Staying safe and secure online has become harder and harder over the years because the cyberthreats have become more complex. Gone are the days wherein cyberattack prevention meant simply avoiding dubious websites, files, and links.
However, today’s cyber threats come in different forms that make them quite difficult to detect and avoid. One of the most common occurrences of this is malicious sites and malvertising. Considering how these types of threats are relatively new, it’s understandable that many people may not have heard of them before.
With that being said, it’s in your best interest to learn as much as you can to better protect yourself from these cyber threats. To help you out with this, we’ve prepared a brief breakdown of everything that you have to know about malicious sites and malvertising!
Why Does This Happen?
Aside from trying to get access to your device, cybercriminals are now further incentivised to infect as many devices as possible. The first thing we have to talk about is the intent behind these cyberattacks. To understand this, you must first learn a little about cryptocurrency. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably already know how the value of cryptocurrency has been skyrocketing in recent years, and this has made it the target of many cybercriminals. Now, the thing about cryptocurrency is that it’s secure and near-impossible to steal, but there is a way to get it without having to take it from someone else.
This is where cryptocurrency mining comes in. Cryptocurrency mining is a way to produce cryptocurrency, though it takes a lot of time and requires a significant amount of computing power. Cybercriminals have found a way to use another person’s computer to mine cryptocurrency for them. They do this through the use of malicious websites and malvertising as they are effective ways to target a wide range of people all at once.
What Are Malicious Sites?
A malicious website is a site that installs malware on your device that is geared towards stealing your personal information, disrupting your operations, or gaining total access to your machine. These websites usually get you to download the malware by disguising it as software that’s required to use the site. However, there are cases where drive-by downloads occur. This means the site will attempt to install the malware without asking you for permission.
Malicious sites are usually made to seem like legitimate sites, which is why it’s tricky to avoid them. As a general rule, just be wary of any site that requires you to download anything, as the site can be trying to infect your device with malware.
What Is Malvertising?
Malvertising is a cyber-attack where a cybercriminal attempts to inject malicious code into legitimate online ads. These codes will then redirect users to a malicious site. What’s tricky about malvertising is that it can appear on legitimate sites. Because of this, people’s guards are usually lowered, making them easy targets for these types of attacks.
The reason these attacks are difficult to stop can be attributed to how ads work on the Internet. Ads have to go through an ad network that reviews the ad and checks for any suspicious activity. However, most cybercriminals will submit a clean ad for approval and then switch out the ad with a malicious one after it has been approved.
Aside from updating your browser, flash, and operating system, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is to stay informed and remain vigilant. Hopefully, the information that we’ve listed above will be enough to protect you from these types of cyberattacks. If you’re looking for more protection against these types of attacks, then it would be best to consult with professionals.
FraudWatch International specialises in brand protection. We serve businesses, entities, and organisations of all sizes from all over the world by providing them with protection from all online threats. Get in touch with us today to learn more about the strategies that we employ for cyber-attack prevention!