Google For Security – Search Detects State Sponsored Attack

So once in a while Google does this thing where they’ll be able to detect if you’re infected just by you doing a google search. I only recall one other time that this happened with a DNS hijacking malware or some such thing but it’s here again today.

If you perform a Google search and they believe you’re infected you’ll receive a little message.

If you see this warning it does not necessarily mean that your account has been hijacked. It just means that we believe you may be a target, of phishing or malware for example, and that you should take immediate steps to secure your account. Here are some things you should do immediately: create a unique password that has a good mix of capital and lowercase letters, as well punctuation marks and numbers; enable 2-step verification as additional security; and update your browser, operating system, plugins, and document editors. Attackers often send links to fake sign-in pages to try to steal your password, so be careful about where you sign in to Google and look for https://accounts.google.com/ in your browser bar. These warnings are not being shown because Google’s internal systems have been compromised or because of a particular attack.

You might ask how we know this activity is state-sponsored. We can’t go into the details without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors, but our detailed analysis—as well as victim reports—strongly suggest the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored.

They don’t explicitly state “Flame” but it’s possible. Or it could be entirely new malware, they really don’t seem to say.