What is “Malvertising”?

Malvertising is the use of online advertising to spread malware. Malvertising involves injecting malicious or malware-laden advertisements into legitimate online advertising networks and web pages. With the increase in online shopping and news browsing, Malvertising is a way of spreading malware that can easily go undetected until it is too late.

How does Malvertising work?

Website publishers unknowingly incorporate corrupted or malicious ads into their pages. Once the ad is in place, a visitor to the website can click on it, causing their computer to become infected.

What is so scary about Malvertising is how it often involves the exploitation of trustworthy companies. Those attempting to spread malware begin by placing “clean” ads on trustworthy sites to gain a good reputation, then later insert a virus or spyware in the code behind the ad for a short time, thus infecting all site visitors during that time.

How do you protect yourself from Malvertising?

• Know that even the most reputable websites are not immune. Malvertising is not only engineered to trick unsuspecting victims but operates in a way that makes it hard for reputable websites to detect.
• Watch out for the signs. Malvertising can often come in the form of pop-up ads, drive-by downloads, in-text ads, or even third-party ads on web pages.
• Use a smart internet browser. Many internet browsers can detect websites that contain malware ads, and a smart browser’s added level of security can make attacks more difficult.
• Run up-to-date Anti-Virus software on your computer. Current anti-virus software protects you and your computer against threats and removes malicious software from your system.