The online advertising industry is at an inflection point, and not just from falling ad rates, ad blockers and potential regulation. It’s facing a big security problem, and one that – like many internet-scale problems – will demand close industry cooperation to be mitigated.
Cyber-criminals have long realized that distributing malicious software through spam emails is getting harder. Botnets that send junk email are tracked and blocked, and spam filters continue to improve. There’s a far more powerful alternative: piggybacking on the $50 billion online ad industry.
