Microsoft to class man-in-the-middle adware as malware, block it starting March 31

“Ad injection software that uses man-in-the-middle (MiTM) techniques will be classed as malware by Microsoft, and blocked accordingly,” Asha Barbaschow reports for ZDNet. “According to Microsoft, some of the MiTM techniques include injection by proxy, changing DNS settings, and network layer manipulation, which it said all intercept communication between the internet and computer to inject advertisements from the outside. Microsoft said this happens without the control of the browser.”

“MiTM opens users up to falling victim to malware by a practice known as ‘malvertising’, whereby an attacker can trick an automated ad network into delivering malware embedded in ads,” Barbaschow reports. “Microsoft said MiTM techniques add security risk to customers by introducing another vector of attack to the system.”

“In mid-2015 it was found that more than half of malvertising attacks come from news and entertainment sites that inadvertently display infected online advertisements. Rahul Kashyap, the chief security architect at malware and adware removalist company Bromium, said that in many cases, websites cannot do much to solve problems with third-party ad networks, except limit third-party code to run on their sites,” Barbaschow reports. “‘In the real world, attackers buy ads from online advertising companies and insert malware in these ads,’ he said. ‘This is done typically by leveraging an exploit kit that delivers the malware payload.'”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Finally! This is very good news! Death to malvertising!

Do you have to wait until March 31, 2016, Microsoft?

SEE ALSO:
Malvertising: Unscrupulous website ads again auto-redirecting users to App Store from Safari – March 18, 2015
Shady app install ads automatically redirecting mobile users to App Store, Google Play – January 16, 2015