20 Feb What’s Spamdexing?

A Brief Breakdown of Spamdexing and How to Stop It

Spam is no fun, and today it’s still one of the more irritating characteristics of internet browsing. One such nefarious method that uses spam is spamdexing, whereby malicious parties infect a website and inject it with keywords. The goal is to artificially inflate traffic on search engines for their own use, which typically leads users to scam transactions or similar. 

The goal is to spam with “SEO” key phrases and tactics to increase website ranking through artificial means. It’s a common tactic and effective, a common tactic amongst malicious third parties. Typically, they target unsuspecting or unprotected websites and start their spam campaign from there. Essentially, they exploit the value and rating of clean websites for their own gain.

Naturally, no website owner wants to encounter this. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent and detect these intrusions before they can implement anything malicious.

Defending Against Spamdexing

The ways to protect your website from potential spamdexing scams are as follows:

• Strong Passwords and 2FA – Complex passwords not only prevent Spamdexing intrusions but a host of other problems, so it’s highly recommended. Additionally, two-factor authentication gives your business another layer of security, especially if you use mobile devices for work.
• Updates and Patching – All plugins, addons, themes, and anything else requiring updates should be patched to their latest version. This is one of the first loopholes malicious actors seek out when attempting to implement spamdexing.
• Conduct Scans – Routinely perform anti-virus and network scans to spy for malicious activity and actors. Even ignoring spamdexing, this should be done on a planned basis.
• Firewalls – Firewalls (especially Hybrid Firewalls) filter unusual activity and should always be maintained to check for intrusive malicious actors.

Essentially, preventing spamdexing relies on keeping things up to date while monitoring for unusual activity spikes, the same strategies you’d apply in most cybersecurity scenarios. Still, it’s worth keeping aware of.

If you’d like additional info or assistance, you can contact Bytgagig.