25 July 2018. AdSecure, the ad verification tool used by ad networks, ad operations teams and publishers, today announced that it has added the detection of the auto-redirect to it’s arsenal. The auto-redirect is considered to be an annoying format and is also widely used by cybercriminals for distributing malicious advertising.

Once a user is exposed to an auto-redirects, the format takes over his browser redirects him to another website page, this all happens with no interaction by the user. One example of how auto-redirects are delivered to the user is through a malicious banner ad. Even if the banner is only displayed and the user has not clicked on the banner it will still redirect the visitor to another webpage. The banner usually contains a JavaScript and the redirected webpage is then used as a vehicle for some form of affiliate fraud or malware. Some auto-redirect scams go as far as hijacking the browser back button or even trapping the user with a pop-up notification to prevent him from returning to the original site he was viewing.

This intrusive technique affects desktop, mobile and tablet. Mobiles are particularly affected by auto-redirects on both Android and iOS.

AdSecure’s Product Manager Mat Derval commented, “These malicious auto-redirect ads used to only affect junk websites, but recently auto-redirects have been placed on reputable websites including The New York Times amongst others. AdSecure’s team and our technology has enabled us to quickly develop and get to market the software needed to detect this malicious ad format. Ad platforms and publishers that use AdSecure’s all in one malware detection package benefit from keeping their users safe from being exposed to malicious ad formats.”

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