Online Ad or Scam? What to Know about “Malvertising”
Malvertising Online advertising has come a long way since the early days of the internet: thanks to the magic of targeted advertising and retargeting, today’s ads are even moderately useful, at least some of the time. For most of us, it wasn’t exactly hard to avoid clicking on garish flashing ads for things we didn’t want. But today’s ads? A lot more often they’re about things we legitimately have interest in. That can be good when it helps us learn about deals on stuff we want. But there’s a dark side, too: something called “malvertising.” Here’s what you need to know. What Exactly Is Malvertising? Malvertising is a form of cyberattack that starts with an online ad — or something imitating an online ad. These ads can look like just about anything: a great deal on a pair of shoes, a free download of software that can help make your life easier, whatever. You can probably guess where this is going: you click on the ad, and things don’t exactly go the way you think they should. Simi...