Google Ads
1Campaign platform helps malicious Google ads evade detection
A newly identified cybercrime service known as 1Campaign is enabling threat actors to run malicious Google Ads that remain online for extended periods while evading scrutiny from security researchers. 1Campaign is a cloaking service that passes Google’s screening process and shows malicious content only to real potential victims. Security researchers and automated scanners are served […]
Fake Calendly invites spoof top brands to hijack ad manager accounts
An ongoing phishing campaign impersonates popular brands, such as Unilever, Disney, MasterCard, LVMH, and Uber, in Calendly-themed lures to steal Google Workspace and Facebook business account credentials. Although threat actors targeting business ad manager accounts isn’t new, the campaign discovered by Push Security is highly targeted, with professionally crafted lures that create conditions for high success rates. Access to marketing […]
Google confirms AI search will have ads, but they may look different
Google Ads are not going anywhere. Eventually, AI Search results on Google and likely other properties will have ads. Google recently reported $56.57 billion in revenue from ads on Search and YouTube. You obviously can’t expect ads to disappear from its search business. Right now, Google has two AI features. The first is AI Overviews, which appears at […]
Google confirms data breach exposed potential Google Ads customers’ info
Google has confirmed that a recently disclosed data breach of one of its Salesforce CRM instances involved the information of potential Google Ads customers. “We’re writing to let you know about an event that affected a limited set of data in one of Google’s corporate Salesforce instances used to communicate with prospective Ads customers,” reads a data breach […]
Fake Semrush ads used to steal SEO professionals’ Google accounts
A new phishing campaign is targeting SEO professionals with malicious Semrush Google Ads that aim to steal their Google account credentials. Malwarebytes researcher Jerome Segura and SEO strategist Elie Berreby believe that the threat actor is after Google Ads accounts that would enable them to create new malvertising campaigns. This type of “cascading fraud” has been gaining traction recently, as […]
Fake Homebrew Google ads target Mac users with malware
Hackers are once again abusing Google ads to spread malware, using a fake Homebrew website to infect Macs and Linux devices with an infostealer that steals credentials, browser data, and cryptocurrency wallets. The malicious Google ads campaign was spotted by Ryan Chenkie, who warned on X about the risk of malware infection. The malware used in […]
Hackers use Google Search ads to steal Google Ads accounts
Ironically, cybercriminals now use Google search advertisements to promote phishing sites that steal advertisers’ credentials for the Google Ads platform. The attackers are running ads on Google Search impersonating Google Ads, showing as sponsored results that redirect potential victims to fake login pages hosted on Google Sites but looking like the official Google Ads homepage, […]