All of the websites we visit are collecting data about our internet usage ostensibly so that they can enhance our internet experience. That means directing specific advertising at us. OK, we've known that for a long time. But here's a kicker. Yahoo has inadvertently been helping spread CryptoWall ransomware through its ads.
Security researcher Chris Larsen was investigating where CryptoWall comes from and how it continues to spread when he made a surprising discovery: ads.yahoo.com, the server that hosts Yahoo's advertising, sometimes sends users to sketchy Eastern European sites where CryptoWall thrives. ...
Yahoo ads come from a variety of sources, and one of them is a large server called adsmail.us. Despite the URL, adsmail.us actually routes back to the Czech Republic and receives advertisements from malware distributors in India, Myanmar, Indonesia and Russia. This practice is known as "malvertising."
So much for that enhanced internet experience. And it's probably safe to say that nothing on the internet is risk free.
That link came to us by way of fireeye.com, the company that discovered the spikes in malware traffic around the time of the Crimean and Gaza conflicts.
Does anyone besides me suspect that if the U.S. were to get into it with one of the other super powers there's a good possibility that many of our government, business and personal computers will turn into enemy agents?
Comments