What is Malvertising? | Malicious Advertisements | Malvertising Explained | Edureka

Key Takeaways

[Music] hello everyone and welcome to another exciting video on cyber security by Eda in today's video we are going to explore a crucial Topic in the world of cyber security which is malvertising you may have probably come across these malvertising advertisements online and while many are harmless some height serious threats this advertisements can slightly infect your device and St your data without you even realizing it so let's have a look at what we will be covering in today's video first we will kick things off by understanding what malvertising is and how it works then we will see how does malvertising operates in which we will dive into the mechanics of how these malicious ads spread across websites followed by malvertising versus adware then moving on to how these ads harm users in which we will discuss the risk us user space when encountering malvertising next the impact of malvertising on Publishers where we will explore how malvertising affects Publishers and their revenue and then we will look at the methods of malware insertions into ads where we will look at the various ways malare gets inserted into ads and lastly we will talk about the steps users and Publishers can take to prevent malvertising but before we begin make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the Bell icon for the latest content from edureka also visit the edureka's website for various training and certification courses the link to the website is in the description box below so what exactly is malvertising well malvertising refers to the practice of embedding mous code within online advertisements and these ads are often displayed on legitimate websites which make them seem trustworthy so when a user clicks on the advertisement or sometimes just visit the infected site m Ware gets installed on their device now imagine you click on an ad for a Black Friday sale but instead of a great deal you get a warning saying your computer might be compromised the site then prompts you to download an application to fix the issue but that app is actually malicious and installs the malware on your computer so this is how malvertising work they trick you into interacting with an ad that seems harmless but in reality it's designed to exploit your device and steal your data now how does malvertising operate malis Ms can appear on both real and fake websites and they usually run through ad networks without proper checks so let's discuss how they work first ad placements Publishers integrate ads into their website using thirdparty ad networks this networks deliver a variety of advertisements to the site then malicious code injection some advertisements are embedded with hidden malicious code which often sneaks through ad networks without thorough checks next user interaction Mal advertisements Target users in two main ways depending on how they interact with the advertisements first click based infection this method relies on the user clicking the malicious advertisement so once click the hidden malicious code activates and installs malware on the device like for example clicking an add for a special offer might lead to a fake download page which infects your system the next method is drive by download this is even sneakier because it doesn't require the user to click anything just visiting a web page containing a malvertising can trigger the download of malware and the malicious code runs silently in the background compromising the system without the users awareness next is the malware activation once the malware is installed it can steal sensitive data damage the system or even Grant attackers control of your device all without your knowledge this seamless and deceptive process makes malvertising one of the sneakiest thread in the digital world now a question that many people have is isn't malvertising just another form of ADW well not exactly so let's break down the key differences between the two first let us talk in terms of definition malvertising refers to malicious code injected into online advertisement displayed on legitimate websites and on the other hand Hardware is software that is installed directly onto your system and displays unwanted advertisements like for example malvertising can compromise a trusted website while adware hides in a program you may have downloaded next talking about placement malvertising is found on compromised websites meaning you are at the risk when you visit an infected page however adware is already installed on your device and doesn't depend on external sites next talking about target audience advertising primarily targets user who visit infected websites once you leave those website the immediate thread diminishes whereas adware continues to affect you long after installation constantly showing unwanted ads on your device next talking about mode of operation malvertising operates by leveraging infected websites without those website it can't execute its attack however adware is persistent it runs continuously in the background of your system affecting perform perance and bombarding you with ads next moving on to purpose malvertising aims to harm users by stealing data or injecting malware and in comparison adwar has a different goal it generates Revenue by floating users with advertisements and to summarize all this we can see that malvertising relies on Infected websites to attack adver lives on your device running non-stop to serve ads so both can disturb your experience and compromise security but understanding their differences helps you to identify and defend against these threats effectively next moving on to how this ads harm users malvertising isn't just about unknowing advertisements it's a significant threat that can expose users to Serious risk so let's talk about some of these risks first drive by downloads so this is one of the most dangerous aspects of malvertising without any action from your site no clicks or downloads malare can automatically infiltrate your device just by visiting a website hosting a malicious advertisement this stealthy method makes it incredibly hard to detect until it's too late next first browser redirects malis Ms can secretly redirect you to harmful websites without your consent these sites May host a ransomware exploit kits or fishing Pages designed to capture your personal data or financial credentials next through overloaded ads and popups malver vertisements often trigger extensive ads or popups overwhelming your screen and slowing down your device Beyond just being irritating these ads may lead to malicious sites adding to the security risk if accidentally clicked next through clicked initiated infections if you interact with a malicious advertisement you could unintentionally open the door to several threats and this includes malware installations that can compromise your device then fishing websites which are designed to steal sensitive information such as login credentials or payment details the dangers of malvertising extend for Beyond inconvenience they threaten your privacy data security and even Financial well-being often operating in a ways that are invisible to the average user next let us look at the impact of mtis Ms on Publishers well malvertising doesn't just harm users it also poses significant risk for Publishers so let's talk about how it affects them here first we have a reputation damage when malicious advertisements are displayed on a Publishers website users often Associated the harmful experience with the site itself even through Publishers may not have direct control over the ads their credibility takes a hit so over time this erosion of trust can drive users away for good next loss of traffic and revenue as users become way of visiting site with malvertising Publishers experience a decline in website traffic for e-commerce sites or businesses reliant on ADD Revenue this means favor sales lower engagement and loss of income next is legal consequences if a user's personal or financial data is compromised due to malvertising on a publisher site the publisher could face legal action in some cases they may be held accountable for not maintaining a secure ad environment Le leading to costly lawsuits or fines these are some reasons why it's crucial for them to carefully examine networks and Implement robust security measures to prevent malicious ads from sleeping through next moving on to methods of malware insertions into ads there are multiple techniques through which malware can be inserted into online ads so let's discuss how it happens first malware in ad calls so when the browser requests an ad attackers can inject malicious code during the fetching process and this happens through third party ad networks or services that the publisher might be using this malicious ad request deliver harmful code to the users device even before they interact with the ad next malware injected post click after a user clicks on an ad they are often redirect to a landing page if that page has been compromised it can automatically download malware onto the user system and this is known as the post click injection where that isn't activated until the user clicks but it can still cause significant damage once the page loads next harmful code embedded in ads ads can contain hidden malicious code which may be embedded within text images banners or even videos this code can execute once the ad is displayed on the users's browser even without clicking like for example hidden scripts in banners or embedded videos can exploit browser vulnerabilities and infect the system and this methods show how malare can be stealthily introduced into your system through ads even without your direct interaction with the ad itself next let us see the strategies to prevent malvertising preventing malvertising involves both proactive measures for users and Publishers so let's start with how users can stay proactive against them so for users use an add blocker one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent malvertising is to use an ad blocker this tools block all the ads on websites including potentially harmful ones ensuring that malicious ads never reach your device next keep your software updated make sure to update your browser operating systems and plugins regularly updates often contain important security patches that fix vulnerabilities that maltier could exploit to deliver malicious content and keeping everything up to date is a crucial defense against threats next use antivirus software so you can install reliable antivirus software that can detect block and remove malware before it can infect your system this programs are continuously updated to recognize new types of threats and provide an extra layer of protection against malicious ads now let's talk about the steps Publishers can take to protect their platforms so for Publishers screen ads carefully Publishers must verify that ads comes from trusted sources so before appearing on a website as should be scanned for malous code helping to ensure that harmful content doesn't reach users next limit dangerous content restrict the types of files that can be included in ads like for example avoid allowing ads with executable files scripts or other potential dangerous content and by limiting what can be embedded in the ads the risk of malvertising is greatly reduced next Publishers can use strict ad scanning processes before allowing ads to be shown Implement a rigorous ad scanning process and this process involves testing and inspecting ads with Advanced security tools to ensure they are free from malicious code only advertisements that pass these checks should be allowed on the site and by following these strategies both users and Publishers can significantly reduce the risk of being victimized by malvertising ensuring a safer browsing experience for everyone all right this brings us to the end of today's video on malvertising as we have already discuss malvertising is a serious online threat but with the right precautions you can protect yourself against it so if you enjoyed listening to this video please be kind enough to like it and you can comment on any of your doubts and queries we will reply to them or the earliest also do look up for more videos and playlist And subscribe to the edua YouTube channel to learn more thank you and happy learning