Malicious advertisements on major sites compromised many computers

Attackers who have slipped malicious advertisements onto major websites over the last month have potentially compromised large numbers of computers.

Several security vendors have documented attacks involving malicious advertisements, which automatically redirect victims to other websites or pages that silently attack their computer and install malware.

“We certainly see malvertising on the rise,” said Nick Bilogorskiy, head of security research at Cyphort, a security vendor in Santa Clara, California. “We see it is going to be a major channel of delivering malware this year.”

For the second time in about a month, Cyphort found malicious advertisements popping up on major websites including the Huffington Post and the LA Weekly between Thursday and Monday. The attack is likely a continuation of the first one, Bilogorskiy said.

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