Digital marketing spend may still be going through the roof but sadly it is being outpaced by something far more nefarious, with claims that cases of so-called malvertising have soared by over 132% during the past 12 months.
So says, RiskIQ’s annual malvertising report, which suggests the phenomenon has become increasingly challenging for organisations to detect and mitigate.
Delivered through ad networks such as Google and Facebook, rogue firms use malvertising to propagate malware, ransomware, and scams (disingenuous advertising), as well as redirect victims to phishing pages and pages hosting exploit kits.
“Malvertising is a direct attack on the lifeblood of the internet as we know it. 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,” said RiskIQ threat researcher James Pleger. “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 the study, there has been a 132.6% increase in total malvertisements; a 1,978.9% hike in redirections to phishing pages; a 845% surge in scam detections; and a 58% rise in scareware and browser lockers
A recent report eMarketer the shows the worldwide paid media market, which accelerates every year, recently hit more than $500m, and worldwide paid media spending is expected to reach $674bn by 2020.
“Malvertising threatens this online marketing growth,” James said. “For example, users wary of malvertising will block all ads, hampering the success of the digital advertising industry. By the end of 2017, 14.7 million people in the UK will be using ad blocking software.”
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