A company focused on cybersecurity for the media industry says it has discovered that hackers are now using a technique designed to hide malicious code to commit digital ad fraud.
Officials at Devcon told The Hill on Sunday they uncovered the use of the technique — known as a polyglot — on Friday. They said that the use of polyglots, which are considered to be among the more technically advanced techniques available for cyber criminals, points to more hackers committing digital ad fraud.
In a polyglot, users can hide malware within the code for an existing file, like an image. In a successful attack using the tool, a web browser will only load the code for what appears to be its intended purpose, allowing the malicious code to remain hidden while it carries out the attack.