With malicious advertising attacks worldwide expected to triple in 2016, malware continues to be a significant issue for digital publishers, ad tech providers, and their advertisers. Even though the billions of pounds in damages malvertising causes each year impacts the entire global ecosystem, research from ExchangeWire and The Media Trust reveals significant differences in malware understanding between geographic regions.

Knowledge varies greatly across Europe with 33% of French respondents saying they are 'not well informed' about the threat of malware compared with 16% in the U.K. and 13% in Germany. In the U.S. this figure is even lower with only 3% feeling uninformed. Similar disparities were observed regarding the perception of malware as a risk to ecommerce sites. German and French publishers take an optimistic view, suggesting the percentage of ecommerce sites vulnerable to malware threats is 26% and 28% respectively. U.K. publishers are more sceptical, believing 63% of sites are impacted, and U.S. publishers are even more pessimistic citing 72%.

Although the exact cause of these geographic discrepancies was not determined, Andrew Robinson, SVP Engineering at Audience Science suggested a possible reason for the differences in viewpoints. He said "Germany and France have a small number of publishers that are very strong and very responsible for their overall market. The U.S. and U.K. have many publishers and are less trusting of them." However, differences in education on cyber security and awareness of malware may also be at the heart of these discrepancies.

Other key findings:

  • 46% of German publishers are very confident in their organisations' ability to protect their website from security breaches compared with just 8% of U.S. publishers
  • 41% of French respondents believe the extent of the malware problem does not differ between mobile and desktop compared with 23% in the U.K. and 17% in Germany
  • 64% of German publishers are very confident of their organisations' ability to verify the successful placement of every ad compared with just 8% of U.K. publishers

The survey findings highlight the need for greater education in every market around the world to ensure publishers, brands, agencies and advertisers not only comprehend the ongoing risk malware poses, but also effectively address this constant threat by continuously analysing each online or mobile ad for suspicious or malicious code as it moves through the digital advertising supply chain.

"As the online and mobile ad serving ecosystems become more and more complex, interest amongst online fraudsters will also continue to grow, as each node in the digital advertising supply chain represents a potential conduit for malware," said Rebecca Muir, head of research and analysis, ExchangeWire. "Our study shows that while digital marketers in the US and EMEA markets are aware of the issue, their level of awareness varies as does their ability to combat malware. Regardless of geography, there is an urgent need for deeper understanding and better education so the online and mobile ecosystems can effectively fight digital fraud."

"Web-based malware continues to be one of the most significant threats to the global digital publishing and advertising industry," said Alex Calic, CRO, The Media Trust. "Marketers—media publishers, ecommerce, ad tech providers, advertisers and brands—in every region need to take responsibility for protecting both their digital assets and their consumers against web-based malware, which is becoming more and more sophisticated."

For more information about the ExchangeWire study and further insights click here.

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