{"id":8128,"date":"2025-11-17T11:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.threatstop.com\/blog\/strengthening-your-network-against-malicious-advertising-services"},"modified":"2025-11-17T11:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:07:12","slug":"strengthening-your-network-against-malicious-advertising-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/17\/strengthening-your-network-against-malicious-advertising-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Strengthening Your Network Against Malicious Advertising Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/strengthening-your-network-against-malicious-advertising-services.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Online advertising is an essential part of the digital economy, but it is also one of the most exploited channels for cybercriminals. <strong>Malicious advertising services <\/strong><span>or<\/span>&nbsp;<i>malvertising, <\/i>use ad networks to deliver harmful content, distribute malware, and facilitate phishing campaigns. Even trusted websites can unknowingly host these threats through compromised or rogue ad servers. <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bottom line up front: &nbsp;You can now use ThreatSTOP to block ads.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Threat actors use advertising services to initiate attacks such as: <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Command and control (C2) communications for botnets <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Drive-by downloads and exploit delivery <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Data exfiltration through hidden trackers <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Redirects to phishing or fake news domains <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With the expansion of programmatic advertising and third-party scripts, businesses face an urgent need for <strong>proactive protections<\/strong> to prevent advertising-based threats from slipping into their networks.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>How ThreatSTOP Protects Against Malicious Advertising Services<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>At ThreatSTOP, we know that modern cyber risk requires layered, intelligence-driven protections. Our Security, Intelligence, and Research (SIR) team continuously curates high-fidelity threat intelligence, creating proactive protections for malicious advertising servers across IP and DNS layers. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Here\u2019s how our products help you <span>stay protected:<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><strong>Protective DNS (DNS Defense Cloud and DNS Defense)<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Blocks access to malicious ad domains associated with malware, tracking, and phishing <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Prevents hidden redirects from loading harmful content in browsers and apps <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Stops botnets and adware from resolving to C2 or data-exfiltration endpoints <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Provides flexible, automated enforcement using ThreatSTOP&#8217;s&nbsp;<strong>Advertising Services &#8211; Domain<\/strong> bundle<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>IP Defense<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Actively prevents connections to known malicious ad server IPs across routers, firewalls, and cloud environments <span>&nbsp;<\/span><br \/><span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>Provides flexible, automated enforcement of ThreatSTOP\u2019s<strong> Advertising Services- IP <\/strong>bundle <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By combining IP- and DNS-level protections, ThreatSTOP helps customers <span>disconnect from risky ad networks<\/span> before they can compromise systems or steal data.<\/p>\n<p><span>Warning<\/span>: The nature of ad networks can be volatile. &nbsp;Quite often hosted on shared IP services. &nbsp;While we have extensive filtering to reduce the amount of shared hosting IPs in the Advertising Services &#8211; IP Bundle, false positives may occur.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Intelligence-Driven Coverage<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>ThreatSTOP\u2019s SIR team maintains dynamic bundles for <strong>Advertising Services \u2013 IPs and Domains<\/strong>, regularly updated to block: <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mobile and web ad domains delivering malware <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Tracking services that enable data exfiltration <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Fake news and disinformation campaigns leveraging ad networks <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This real-time intelligence ensures that your network is shielded against emerging threats without the need for reactive clean-up efforts.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Take Control of Your Digital Exposure<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ad-driven threats don\u2019t just affect end users\u2014they can compromise entire corporate networks. By integrating ThreatSTOP solutions, organizations gain an <span>immediate and automated shield<\/span> against malvertising, tracking, and data theft. <span>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For those interested in joining the ThreatSTOP family, or to learn more about our proactive protections for all environments, we invite you to visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.threatstop.com\/threatstop-platform\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">product page<\/a>. Discover how our solutions can make a significant difference in your digital security landscape. We have pricing for all sizes of customers! <a href=\"https:\/\/admin.threatstop.com\/register?hsLang=en\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Get started with a Demo today<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Connect with Customers, Disconnect from Risks.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>MITRE ATT&amp;CK Framework Alignment<\/strong><\/h3>\n<table data-hsprotectcellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody readability=\"7\">\n<tr>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\">\n<p><strong>Threat Activity<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\">\n<p><strong>MITRE ATT&amp;CK Technique<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"6\">\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p>Malicious ad server communication<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p><strong>T1071 \u2013 Application Layer Protocol<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"6\">\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p>Drive-by malware delivery<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p><strong>T1189 \u2013 Drive-by Compromise<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\">\n<p>C2 via rogue ad networks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\">\n<p><strong>T1090 \u2013 Proxy<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"6\">\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p>Data exfiltration through trackers<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p><strong>T1041 \u2013 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr readability=\"3\">\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\" readability=\"5\">\n<p>Phishing redirects via ad domains<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td data-hsprotectvalign=\"top\">\n<p><strong>T1566 \u2013 Phishing<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.threatstop.com\/blog\/strengthening-your-network-against-malicious-advertising-services\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online advertising is an essential part of the digital economy,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,62,215,216,61],"tags":[653,68],"class_list":["post-8128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dns","category-dns-security","category-passive-dns","category-pdns","category-protective-dns","tag-ip-defense","tag-protective-dns"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Threat Stop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/threatstop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/dns\/\" rel=\"category tag\">DNS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/dns-security\/\" rel=\"category tag\">DNS Security<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/passive-dns\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Passive DNS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/pdns\/\" rel=\"category tag\">PDNS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/protective-dns\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Protective DNS<\/a>","tag_info":"Protective DNS","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}