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Here’s your Word Of The Day: “malvertising”.
Malvertising is the use of online ads to spread malware (i.e. malicious software, such as ransomware).
And apparently, even Google can’t keep up with the cyber criminals on this one.
Ars Technica recently reported on a significant increase in the volume of ads appearing at the top of Google search results that link to malicious websites.
These ads frequently target people who are searching for a link to download an application.
If the person clicks on the ad, they will end up downloading more than they bargained for.
So what?
It’s simple:
Online ads are not to be trusted, even when they are delivered by Google.
PS If you feel sad about the potential impact on Google’s business, it made a profit of almost USD $79 billion last year. So, I’m not sure my advice will cause a significant drop in its share price just yet.