them into downloading and installing rogue antivirus programs.

These results are promoted through compromised websites in what is known as black hat search engine optimization (BHSEO). "We have [...] seen several pages with file names containing 'apple' and 'icloud' in what appears to be compromised sites, suggesting a possible coordinated mass compromise leveraging these keywords," the Trend fraud analyst Paul Pajares writes.

One example is a mobile game and news site called MyMobi.com which was compromised and used to host fake pages riddled with icloud-related terms. "We previously blocked the site because of malicious activities but it appears that the site has since been cleaned," Mr. Pajares notes.

Users are advised to only obtain their news from reputable sources and refuse any unsolicited downloads. Web-based alerts about their computers being infected should be ignored and dismissed.