BANGALORE,INDIA: Interest in the Tiger Woods car accident over the weekend, and rumours of the cause, has given Scareware peddlers ripe opportunity to poison web search engines. The story, which has generated a swell in web traffic and searches, has been one of the top Google searches since the news broke.

IT Security comany, Symantec, has observed some search engine results redirecting users to a number of malicious domains:

vir-curemypc-now.com

egafuki.cn

online-scanner-free.net

The websites then take the user through a fake scanning activity before pointing out a host of serious ‘errors’ and ‘threats’ advising that these must be immediately cleaned from the user’s computer. However, the threats are bogus, and users are unwittingly conned into buying illegitimate antivirus software which could then take personal details for criminal gain.

From an IT security point of view, this unfortunate incident is just another fruit ripe for the picking as far as malware writers are concerned. It comes as no surprise that the creators of rogue antivirus or misleading application software have already jumped on the bandwagon and attempted to poison web search engine results to take advantage of this spike in web search activity.

Symantec has advised users to be on their guard. When searching for information on the Web, make sure your legitimate antivirus software is updated and if you are ever feel yourself being strong-armed into buying antivirus software from any dubious online sources- Don't do it! Instead go to a trusted source such as your local physical shop.