• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 12, 2010

Online display advertising aggregator the Rubicon Project this morning unveiled Rubicon Security, a new offering intended to combat malvertising - malicious code distributed via online display ads. Rubicon said the new service integrates automated ad tag monitoring technology developed by ClickFacts, which identifies "offending ad tags" and their sources, and prevents the ads from being served before they reach consumers.

The initiative comes as Madison Avenue and online publishers have become all too aware of the increasing incidence and ingenuity of malware purveyors who innovate their methods quickly to stay one step ahead of the industry. Malware can be distributed via fake ads posing as those created by legitimate advertisers, and have even been inserted via authentic looking insertion orders placed by sources pretending to be legitimate marketers, agencies or media buying services. Malicious code can also be added via pixels attached to legitimate ads via one of the many third-parties that may touch it before it is served to a users Web browser.

Because of the constant innovation, ingenuity, and the affect they have had on the online advertising industry, Media magazine named Malvertisers its " "Media Client of the Year" for 2009.

Rubicon said ClickFacts ad network and publisher management suite will enable it to automatically scan all ad tags, advertising creative and publisher pages for content, including malicious code, before ads are served.