Beware of Online Ad Attacks

Beware of Online Ad Attacks

Due to improving technology today, many of us are not so aware how online ads attack us. Once you click a link or an online ad, do you know that hackers can infect your computer through these web ads even you're on a very reliable website?

According to CNN Money, hackers can make their malware a legitimate and trust-worthy online ad. Once you visit a website wherein hackers included malwares, you're unknowingly downloading computer viruses. That is called "Malvertising."

Malvertisements already hit some of the popular websites that we know today, like Amazon, Dictionary.com, Yahoo and just recently, Youtube. According to a security firm RiskIQ, the volume of the malicious ads today has nearly doubled every year since 2011. They discovered 432, 374 of them so far this 2014. The CTO of online ad platform AppNexus, Geir Magnusson said that ad tech industry recognizes this as a serious problem.

Hackers also use malvertisements to steal bank account information and lock up several files to hold them for ransom. Today, hackers are getting smarter because they can now develop attacks that can slip past security scanners. Several online ad networks allow advertisers to discover your specific location, browsing history and the OS that you use. They use this information to upgrade the ads that they will send to you, for example, if the malware exploits a bug in Windows XP, it won't appear if you use Windows 7.

If you notice a box is reserved for advertising on a website. These ads redirect you to a dozen different computer servers before it finally loads the ad. That's how hackers go unnoticed: The first package of data they send seems fine, but they eventually redirect you to a server that spits out malware. They set up deceptive servers to trick ad networks and consumers alike.

When Times of Israel was hit with malvertising last September, it took 14 hours to figure out what ad agency was unconsciously passing along the bad ads, according to Jess Dolgin, whose J Media firm serves as the news website's advertising department.

So be vigilant in every ad that you click, malware are just in the corner of your computer screen. Don't click an ad if you're not so sure about it, so that you can secure your computer and your privacy.

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