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cleanAD now includes detection and prevention of cloaking attacks.

Cloaking (a.k.a deceptive advertising or link cloaking) is a special type of malvertising attack that utilizes dynamic creative features to avoid detection and target users with socially engineered content (think fake news, celebrity deaths, outrageous claims) with the goal of driving them to malicious landing pages. 

Sound confusing? Let us explain.

Most ad blocking solutions pre-scan advertisers and add them to an approved list, while blocking any that show signs of malicious intent. 

Cloaking is a term used to describe what happens when a malicious ad is disguised (cloaked) to appear harmless, while burying its deceptive creative and target landing page deep in its code, allowing it to slip by pre-scanning tools. 

Once a cloaked ad makes it past pre-scanners and block lists and makes it on to a publisher's webpage, the approved creative is replaced with a (usually) sensationalist advertisement meant to lure users in, get them to click, and then take them to a malicious webpage.

cleanAD cloaking

Unlike other anti-malvertising solutions, cleanAD does not rely on pre-scanning. Instead, it detects cloaked ads at runtime. This allows the ad impression pixel to fire while preventing malicious content, so publishers still get paid and bad actors lose out. 

This is a new and unique solution to catching one of the trickiest malvertising techniques, while protecting publisher ad revenue and user experience.

As a cleanAD customer, you are automatically protected from cloaking attacks, and you'll find them listed on your Dashboard under the “Threat Details” tab near the bottom of the page.cleanAD dashboard

With the ability to stop cloaked ads across all platforms and regions, cleanAD leads the way in the fight against malvertising.