Malvertising Campaign Delivers Millions of Bad Ads
By using the HiBids advertising platform, cyber-criminals have been delivering malicious advertisements to millions of victims worldwide in a large-scale malvertising and banking Trojan campaign, according to researchers at Check Point.
These malicious ads can infect the PC or mobile device of the person viewing the ads with malware, such as a crypto-miner, ransomware or a banking Trojan. Master134, the criminal reported to be responsible for the campaign, redirected stolen traffic from over 10,000 hacked WordPress sites, then sold it to Adsterra, the real-time bidding (RTB) ad platform, according to today’s blog post.
From there, Adsterra sold the traffic to advertising resellers, including ExoClick, AdKernel, EvoLeads and AdventureFeeds, which passed it on to the highest-bidding ‘advertiser.’ “Our discovery revealed an alarming partnership between a threat actor disguised as a Publisher and several legitimate Resellers that leverage this relationship to distribute a variety of malware including Banking Trojans, ransomware and bots,” researchers wrote.
The key to the campaign's success was that the advertisers were seemingly legitimate companies; however, they were actually criminals looking to distribute ransomware, banking Trojans, bots and other malware, which is how the infected ads – not legitimate ads – appeared on thousands of publishers’ websites worldwide.
During this campaign, which is still active, Check Point reportedly saw 40,000 clicks per week on these malicious ads. Cyber-criminals, who measure the return on investment of their ad spend by comparing it to the money they make from crypto-mining and ransom, are compromising the legitimate business of online advertising, exploiting it to display malware-infected ads.
Recognizing that threat actors will always search for new ways to spread their attack campaigns, researchers anticipate seeing more of these types of attacks, though the involvement of seemingly legitimate online advertising companies is of great concern. “We can’t help but wonder – is the online advertising industry responsible for the public’s safety? Indeed, how can we be certain that the advertisement we encounter while visiting legitimate websites are not meant to harm us?” the researchers wrote.
Source: infosecurity-magazine
Latest Jobs
-
- Information Security Risk Consultant, HMG, Public sector
- Yorkshire
- £55,000
-
A Public Sector Information Security Risk Consultant is needed for a long term project in the Yorkshire area. This is a Security consultancy role so travel to other client site locations across the country will be expected. The Public Sector Information Security Risk Consultant MUST have current security clearance and ideally have a breath of information and technology security experience. Broad knowledge across IT transformation, Cloud is also key. Public Sector Information Security Risk Consultant should be versed in working within the public sector HMG environments and be experienced in conducting security risk assessments on sizable IT systems. Broad experience across GRC, ISO27001, NIST is key. Career progression, personal development and excellent training provided. All details kept in the strictest of confidence Salary: £55,000 Location: Yorkshire Ref: GM7720 (Cyber Security Jobs, Information Security Jobs, IT Security Jobs, Cyber Security Jobs in Yorkshire)
-
- Greenfield opportunity SOC / Threat Hunting Services Lead
- Bracknell
- £85,000+ Base
-
Exclusive Greenfield opportunity to DCL Search & Selection. We are looking for an experienced SOC / Threat Hunting Services Lead to build a NEW Security Operation Centre (SOC) / Threat hunting service within an existing security consultancy. This is a brand new service offering for the client. The successful SOC / Threat Hunting Services Lead must, therefore, have previous experience in building a SOC / Threat hunting (IR) service from the beginning. Everything including, but not limited to; selection of the systems, platforms, kitting out the physical office space. Customisation, setting the policies, playbooks, go to market collateral, recruitment (through DCL obviously) establish processes, management of the team, service delivery, refinement, development etc. Essentially the end to end creation of the capability and then the day to day management and expansion of the service. An in-depth technical background is essential, experience across SOC SIEM/ Threat Hunting (IR) tools, processes, techniques, operational etc The goal is to create, spin up and deliver a SOC/threat hunting (IR) offering to clients ASAP in 2020. Investment and board sign off approved. Apply today for more information or contact me directly on Chris.Holt@dclsearch.com or 07884666351. Candidates must be UK based and commutable to Bracknell. Sponsorship can not be provided to Non-EU Candidates. Ref CH7713 £85,000+ Base
-
- IT Managed Services Account Director
- London
- Up to £80,000 + Double OTE
-
IT Managed Services Account Director We are currently working with a growing multi managed service provider who specialises in Cloud & Connectivity services who are currently looking for an IT Managed Services Account Director in London. The IT Managed Services Account Director will be responsible for selling (Increase revenue, develop pipeline etc.) into our client’s current enterprise customers selling public cloud solutions. The IT Managed Services Account Director should have Current experience selling public cloud solutions (preferably Microsoft Azure) into enterprise customers. Currently working for an IT managed services business Commutable to London, Home working is available (Non-EU candidates are not able to be sponsored). Consistent tenure in current and previous positions. Ref BD7703 Salary: Up to £80,000 + Double OTE (Cloud Jobs, Cloud Computing Jobs, Cloud Sales Jobs, Azure Jobs)
-
- Service Delivery Lead (Data Centre)
- Wiltshire
- Up to £60,000 Base
-
A State of the Art Data Centre business are looking for a Service Delivery Lead-in Wiltshire. The Service Delivery Lead will be responsible for maintaining and improving current services to our client's customers. The Service Delivery Lead will also be responsible for a service desk team (reviews, hiring, training etc.) Other responsibilities include: Acting as a senior point of escalation for any customer incidents making sure these are raised quickly and efficiently Root cause analysis Maintain and improve ITIL disciplines Experience required ITIL v3 Certified Current experience within a Data Centre / Data Center Environment Current experience within a Senior Service Desk role. Candidates must be UK based. Sponsorship is not available for Non-EU candidates. Ref BD7701 Up to £60,000 Base (Data Centre Jobs, Data Center Jobs, Service Delivery Jobs)