Group forms task force to combat malicious ads

The nonprofit Online Trust Alliance (OTA) on Wednesday announced the formation of the Anti-Malvertising Task Force, a cross-industry effort devoted to fighting the threat of malicious advertisements, which are disguised as legitimate ads and distributed to well-known websites via ad networks. The task force consists of representatives from business, the advertising industry and government. In May, web security firm Dasient estimated that 1.3 million malvertisements are served to websites each day. And the OTA determined that the number of compromised display ads increased 250 percent during the last quarter. The task force is scheduled to meet Sept. 22. For more information on how to join or attend the meeting, email [email protected]. — DK