Hackers' Latest Targets: Google's Webmaster Tools

jfruh writes: The latest attack vector hackers are taking advantage of: Google's Webmaster tools, which allow domain owners to index new pages for searching and react quickly to Google-detected malware. It's that last capability that hackers are after, tweaking things to keep infected sites under their control longer. From the ITWorld story: "According to the Sucuri researchers, by becoming verified owners for compromised websites, attackers can track how well their BHSEO campaigns perform in Google Search. They can also submit new spam pages to be indexed faster instead of waiting for them to be discovered naturally by Google's search robots, they can receive alerts if Google flags the websites as compromised, and, most importantly, they can remove legitimate owners of the site from the Search Console."

Comments

"vector" has a specific meaning, and TFA uses wron

[raymorris]

The headline says that Google webmaster tools (wmt) is the TARGET. That's more correct than saying wmt is the vector, because vector actually does have a specific meaning in information security. Calling wmt the "attack" would also be wrong.

The vector is basically the specific method used in an attack. An attack is an event, in which an actor exploits a vulnerability , using a specific vector, against a target. The vector is HOW the attacker gains control of the gmt account.