Miscreants turn to ad tech to measure malware metrics
The Register – Thomas Claburn
The report from HP Wolf Security highlights the use of ad networks by cyber criminals to measure malware deployment and avoid detection.
Cyber criminals are using ad tech tools to optimize their social engineering attacks, making them more effective at deceiving victims.
One example of this is the DarkGate PDF malware campaign, which uses an advertising network as a proxy to evade detection and collect analytics on who clicks the links.
The report also notes that 11% of malware analyzed in Q4 2023 relied on PDFs for delivery, up from 4% in Q1 and Q2, and that attackers continue to host malware on cloud services as a way to benefit from the trust users may place in these platforms.
To protect against well-resourced threat actors, organizations must follow zero trust principles, isolating and containing risky activities like opening email attachments, clicking on links, and browser downloads.
Link: https://www.theregister.com//2024/02/15/malware_pdf_wolf_security/