Microsoft sues malvertisers

Microsoft announced it has filed 5 lawsuit against (so far unknown) individuals who were operating the “Soft Solutions,” “Direct Ad,” “qiweroqw.com,” “ITmeter INC.” and “ote2008.info” businesses.

These are the first lawsuits ever to be filed against malvertisers (malicious online advertisers). These individuals substitute the original code from an advert with malicious code that leads users to web pages where rogue security software is advertised or even directly to malware.

Microsoft’s intent is to deter similar criminals in the future and to help discover who was behind these schemes. In the meantime, the advise to:

  • use legitimate anti-virus, firewall and anti-malware tools, and keep them updated
  • be careful when being offered to secure your machine with software you’ve never heard about
  • give personal or credit card information only to sites you positively know to be secure.

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