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Malware Delivered By Yahoo, Fox, Google Ads
WrongSizeGlass writes "CNET is reporting that Avast has tracked over 2.6 million instances of malware that have been served up to unsuspecting web surfers since last December by ad services such as Yahoo's Yield Manager, Fox Audience Network's Fimserve.com and even some from Google's DoubleClick. Some high-profile sites include The New York Times, Drudge Report.com, TechCrunch and WhitePages.com. The practice has been dubbed 'malvertising.'
I usually suspect the users of 'careless web activity' when I delouse a PC, but now I'm going to have to give some the benefit of the doubt."
Having been an IT admin in my former life, and also having operated in a similar fashion to you, allowing unfettered access to the internet for our employees (it was a Fire Department, and the staff was there for 48 hrs straight, so allowing them some creature comforts such as facebook and youtube was appreciated). Having solid, centrally managed AV on each client machine, along with limited local user rights seemed to be effective.
I wish more facilities would take this tact instead of letting some firewall with a blacklist subscription slowly narrow the available internet to static sites that are considered "safe." True irony that advertising from some of these safe sites are now delivering payloads. Ironically, where I work now (not in IT), plenty of popup ads from news sites make it through, so I would assume we're vulnerable through this vector.
Ocean is land, covered with water.
And Ars Technica says I shouldn't block ads.
I repeatedly told their staff that I don't block Ars Technica, but I do block ad servers. If they want to send me ads let them server them from their own domain.
Sites resposible for ad-vectored infections should be hit with hundreds of small claims court lawsuits to recoup the costs to clean up the infections.
Maybe then they'll learn.