GeoEdge uncovers distribution of malvertising in Header Bidding
GeoEdge this week announced that it has uncovered a new type of malvertising distributed on the WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) via ads on programmatic exchanges, predominantly through header bidding.
GeoEdge this week announced that it has uncovered a new type of malvertising distributed on the WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) via ads on programmatic exchanges, predominantly through header bidding. GeoEdge is a provider of ad security and verification solutions for online and mobile advertising ecosystems.
According to GeoEdge, WebRTC malvertising is only detectable via behavioral analysis as there isn’t an offending domain. WebRTC malvertising is being launched through cloud services from industry giants such as Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure, and therefore, blocking those cloud services will block all the ads originated from it, even though 99% of the ads are safe.
GeoEdge predicts that these attacks on ads served on mobile devices, including tablets, are expected to cost $325 million in revenue in 2019. Website visitors are auto-redirected to undesirable content.
“WebRTC Malvertising highlights the industry’s migration to ad security 2.0 – moving beyond merely blocking offending domains and instead relying on advanced behavioral analysis technology that can uncover difficult to track malicious activities,” said Amnon Siev, GeoEdge’s CEO. “With new strains of WebRTC malvertising and other obfuscated malicious activities being developed, I’m confident that GeoEdge has the team and technology to keep app developers, publishers, their users, and marketers safe.”
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