Operation Rewrite: Chinese Hackers Turn SEO into a BadIIS Comedy of Errors!
BadIIS is the new villain on the block, turning innocent searches into a game of “Where’s the Malware?” for unsuspecting users. This Chinese-speaking threat actor has a knack for SEO poisoning, manipulating search results like a digital puppet master. Who knew search engines could be so… dramatic?
Hot Take:
Well, looks like the digital marketing world just got a whole lot spookier with “Operation Rewrite!” If you ever thought that SEO was a boring, mundane task, think again! Thanks to our sneaky friends possibly hailing from China, SEO now comes with a side of malware. Who knew optimizing search results could be so… criminal? Move over, SEO agencies—there’s a new player in town, and they’re rewriting the rules of the game (literally)! Brace yourself, because the world of search engines just became the wild, wild west.
Key Points:
- Operation Rewrite targets East and Southeast Asia, with a focus on Vietnam.
- BadIIS malware is used to manipulate search engine results and serve malicious content.
- The attackers use a compromised IIS module to redirect users to scam sites.
- BadIIS has multiple variants, including ASP.NET, .NET, and PHP versions.
- The campaign shows links to a Chinese-speaking threat actor known as Group 9 or DragonRank.