• by Ray Schultz , July 26, 2017

Fifteen state attorneys general have launched a public service campaign to warn consumers about malware and hacking.

The effort will consist of ads on television, radio and social media in 15 states.

"Criminals are exploiting stolen content by baiting consumers to view videos and songs and then stealing their IDs and financial information. It should be a wake-up call for consumers," states Tom Galvin, executive director of the Digital Citizens Alliance, commenting on the campaign.

The AGs warn that hackers can:

Steal bank and credit card information

Find personal information

Lock a user’s computer

Take over the cameras of computers

Content thieves are making roughly $70 million a year from allowing malware distributors to place malicious code on their websites, according to research from RiskIQ, a cyber security firm, the AGs note.

The bipartisan group of AGs includes:

AZ: Mark Brnovich  
CT: George Jepsen  
DC: Karl Racine  
HI: Doug Chin  
ID: Lawrence Wasden  
IN: Curtis Hill  
KS: Derek Schmidt  
KY: Andy Beshear  
LA: Jeff Landry  
MT: Tim Fox  
NC: Josh Stein  
ND: Wayne Stenehjem  
OR: Ellen Rosenblum  
SD: Marty Jackley  
WI: Brad Schimel