SEO Poisoning: How Cybercriminals Are Turning Search Engines into Traps

This report provides a high-level overview of SEO poisoning as a cyber threat, describing how adversaries manipulate search rankings to deliver malware and phishing, with observed increases in detections and examples such as Gootloader-driven lures, fake e‑commerce sites, fraudulent software downloads, and niche search queries. It outlines defensive practices for businesses (secure SEO hygiene and monitoring), users (source verification, security tools, awareness), and search engines (ML-driven detection, safe browsing, reputation systems), emphasizing vigilance as attackers continually adapt.