Protecting Against Malvertising: For Users
Experts advise several precautions to reduce malvertising risk, including:
Carefully vet search ads before taking any actions
Keeping device operating systems and browsers updated
Using ad-blocking browser extensions
Reporting suspicious ads to Google for investigation
Madnick cautioned:
“You should assume that this could happen to you no matter how careful you are.”
Staying vigilant against malvertising exploits will become more critical as cyber attackers evolve their deceptive tactics.
Protecting Against Malvertising: For Websites
While individual users must stay vigilant, websites are also responsible for implementing safeguards to prevent malicious ads from being displayed on their platforms.
Some best practices include:
Ad Verification Services
Many websites rely on third-party ad verification services and malware scanning tools to monitor the ads being served and block those identified as malicious before reaching end users.
Whitelisting Ad Sources
Rather than accepting ads through open real-time bidding advertising exchanges, websites can whitelist only thoroughly vetted and trusted ad networks and sources.
Review Process
For an added layer of protection, websites can implement a human review process on top of automated malware scanning to manually analyze ads before serving them to visitors.
Continuous Monitoring
Malvertisers constantly update their techniques, so websites must monitor their ad traffic data for anomalies or suspicious patterns that could indicate a malicious campaign.
By implementing multi-layered ad security measures, websites can avoid unknowingly participating in malvertising schemes that put their visitors at risk while protecting their brand reputation.
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