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Security experts are warning users to be on the alert for a new hacking technique involving fake blogs.  Hackers have begun exploiting Google’s Trends Lab, which lists the days most searched topics.  They use this information to create real news stories which they then place on a fake blog in order to increase page rankings. Unsuspecting users who click through to the blog are presented with several videos.

From there, the routine uses an old but still effective trick.  When a video is clicked on, a pop up prompts them to download a codec-which is actually malicious software.  The software loads a fake antispyware program which nags and goads the user into purchasing still more malware which exposes their personal info.

“Placing malware in video links on fake blogs is not a novel approach,” explained Paul Lipman, Webroot’s senior vice president and general manager of Consumer Business. “However, the fact that these hackers are now manipulating Google’s methods for relevance to increase the ranking of these sites is new and greatly increases the number of people exposed to this threat.”

Protecting yourself just requires fully updated security software (anti-virus, anti-spyware, and a firewall) and a little common sense. Don’t download software from peer to peer networks or “warez” sites or videos from unfamiliar sites, and if you use Windows, make sure to keep it updated.  I highly recommend AVG.  Not only is it free, but it has an IE plug in that will alert you if any site that comes up in search results is a threat.  Firefox also does an excellent job of this.  Safari users beware, Safari has no malware or spyware detection tools at all.

Read [BusinessWire]