Let me ask you a simple question:

When you—or your team—click on an online ad… do you just assume it’s safe?

Cybercriminals are counting on that.

“Malvertising” (short for malicious advertising) is a growing threat, and it’s catching a lot of businesses off guard. These aren’t shady pop-ups on sketchy websites either. Today’s malvertising shows up on legitimate news sites, search results, and even on platforms your team uses daily.

🛑 What Is Malvertising?

Malvertising uses fake or compromised ads to trick users into downloading malware, visiting dangerous websites, or calling fraudulent “support” lines. Some of these ads even install malicious code without you clicking anything.

Here are some of the most common forms we’re seeing:

• “Your PC is infected” scareware ads that push fake support numbers

• Fake software download ads—posing as Zoom, Chrome, or Adobe updates

• Invisible redirects that hijack your browser just by loading the page

🧠 Why It Matters to SMBs

For small and mid-sized businesses, a single click on the wrong ad can lead to:

• Compromised systems

• Stolen credentials

• Infected shared drives

• Lost client trust

• Hours (or days) of downtime

This isn’t just an annoyance. It’s a real security and productivity threat—especially for firms without a dedicated IT team monitoring everything.

🛡️ What You Can Do About It

Here’s what we recommend to all of our managed clients:

✅ Keep browsers and plugins up to date

Old software = easy targets for malware. Updates aren’t just about new features—they patch holes criminals use to get in.

✅ Use enterprise-grade ad blocking and DNS protection

We deploy web filtering tools that block known malicious ad networks before they even load.

✅ Train your staff

We help businesses teach their employees how to spot fake download prompts, sketchy ads, and scareware tricks. (Hint: If it looks urgent and offers a quick fix, it’s probably a scam.)

✅ Monitor endpoints

With a managed security solution in place, we can detect when something unusual hits your network—and respond before it spreads.

🔁 A Real-World Scenario

We recently helped a 30-person professional services firm where an employee clicked on a fake PDF viewer ad. That one click installed a keystroke logger, and it wasn’t discovered until the employee’s email account was used to send phishing attacks to clients.

They were lucky to catch it early. But it took time, money, and reputation repair to recover.

📣 Final Word

Online ads aren’t always what they seem. And in 2025, malvertising is one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to target your team—without needing a phishing email or infected attachment.

If something feels off, don’t click.
If your team needs help knowing what’s safe and what’s not—we’re here for that.

Let’s make smarter, safer browsing the norm in your business.

📩 Want a review of your company’s browser policies, protections, and training plan?
Let’s talk.