Partners with ClickFacts to Protect Web Publishers and Demand Partners from Malvertising Attacks
LOS ANGELES – the Rubicon Project, the Internet advertising infrastructure company, is coming to the aid of premium Web publishers and their sales channel partners in their fight against malvertising, a top online security threat in 2010. Through the integration of automated ad tag monitoring technology from ClickFacts, an automated Risk Discovery solution, Rubicon Security, a new offering within the company’s REVV for publishers™ platform, identifies offending ad tags and their source, stopping attacks before they reach consumers.
Malicious advertising, or “malvertising,” also referred to as “malware,” is a form of unwanted or malicious software that is typically distributed through advertising tags served through an unsuspecting publisher’s website. Tracking and stopping malvertising has been a nearly impossible process with many publishers still unable to detect and stop malicious ads before the first consumer complaint comes in, by which time the brand’s reputation has already been damaged.
ClickFacts Ad Network and Publisher Management Suite enables Rubicon Security to automatically scan all ad tags, advertising creatives and publisher pages for content and malware before delivering advertisements, allowing publishers to manage the high volume of ad tags on any given page while dramatically reducing the potential of malicious attacks. Additionally, Rubicon Security continues to monitor the ad tags once they are served to ensure malware doesn’t attack the campaign.
“Malware, and especially malvertising attacks, are becoming ever more pervasive as unscrupulous hackers are always finding creative ways to manipulate advertising for their own malicious benefit, and to the detriment of everyone else. It’s extremely important for publishers, ad exchanges, agencies and their advertisers to seek solutions for safeguarding their brands and consumers,” said Michael Caruso, CEO of ClickFacts. “the Rubicon Project has been a leader in ad quality and brand protection for the industry, and we’re excited to help them maintain this high standard, while alleviating concern and driving revenue for their customers and partners.”
Most ad serving technology was built twelve years ago, and isn’t equipped to deal with today’s huge volume of different buyers and sellers, creating vulnerabilities in the system. Agencies and advertisers have their own way to tag ads and publishers don’t have control, as there are thousands of different ad tags running on a publisher’s site at any given time. These disparate systems have had no universal quality control because nothing is tied together, driving the need for automation and technology innovation to eradicate the vulnerabilities of this process.
For demand partners, Rubicon Security quickly identifies offending ads and fights hackers’ tactics to reduce the potential of delivering malware or inappropriate content to consumers. This protects ad networks, exchanges and rep firms’ revenue and their reputation with premium publishers.
“Publishers have told us that malvertising is one of the biggest threats to their business, and antiquated ad infrastructure technology is largely at fault. Malware can affect millions of people within hours and that can be damaging for businesses and brands,” said Craig Roah, COO and Founder of the Rubicon Project. “With ClickFacts’ technology and our REVV platform, we are the first to provide this level of security and protection against malvertising – streamlining the process and helping our customers and demand partners protect their brands.”
To read more about the Rubicon Project’s complete Brand Guard product suite, visit: http://rubiconproject.com/REVV/revv-product-suite/brand-guard/
About the Rubicon Project
Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Rubicon Project launched in 2007 with a mission to automate the $65 billion global online advertising industry. The company’s Yield Management Optimization platform, REVV for Publishers™, is engineered to accelerate revenue for premium Web publishers. Backed by $42 million in funding from Clearstone Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, IDG Ventures and GE/NBC Universal’s Peacock Equity Fund, the Rubicon Project serves premium publishers like NBC Universal, Gannett and CareerBuilder; optimizing more than 45 billion ads each month and reaching 500 million unique Internet users. Ranked second in overall Internet reach by Quantcast, the Rubicon Project also helps ad sales channels around the world gain access to precise audience-segmented inventory, at broad scale.
About ClickFacts
ClickFacts is the industry-leading provider of risk discovery tools for online advertising networks, publishers and advertisers, making the Internet a safer place for businesses and consumers to interact through digital advertising without falling victim to cyber crime. ClickFacts is privately held and was founded in 2005. ClickFacts is based out of San Francisco, CA.
