Millions of users of Pornhub, one of the world’s largest porn sites, were targeted by a malicious advertisement, known as “malvertising” on the site which posed as a critical browser update.
Millions of users of Pornhub, one of the world’s largest porn sites, were targeted by a malicious advertisement, known as “malvertising” on the site which posed as a critical browser update.
If someone clicked on the rogue ad, they would download a virus which would commit ad fraud on their device.
A security group uncovered the attack which has been active for more than a year on the site, which gets a staggering 26 billion visits each year.
What is Malvertising?
Malvertising is short for malicious advertising, and happens when a criminal is able to seed a advertisement with code that can either carry out a hack or trick someone into downloading malicious software. While most ad networks are secure, hackers can still find ways around security measures to keep out hostile ads.
Porn, a guilty pleasure
No matter what you think about porn, it is a massive product the public wants. According to Alexa, Pornhub is the 20th most popular website in the US and is 37th globally.
While people are not going to stop surfing porn out of fear of being hacked, the incident does reinforce the fact that people need to take a number of simple steps to protect themselves.
Many large companies prevent their users from browsing porn and other questionable content but small businesses, individuals and home workers generally don’t have these protections.
What can you do?
Protect yourself
Before visiting a potentially high risk site, make sure you are well-protected by:
- Keeping your browser, software and plugins up-to-date with the lasted versions.
- Use an antivirus software and make sure it’s also updated regularly
- Backup your PC/laptop regularly will help you recover quicker from attacks and minimize losses
Protect your family
- Switch on parental control on devices that your child will be using to prevent age inappropriate content being accessed.
- DynaRisk users can regularly log into their dashboard to check for potential vulnerabilities and how to fix them.