Spotify says it has fixed a problem in its software that let rogue adverts automatically open virus-infected websites on a victim’s device.<\/p>\n
The so-called malvertising affected Spotify’s subscription-free service on Windows, Mac and Linux machines.<\/p>\n
People reported that virus-infected pop-up websites were appearing while they listened to music.<\/p>\n
Spotify said in a statement: “We have now identified the source of the problem and have shut it down.”<\/p>\n
It said “questionable website pop-ups” had affected a “small number of users”.<\/p>\n
Cybersecurity experts have warned that malvertising is on the rise, because the scale of popular advertising networks can be misused to push malicious content to a wide audience.<\/p>\n
“Malvertising can slip onto any platform or website that displays ads delivered by advertising networks,” said Jan Zika of antivirus firm Avast.<\/p>\n
“While malvertising is usually hosted on sites that provide illegal content such as movie downloads, it does occasionally make its way on to more mainstream platforms, such as Spotify.<\/p>\n
“Users should install antivirus software that will catch malvertising before it can do any harm.”<\/p>\n
It is not the first time Spotify has inadvertently distributed malware-infected content through its advertising network. A similar issue<\/a> affected the software in 2011.<\/p>\n Other prominent companies have also been targeted.<\/p>\n Malicious advertisements<\/strong><\/p>\n “We’ve seen an increase in malvertising of this kind,” said Rahul Kashyap of the computer security company Bromium.<\/p>\n “Malware via ads provides great return of interest for the attackers and are difficult to be reliably blocked at the ad launch.”<\/p>\n