The Forums Are Now Closed!

The content will remain as a historical reference, thank you.

This weekend, if you visited the websites for the BBC, New York Times or MSN, run a malware scan.

By DrJBHL on March 16, 2016 9:20:39 AM from JoeUser Forums JoeUser Forums

DrJBHL

Join Date 04/2002
+2257

 

Malvertising (malware tainted advertising) is a plague.

So, those websites were hit with malvertising this past Sunday. The BBC was still infected on Monday as well.

“The advertisements connected with servers hosting the Angler exploit kit. The kit tries to find software vulnerabilities on a computer in order to deliver malware.

A successful exploit could deliver ransomware, a type of malware that encrypts a computer’s files. Victims are asked to pay a ransom, usually in bitcoin, in order to get the decryption key and restore their systems.

Trend Micro wrote about the same attack on Monday. Segura said he delayed publishing a blog post while he contacted major advertising networks, including Google’s DoubleClick, Rubicon, AOL and AppNexus, to get the malicious advertisements removed. He published a post on Tuesday…Malwarebytes detected the attack through users who use its Anti-Exploit software.” – PCWorld

Happy scanning, folks.

Source:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3044874/security/large-advertising-based-cyberattack-hit-bbc-new-york-times-msn.html

6 Replies
Search this post
Advanced Search
Subscription Options

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #1
Daiwa
Join Date 07/2001
+238
March 16, 2016 9:44:44 AM from JoeUser Forums JoeUser Forums

Awesome.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #2
WOM
Join Date 01/2002
+232
March 16, 2016 11:15:12 AM from WinCustomize Forums WinCustomize Forums

And they want to do away with paper money and go to all electronic.  Oh well.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #3
alaknebs
Join Date 08/2010
+5
March 17, 2016 4:06:17 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

bbc does ad??? (not counting their internal stuff that is)

===

looks like it's bbc.com not the british version? never seen ad on the british version and didn't expect there to be as bbc doesn't do ads over here.... then again. i use ad blockers

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #4
DrJBHL
Join Date 04/2002
+2257
March 17, 2016 6:26:21 AM from WinCustomize Forums WinCustomize Forums

"Major websites including the BBC, Newsweek, The New York Times and MSN ran malicious online advertisements on Sunday that attacked users’ computers, a campaign that one expert said was the largest seen in two years." - PCWorld

alaknebs...if you doubt pcworld's reporting, the best place to do that would be in the comments section here: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3044874/security/large-advertising-based-cyberattack-hit-bbc-new-york-times-msn.html

 

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #5
alaknebs
Join Date 08/2010
+5
March 17, 2016 8:34:33 AM from Elemental Forums Elemental Forums

i later saw a similar report in the bbc.co.uk buried under the tech section, hence the edit.

the reason i was surprised about the ads is quite simple. bbc is paid for by uk tv viewers. basically if you own a tv you have to pay a license fee. in return, the bbc does not do ads (on tv/radio at least) unless you include the ads about their own programs. and i think they don't run ads on their main site (the uk one).

i'm guessing they are running ads on the international/american/whatever version of the site (bbc.com) to pay for the running cost so the british taxpayers are not in effect subsidising that site. i wonder what kind of ads they run.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
Reply #6
Daiwa
Join Date 07/2001
+238
March 17, 2016 9:54:01 AM from JoeUser Forums JoeUser Forums

One hopes that AdBlock avoided this.  I use it and my scans turned up nothing.

Reason for Karma (Optional)
Successfully updated karma reason!
View all recent posts
Mark all posts as read  •   Delete cookies created by the forum  •   Return to Top
Stardock Forums v1.0.0.0    #101114  walnut1   Server Load Time: 00:00:00.0000094   Page Render Time:

Terms of Use

Copyright © 2016 Stardock Entertainment and Gas Powered Games. Demigod is a trademark of Gas Powered Games. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the properties of their respective owners. Windows, the Windows Vista Start button and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and 'Games for Windows' and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft. © 2012 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.