Computer users Googling whether Bengal cats are legal to own after finding themselves victims of a bizarre cyber attack.
Cybersecurity company SOPHOS issued an urgent warning on its website, urging people not to type six words into their search engines.
Those who Google “Are Bengal Cats legal in Australia?” have reportedly had their personal information stolen after clicking on fraudulent links that appear near the top of the page.
“Victims are often enticed into clicking on malicious adware or links disguised as legitimate marketing, or in this case a legitimate Google search,” SOPHOS explained.
At present, the dangerous links only appear in the search results when the word “Australia” is included, meaning those Down Under are at the largest risk of an attack.
Once users click on a search result — which looks legitimate — they have personal information, such as bank details, stolen via a program known as Gootloader.
The program can also lock users out of their own computers, per SOPHOS.
While the search term for Bengal cats appears relatively niche, the company claims that makes the hacking threat even more alarming because you don’t have to be searching for anything nefarious in order to have your personal details stolen.
SOPHOS says cyber criminals are increasingly infiltrating innocuous Google searches by using a tactic known as “SEO poisoning.”
The practice is described by the Daily Mail as an “insidious technique in which criminals manipulate search engine results to push websites they control to the top of the page”
SOPHOS urges those who believe they may have been a victim of SEO poisioning to alter their passwords as soon as possible.
Yesterday I was going down the Google page of news stories that they put on there and I seen one that said Bengal tiger cats are legal to own click here for more information I obviously didn’t touch it cuz I’m not interested in having a Bengal tiger cat that is what you’re talking about why isn’t Google checking these stories they post for viruses or hackers what they post on their site for us to read should be clean and virus free and hacker free but they don’t Google is part of the problem
This is only a test to see how many will click on a link. There will be many more in the future I’m sure. BASTARDS!!!!
Once caught, stop hiring these cyber-hackers to work for the FBI, CIA and other nefarious roles. It is time to PUNISH them publicly and televise it so anyone else that does this for entertainment or for ransom feels FEAR instead. Our Judicial System has gone absolutely haywire and across the board the increase in most ALL crimes shows that what they are doing IS not effective – CHANGE Course!
Punishment for hacking should be severe. Look at the damage they create. Hackers should be declared as terrorists.
Hackers who steal identities, bank info, cause financial burdens, etc., should be severely prosecuted and they are not-unless, of course, it is a judge, politician, athlete or celebrity who is bitten. Then the dog is put down. For some reason, John Q. Public doesn’t rate.