Threat Awareness – Threat Actors Continue Infecting Victims Through Top Google Ads Search Results

Threat actors continue exploiting the Google Ad platform to infect users with malware or steal credentials or financial information. Recent reporting highlights how attackers are targeting password managers via malicious ads. Specifically, users of Bitwarden and 1Password reported that malicious ads on Google search were masquerading as the legitimate password manager domains and led users to credential stealing phishing sites. These incidents are just the latest in a series of incidents with password managers and Google’s Ad network over the past few months. Additionally, this further underscores the growing threat of malware distributed through malvertising. The malicious ads are typically the first link users see when searching for software on Google. The FBI warned about this activity in a public service announcement late last month, stating that cyber criminals are exploiting search engine advertisements to impersonate brands and direct users to malicious sites that host ransomware and steal login credentials and other financial data. To defend against this activity, members can utilize a reputable ad-blocker which are free common extensions in most web browsers. Read more at DarkReading.