Press Releases
GOOGLE ADWORDS ATTACK DOCUMENTED IN NEW
VIDEO FROM EXPLOIT PREVENTION LABS
April 27, 2007 – Atlanta, GA – Security software developer Exploit Prevention Labs (http://www.explabs.com) today released a video at http://explabs.blogspot.com/ documenting how cyber criminals are using Google’s popular AdWords advertising system to infect unsuspecting users with malware.
As the video shows, cyber criminals ran Google ads for legitimate, trusted organizations like The Better Business Bureau. When users clicked on the ads, they were redirected to a malicious web site that attempted to exploit a common security vulnerability in Internet Explorer. Users who hadn’t installed Microsoft’s latest security patches were infected with a so-called postlogger - malware that’s designed to steal confidential account access information, in this case from customers of 100 different banks.
“The Google attack signals an escalation in the tactics used by the bad guys to take advantage of unpatched vulnerabilities in common software programs,” said Roger Thompson, CTO of Exploit Prevention Labs. “Exploits are threatening to undermine users’ trust in even the most widely used websites like Google, Yahoo and MSN.”
The best protection against Internet-borne exploits is for users to keep their systems updated with the latest security patches and use new safe surfing utilities like Exploit Prevention Labs’ LinkScanner that provide real-time protection against malicious web sites, exploits, phishing, and other social engineering attacks. Learn more at http://explabs.com/products.
Roger Thompson’s blog post announcing the discovery of the Google Adwords exploit can be found at http://explabs.blogspot.com/search/label/smarttrack%20bbb%20exploit. Additional information is at http://explabs.com/about/mediaCenter/pr_042507_01.asp.
Note to media: Members of the media who would like to interview Roger Thompson about this discovery may contact Tim Shisler of Dovetail Public Relations at 408-395-3600 or at xpl (at) dovetailpr (dot) com.
About Exploit Prevention Labs
Founded by information security veterans Bob Bales and Roger Thompson in 2005, Exploit Prevention Labs develops the LinkScanner family of safe surfing software and services. LinkScanner Pro, LinkScanner Lite and LinkScanner Online provide patent-pending protection against malicious web sites and web-based exploits during the critical risk window between the announcement of a security vulnerability and the provision of a patch by the vendor. A Software Development Kit (SDK) is also available to enable third party vendors to incorporate Exploit Prevention Labs’ technology in their own applications and services. More information about Exploit Prevention Labs and LinkScanner may be found on the company’s website at http://www.explabs.com.
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Media Contact:
Tim Shisler/Julie Parayno
Dovetail Public Relations
408.395.3600
xpl at dovetailpr.com
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