Spammers are exploiting Spotify's playlists and podcast pages to promote pirate websites by manipulating search engine results. These pages, hosted on open.spotify.com, are being indexed by Google and appearing as top results for specific keywords.

The spam campaign involves creating playlists and podcasts with titles containing keywords related to pirated content, such as games, ebooks, and movies. For example, playlists titled "Sony Vegas Pro 13 Crack" were discovered before Spotify removed them.

Cybersecurity expert Karol Paciorek explains that criminals target Spotify due to its strong reputation and easy search engine indexing, making it an effective platform for promoting malicious links.

Many spam podcasts are being distributed through Firstory Hosting, a third-party platform launched in 2019. While Firstory implements filters to prevent spam and scans for suspicious keywords like "epub," "PDF," and "download," the problem persists. A Firstory representative acknowledged this ongoing challenge, stating they've dedicated significant resources to combat the issue.

Current issues include:

• Six-second podcasts with titles advertising free ebook downloads
• Hundreds of spam results appearing in podcast searches
• Continued presence of playlists with "free download" and similar terms
• Links to unauthorized copies of popular books and media

Despite Spotify's platform rules prohibiting malware distribution and unauthorized access, spammers continue their efforts to spread links to pirate websites. A simple search for "epub" on Spotify's podcast page still reveals numerous spam results, indicating an ongoing challenge for the platform's content moderation systems.

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