Guardio Labs tracked and analyzed a large-scale fake captcha campaign distributing a disastrous Lumma info-stealer malware that circumvents general security measures like Safe Browsing. Entirely reliant on a single ad network for propagation, this campaign showcases the core mechanisms of malvertising — delivering over 1 million daily “ad impressions” and causing thousands of daily victims to lose their accounts and money through a network of 3,000+ content sites funneling traffic. Our research dissects this campaign and provides insights into the malvertising industry’s infrastructure, tactics, and key players.

Through a detailed analysis of redirect chains, obfuscated scripts, and Traffic Distribution Systems (TDS) — in collaboration with our friends at Infoblox — we traced the campaign’s origins to Monetag, a part of ProepllerAds’ network previously tracked by Infoblox under the name “Vane Viper.” Further investigation reveals how threat actors leveraged services like BeMob ad-tracking to cloak their malicious intent, showcasing the fragmented accountability in the ad ecosystem. This lack of oversight leaves internet users vulnerable and enables malvertising campaigns to flourish at scale.

TikTok’s software development kits could undermine Joe Biden's order to stop internet traffic flowing from federal employees' phones to TikTok within 30 days.

On 29 December 2022, the CNIL's restricted committee imposed an administrative fine of 8 million euros on the company APPLE DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL because it did not collect the consent of iPhone's French users (iOS 14.6 version) before depositing and/or writing identifiers used for advertising purposes on their terminals.

They’re accused of colluding to carve up the advertising market between them