Malware Temporarily Invades Advertising on Google and Microsoft Networks

Last week malware attacked advertising on both Google and Microsoft networks that possibly harmed users’ computers. If users clicked on these ads, they were redirected to harmful websites. This allowed the hackers to install software and gain control of the computers. Google uses DoubleClick Ad Exchange which does have filtering abilities. They have acknowledged that there were problems and quickly blocked these malicious ads. While they were unsure how the ads even made it onto the network, they believe many stemmed from AdShufffle (as opposed to the authentic AdShuffle). A small typo like this can easily lead to some much larger security issues. All problems with Google have been fixed thus far.

Microsoft had a similar problem with their Hotmail users. The attacks could affect Adobe, Java, and other types of software. It was designed so the malware could be installed even if users didn’t click on anything.

To read more about these malware attacks, visit Computer World.