In an effort to combat the growing threat of malvertising and reduce the risk of cyber-facilitated fraud, government guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been released for brands and their advertising partners.

This initiative aims to make it harder for cyber-criminals to deliver malicious advertising and enhance security standards across the digital advertising industry.

To protect against the rising threat of malvertising, digital advertising partners are advised to adopt several critical security measures.

Firstly, digital advertising partners are encouraged to implement robust ‘Know Your Customer’ measures to verify customer identities and monitor customer activities, making it difficult for malicious actors to infiltrate their advertising ecosystems.

Additionally, partners have been advised to introduce robust cybersecurity practices by securing infrastructure such as servers, code and data transfers, with a focus on transparency and thorough vetting of third-parties.

Partners must adhere to reputable data usage practices by complying with GDPR and using verified data channels to safeguard sensitive information. Industry standards like ads.txt and buyers.json should be implemented to improve transparency and combat malvertising, with independent certifications signalling best-practice compliance.

Effective malvertising detection and removal measures are crucial for maintaining safe user experiences and protecting campaigns from malicious content.

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“This is a great step forward and it’s encouraging to see the government are taking the security of digital advertising seriously in today’s tech landscape,” Ben Green, chief revenue officer at adCAPTCHA, said.

“It’s crucial to consider the growing threat posed by bots in the digital advertising ecosystem, as bot activity has become a worrying challenge for advertisers and brands by compromising their security.

“Bots often disguise themselves as legitimate human users to conduct malicious activities such as distributing malware or manipulating ad auctions.

“To counter this threat, digital advertising partners must implement sophisticated bot detection and mitigation systems to protect themselves and clients from harmful activities.”