In 2016, there was a sharp spike in malvertising, a digital threat that has become increasingly challenging for organisations to detect and mitigate.
Delivered through ad networks such as Google and Facebook, threat actors use malvertising to propagate malware, ransomware, and scams (disingenuous advertising), as well as redirect victims to phishing pages and pages hosting exploit kits.
This is among the findings from RiskIQ’s annual malvertising report, released yesterday.
“Malvertising is so nefarious because it’s a direct attack on the lifeblood of the Internet as we know it,” says James Pleger, threat researcher at RiskIQ. “Digital media marketing is what funds the ‘free’ websites we all know and enjoy online.
“The success of the internet and all the people that rely on it is inextricably linked to online advertising success and safety. Publishers, ad platforms, and ad operations teams need active visibility, forensic information, and mitigation capability to enable them to effectively detect and respond to malicious ads in the wild.”
According to a report compiled by eMarketer, the worldwide paid media market, which accelerates every year, recently hit more than half a trillion dollars, and worldwide paid media spending is expected to reach $674-billion by 2020.
“Malvertising threatens this online marketing growth,” says Pleger. “For example, users wary of malvertising will block all ads, hampering the success of the digital advertising industry. By the end of 2017, more than 86-million people are expected to use ad blockers.”