Ad injectors are unwanted apps that import new ads or replace those that already exist. Malware continues to infect the internet for over a year, and Google, with a study it has published, wants to show us how diffused it is.
Today, the company released details from a study conducted with the collaboration of two universities (UC Berkley and Santa Barbara) and reveals some worrying details.
According to Google, around 5,5% unique IP addresses (imagine the number in millions of users) visiting Google's pages from Ad injectors. About 5,1% of them use Windows and 3,4% uses Mac (the security myth goes to Mac).
The researchers διαπίστωσαν ότι πάνω από 50.000 επεκτάσεις προγραμμάτων περιήγησης και 34.000 εφαρμογές software take control of browsing and have Ad injectors. 30% of these apps steals account credentials, records searches, or user activity in general, and submits it to third parties.
You will remember the software Superfish of Lenovo that we reported on in February. Well, although Lenovo seems to have retired it, Superfish has made its mark. It is found in Google search 3,9% of the time. Although Superfish cannot serve ads itself, it provides a library that does Companies advertising that the malware uses.
Google also reports, according to TNW, that Ad injectors have hit 3000 major companies such as Sears, Wal-Mart, Target and Ebay who see their ads being replaced by unauthorized advertisers. Often, these companies do not know that something is wrong, as advertisers can not usually know when there is malware on your computer.
Google has already taken action to fight Ad injectors. For example, the company banned 192 Chrome Extensions, which infected about 14 million users. She also improved her tools for recognizing unwanted software, and at the same time informed the advertisers who may have been affected by the scams.
You can read the full study at Google's research page.
