Have you ever come across an online ad that seemed too good to be true or made unrealistic promises? Chances are you encountered a malvertisement: a malicious advertisement designed to deceive and harm you. Malvertising is a cyberattack that employs fake or compromised ads to entice clicks, leading to malware infections or phishing attempts that can compromise your device, steal personal data or extort money from you.
Malvertising isn't new, but it's grown more widespread and sophisticated in recent years. According to security firm Confiant,1 malvertising surged by 69% in 2020, affecting 1 in every 100 ad impressions. Even trusted websites and services have fallen victim to malvertising campaigns.