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Mac users served info-stealer malware through Google ads | Full-service Poseidon info stealer pushed by "advertiser identity verified by Google." (arstechnica.com)

submitted 4 months ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Mac malware that steals passwords, cryptocurrency wallets, and other sensitive data has been spotted circulating through Google ads, making it at least the second time in as many months the widely used ad platform has been abused to infect web surfers.

Like most other large advertising networks, Google Ads regularly serves malicious content that isn’t taken down until third parties have notified the company. Google Ads takes no responsibility for any damage that may result from these oversights. The company said in an email it removes malicious ads once it learns of them and suspends the advertiser and has done so in this case.

People who want to install software advertised online should seek out the official download site rather than relying on the site linked in the ad. They should also be wary of any instructions that direct Mac users to install apps through the right-click method mentioned earlier. The Malwarebytes post provides indicators of compromise people can use to determine if they’ve been targeted.

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[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world -4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They don't work? How naive.

[–] HogsTooth@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago (2 children)

On a bigger scale, I think it's all wasted money. Maybe its the autism, but the more I see a company name, any company name, the less I want it in my house.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

The data is very clear... Ads work. They absolutely shouldn't almost ever, but they do. With the cornucopia of analytics available, companies have long been able to see if their ads work, and if they didn't, they would've stopped long ago. Hell even before the Internet they had ways to prove ads work.

edit: gotta say it's pretty sad that so many simpletons downvoted this. Ya know, ads working is something that I hate. I hate ads. I want them all to go away. I'm simply stating a well known fact: they absolutely work, even on people like you and I who do our best to block and ignore them.

You're pretty fragile if that fact upsets you enough to shoot the messenger.

[–] HogsTooth@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Then stop beating the "it's all hopeless" drum. You're certainly not going to change my mind.

[–] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago

Uh I didn't...

Ads work. It's a fact. Just because it's a sad fact doesn't mean I want you to be sad.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

if you think it doesn't work on you, it's more likely to work on you. if it didn't work the world would be a much better place, but unfortunately they definitely work.

but i agree it's stupid especially as a business model and it shouldn't exist.

[–] HogsTooth@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

You sound like an ad for advertising. I've seen the studies and I think our relationship with companies is changing. I trust people/groups/companies very differently than my parents and grandparents do. To just give up... Fuck that.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world -1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

yeah ads famously criticize the product and talk about how dangerous it is