Feb 18, 2020 13:21:00

A blackmail method that threatens `` If you do not pay, I will stop delivering Google ads and lose the revenue source ''

Google

AdSense , Google's advertising distribution service, is a system in which money is paid to websites with advertisements according to the number of views and clicks, and it is a major revenue source for many website operators I am. With an eye on such Google AdSense, a blackmail method appeared that `` if you do not pay, an unauthorized access attack on the website and stop the advertisement delivery by Google AdSense '' has appeared, it is a security information site in the United States Krebs On Security reported.

Pay Up, Or We'll Make Google Ban Your Ads — Krebs on Security
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/02/pay-up-or-well-make-google-ban-your-ads/

Google AdSense returns profits to website operators through banner advertisements and other means, but it is forbidden for operators to use unauthorized bots to gain access to the site in order to increase their revenues. According to Krebs On Security, a website operator received an email in early February 2020 requesting money by flicking down Google AdSense.

This is the email that the blackmailer actually sent.

At the beginning of the email, we quote an email from Google notifying you of an ad serving stop when our system detects unauthorized access to your website. The extortionist continued, stating, 'Immediately the warning notice above will appear on your Adsense account dashboard!' And a 100% bounce rate bot using thousands of IP addresses, Claims to spike website traffic.

The extortionist said, 'Ad revenue will increase temporarily, but soon Google AdSense's traffic evaluation algorithm will detect unauthorized access and eventually stop delivering ads to websites.' Google AdSense will resume serving ads, but at that time, bots will once again launch unauthorized access and stop serving ads many times. ' Blackmailers threatened to pay $ 5,000 worth of

Bitcoin if they wanted to stop the attack.

The website operator who actually received the email did not accept the payment, believing that the content of the email was likely an unfounded threat. However, recently checking the traffic statistics of Google AdSense, it is shown that the number of detected 'Adsense invalid traffic' has increased sharply, and it is said that bot attacks were actually confirmed.

In response to Krebs On Security's inquiry, Google declined public comment on the website operator who received the blackmail, but in an official statement to Krebs On Security, `` This message indicates that an attacker sent invalid traffic. Looks like a typical threat trying to trigger publisher enforcement. '

'I often hear about the potential for sabotage, but in practice it's very rare, and Google has taken a number of security measures to prevent sabotage. There is a mechanism in place to detect and take into account sabotage in the enforcement of enforcement actions, 'Google explained. Google AdSense has a wide range of tools and processes to protect the entire product from invalid traffic, and most invalid traffic is filtered before advertisers are affected.

Google further states, 'If you believe that a publisher is a victim of sabotage, there is also a form to contact us.' Claims to be monitoring your account.