These Hackers Are Using Google Ads to Push Malware

Malware has become a real problem on the internet, and malicious actors have no shortage of options when it comes to pushing this type of software. It turns out that hackers are now setting up fake sites on Google because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making their malware seem more legitimate.

What’s more, they are using Google ads to push this malware. A famed crypto influencer by the name of Alex, better known as NFTGod, has already fallen prey to these malware campaigns. This seems to suggest that the malware is getting an even bigger push by using Google ads than might have been the case otherwise.

Alex had downloaded a live streaming software that they saw in a Google ad. They might have assumed that the software would be safe since they trusted Google, but in spite of the fact that this is the case this left them with a hack that resulted in a lot of personal as well as private data getting exposed.

This is probably crazy, but hear me out...
What if, before Google pushes a paid advertisement link at customers, they checked with the Google-owned VirusTotal site to confirm that the site isn't distributing known malware?
You know, to at least pretend that they care...
🤔

— Will Dormann (@wdormann) January 15, 2023

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this isn’t the first time that hackers have been using such a strategy. However, it should be mentioned that they are using it a lot more frequently, so users should stay on their toes so that they can keep themselves as safe as possible.

Typosquatting is a common tactic that these malicious actors are trying to deploy. They use slight variations of popular brand names to make their sites seem legitimate, and that is resulting in tons of users becoming victims of their campaigns with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Threat actors are registering quite a few domains to spread their malware. Google needs to crack down on the hackers that are using their ads, otherwise they will begin to face a real crisis of confidence from their otherwise loyal consumer base. Users need to be able to trust the ads they see otherwise they won’t be able to stay safe.

Read next: 30% All Malicious Cloud Downloads Came From OneDrive
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World