• Guardian, Thursday, March 17, 2016 8:19 AM

The Guardian reports that a number of major news websites have seen ads hijacked by a malicious campaign that attempts to install “ransomware” on computers, according to a warning from security researchers Malwarebytes.  The attack, which was targeted at U.S. consumers, hit sites including the New York Times, the BBC, AOL and the NFL last weekend. Combined, the targeted sites have traffic in the billions of visitors.

The malware was delivered through multiple ad networks. When an infected ads hit users, it redirects the page to servers hosting the malware, which includes the widely-used Angler exploit kit. "The kit then attempts to find any back door it can into the target’s computer, where it will install cryptolocker-style software, which encrypts the user’s hard drive and demands payment in bitcoin for the keys to unlock it," the paper reported.

Read the whole story at Guardian »