Malvertising Takes Cyber-Crime Spotlight, Bitdefender Warns

As malvertising takes the spotlight in the world of cyber-crime, antivirus software creator Bitdefender offers a deeper perspective on this worrying phenomenon. Here are some highlights of recent statistics published by Bitdefender researchers in the Virus Bulletin:

1. In 2014, cyber-criminals are expected to focus more than ever on profit via malvertising;
2. Millions of users worldwide are exposed to malware, spam, phishing and fraud as they visit legitimate web sites such as those of newspapers or e-mail services;
3. Not even publicity surrounding the recent Yahoo malvertising attack ended the increasing wave of malicious ads spread on the Internet. We just spotted dangerous commercials for work in the US on Yahoo! Messenger Insider;
4. Bitdefender research showed that almost 7 per cent of ads found on 150,000 web sites could infect users with malware or target them with fraud, spam and phishing;
5. Besides gambling and weight loss ads, scammers also make money out of business and computer and software commercials by creating fictitious web pages that look like those of legitimate companies.

To learn more about malvertising, you can also check our study, “The Murky Waters of the Internet: Anatomy of Malvertising and Other e-Threats,” published in the Virus Bulletin.