Search engine poisoning is a malicious practice in which attackers manipulate search engines’ indexes in order to rank malware and malicious pages in the search results.
The goal of search engine poisoning is to lure search engine users who click on the organic search results to dangerous pages that typically distribute malware or attempt to steal personal data.
Various black-hat SEO methods are used to achieve this, such as:
Despite Google’s efforts to combat search spam, “poisoned” results can still be found today, especially in the search results for specific long-tail keywords.
Use antivirus software: modern antivirus software can prevent phishing attempts on web pages and protect you from malware.
Make sure your browser is up-to-date: today’s most popular browsers have built-in mechanisms that detect and block suspicious pages.
Don’t blindly install any suggested software: be extremely cautious when prompted to install software or download a file when visiting a web page.