Security researchers from cybersecurity firm Imperva have discovered the launch of a new ad placement campaign targeting users through an extension called AllBlock, available in both Google Chrome and Opera.
Ad placement means removing the ads on a website and replacing them with their own ads without the knowledge of the website owner. This process can be done from many sources. These ads may be displayed due to malicious browser plug-ins, malicious software that has infiltrated the system.
When it comes to e-commerce, ad placement is usually done with the aim of showing ads to users who come to the shopping sites of competing companies, thus stealing customers from these companies. Here it appears in the form of price comparison ads and is aimed at tempting customers who see lower prices.
In August, Imperva Research Labs
The plugin called AllBlock that Imperva discovered is one such malware. Although it works like any other ad blocker, it runs a script in the background and inserts its own code into every tab that the browser opens. If you have installed the AllBlock add-on in order not to see the ads in your browser, it is useful to delete it immediately. Google took the necessary action in this regard and removed the add-on from the Chrome Web Store.