Hackers Buying AdWords Now?

By Jason Lee Miller - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 16:27

Obama ad leads to virus download

Gotta hand it to the Web bandits. Buying AdWords is a brazen new realm for them. A paid link leading to a dangerous malware-laden download targeted President-Elect Obama’s sweeping victory.

The ad, which according to the screenshot at security company Sophos blog achieved top placement for the keyword phrase “Obama win,” clicked out to a “rogue” site and a download prompt for an installer that is “100% checked by Antivirus.”

Despite that vague reassurance, downloading launches a PDF file to exploit an Acrobat Reader flaw and deliver a virus labeled Mal/PDFEx-B.

Hopefully nobody was click-happy enough to click that “Download now” button, especially since neither the paid ad nor the site it led to actually ever said what the user would be downloading. All the AdWords ad said was “Download Now” and Instant Download Download Now and Save Time.”

The text lets the reader assume what it would be related to “Obama win,” and imagine how much time they’ll save downloading whatever it is.

Sophos says the ad has been removed since that sighting.

News Tags: Search, Advertising, Google, Sophos, malware, Barack Obama, Viruses, AdWords

About the author:
Jason Lee Miller is a WebProNews editor and writer covering business and technology.

12 Comments

By Ponting (WPN reader) - Fri, 04/24/2009 - 02:39

Nice Post

By Guest (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/13/2008 - 13:28

External Links

How do external links help the seller during the process of selling a consumer product online?

I know this question sounds simplistic but I don't get it.

Emilio

By Ronald Rutherford (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 18:13

Adds suck but give me some ads that have no Spyware...

Yes add that ad back into things to avoid...

What's wrong with Wasilla???

By Guest (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 18:25

uh, you mean other than they

uh, you mean other than they gave us Sarah Palin? K, how about witch-hunting preachers and secessionists...enough of a reason to stay the hell away from there for sure

By Guest (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 04:48

YES,MAYBE.

WE MUST CARD ABOUT IT BETTER.

WE(SELLTING) WILL ASK OUR WORKMATE ALL pay ATTATION TO IT,THX.

By Kasia Bauer (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 04:33

What's the Page Quality?

I wonder if they were penalized by Landing Page Quality by AdWords? :D

By faraz (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 01:05

Hard to believe

Oh, my God its so hard to believe. Now, we have to be wary of adwords ads too? It sounds really dangerous.

Maybe, they were not getting enough clicks from organic searches.

By Guest (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 17:26

Definitely, worry about

Definitely, worry about the Adwords ads. I was once fleeced by a travel agency who I found through Google ads.

By David (WPN reader) - Wed, 11/05/2008 - 20:03

republicans?

so did anyone think to check for "mccain win" thats bad if even the axis of evil who run these malware campaigns didnt think anyone else besides Obama stood a chance.

... actually... maybe could have been downloadable health care applications?

By Guest (WPN reader) - Thu, 11/06/2008 - 14:43