Click fraud malware is scary stuff, but it all started from very humble beginnings…
Around 10 years ago the only way to perform click fraud was by manually clicking on the ads. If you think about it, click frauds used to take a lot of time and effort. For one thing, finding those ads could have been a lot of trouble. But not now. The evil, yet genius minds of programmers are capable of generating sets of codes and scripts that can lead to ad frauds that translates to click fraud malware.
So what is this click fraud malware?
The click fraud malware (or software) that intends to damage computer or computer systems is called Malware. It is short for malicious software. Click fraud malware does not act on its own, it has something in the form of support. A website that pops up when you click on an ad or strange landing pages can contain Malware. One of the most common ways of attacking computers with Malware is through emails called phishing emails.
Recently, the web was invaded by Redirector.Paco, a new click fraud malware that makes money through Google AdSense. They have managed to make their way to 900.000 computers worldwide. Each computer is a potential source of click frauds.
Breaking Down Redirector.Paco as a click-fraud malware
Redirector.Paco is quite of an elaborate technique considering it is a click fraud malware. The cybercriminals tried to replace traffics via search engines like Google and Yahoo. And they successfully did it until they got caught.
The malicious fraudsters aimed to redirect all traffic performed when using a search engine and change the results with others retrieved from a Google custom search.
This allowed them to generate money from Google AdSense, which naturally belongs to Google and permits publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve all kinds of targeted advertisements based on content and audience. Google can generate revenue from these ads on either a per-click or per-impression basis.
Redirector.Paco utilized the searches of average users for their own gain. Since they installed fake certificates in the system, the browsers thought they had a secure connection with the search engines. Meanwhile, the tasks scheduled in advance ran scripts that altered the internet settings of the user. Then, with the remote proxy server, the software redirected the traffic.
How Does the Software Get to Your Computer?
I briefly mentioned it at the beginning, so let me elaborate a little more on this issue. You get an email in your inbox with an urgent subject line, sometimes even too tempting. You click on it and that’s all it takes for Malware to get to your device. Viruses spread by phishing emails are the top causes of click fraud malware.
Therefore, your first step toward click fraud malware prevention is not opening such emails. If it’s from an unknown sender, the subject line is urgent but artificial and not so specific, then it is a red flag for you not to click on it.
Click Fraud Malware Detection Software
Another method that will help you protect your investment and run effective ads is by detecting the PPC click fraud as soon as possible and monitoring the clicks. The main objective of software like ClickGUARD is to inspect the clicks and identify doubtful activities, automatically. The special algorithms we have built will find the crooks and block them so that your ad reaches its targets and provides you with traffic and conversion rates.
