Operation Rewrite: The Hilarious Hijinks of SEO Poisoning
In March 2025, we discovered “Operation Rewrite,” a sneaky SEO poisoning campaign led by a Chinese-speaking threat actor. This operation cleverly manipulates search engine results using a malicious module called BadIIS. It’s like turning a legitimate website into a surprise party for unwanted sites, but the balloons are gambling and porn sites.
Hot Take:
In a world where search engines are our best friends, “Operation Rewrite” is like that sneaky friend who swaps your pizza with diet kale salad when you’re not looking. This Chinese-speaking threat actor is taking SEO to the next level—by poisoning it! And just when you thought you were safe Googling “cute cat videos,” you end up at a gambling site. Talk about a wild redirect!
Key Points:
- Operation Rewrite is a Chinese-led SEO poisoning campaign.
- BadIIS modules are the culprits, manipulating web traffic via compromised servers.
- The campaign targets East and Southeast Asia, with a focus on Vietnam.
- BadIIS variants include ASP.NET handlers and PHP scripts.
- Palo Alto Networks offers protection through Advanced WildFire and Cortex XDR.
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