What is malvertising?
Malvertising, or malicious advertising, is a new type of cyberattack that injects harmful code into digital ads. This problem is becoming more and more common, with Confiant reporting that about 1 in 100 ads contains harmful code. As a result, it poses an increasing challenge for everyone involved in digital advertising, including publishers and advertisers, due to its difficulty in detection.
How does it work?
Malvertising attacks can be quite sophisticated, employing multiple tactics to execute their schemes. Typically, the attacker first gains access to a third-party server, which allows them to insert malicious code into an ad or its parts, including banner text, images, or video content. The attacker(s) can then run JavaScript to show extra ads or content beyond what was originally intended by the ad network.
This unauthorized advertising can have serious repercussions for publishers. If an ad network is hijacked by malicious actors, publishers may see their reputation damaged, experience declines in site traffic and revenue, and face potential legal issues due to harm caused to users. Many well-known organizations, such as The New York Times, BBC, and Forbes, have fallen victim to malvertising attacks in recent years. Often, these attacks originated from compromised ad networks, making it nearly impossible for the organizations to detect the risks.
How EX.CO protects against malvertising
Protecting our clients and users is always a top priority. That's why we continually improve our security measures to help publishers maximize their revenue while safeguarding the user experience from malicious and harmful ads. We achieve this by integrating GeoEdge security technology, which strengthens our malvertising protection and ensures a safer advertising environment for everyone. Our malvertising protection allows publishers to set rules for automatic content filtering and account-specific policies, enabling them to block any ads as needed.
Additionally, we help publishers reduce wasted spend by shielding their demand from invalid traffic with EX.CO’s Invalid Traffic (IVT) Guard. This ensures that ads reach real users and also enhances inventory value by detecting and protecting against fraud, while preventing ads from being served to fake traffic sources that could inflate costs and diminish ROI.
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