{"id":50219,"date":"2023-01-19T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/attacks-breaches\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered"},"modified":"2023-01-19T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T22:00:00","slug":"massive-adware-campaign-shuttered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

A sprawling new adware campaign that abused the Vast video ad server template to rack up fraudulent digital advertising views on an enormous scale has been shut down.<\/p>\n

At its peak, the adware effort hit more than 12 billion requests per day.<\/p>\n

Human Security’s Satori threat intelligence team uncovered the adware campaign,<\/a> touting it as the largest find in the cybersecurity research group’s history. Following the discovery, Satori said it led a takedown of the ad fraud operation, which they dubbed as Vastflux.<\/p>\n

The team added in its report<\/a> that, in all, Vastflux spoofed more than 1,700 apps, targeted 1,200 publishers, and displayed ads on applications running on about 11 million devices.<\/p>\n

“What was technically impressive and incredibly concerning about Vastflux [were] the fraudsters hijacked impressions on legitimate apps, which makes it nearly impossible for users to tell if they are impacted,” Gavin Reid, Human’s CISO, said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly-discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox.<\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a><\/div>\n

Read More HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mainly Apple iOS in-app ads were targeted, injecting malicious JavaScript code to rack up phony views.Read More HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-darkreading-ti"],"yoast_head":"\nMassive Adware Campaign Shuttered 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-19T22:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt66983808af36a8ef\/blt150a286cff24bae4\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"TH Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@threatshub\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@threatshub\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"TH Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"TH Author\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476\"},\"headline\":\"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-19T22:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":178,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eu-images.contentstack.com\\\/v3\\\/assets\\\/blt66983808af36a8ef\\\/blt150a286cff24bae4\\\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\\\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"DarkReading |TI\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/\",\"name\":\"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eu-images.contentstack.com\\\/v3\\\/assets\\\/blt66983808af36a8ef\\\/blt150a286cff24bae4\\\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\\\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-19T22:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eu-images.contentstack.com\\\/v3\\\/assets\\\/blt66983808af36a8ef\\\/blt150a286cff24bae4\\\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\\\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eu-images.contentstack.com\\\/v3\\\/assets\\\/blt66983808af36a8ef\\\/blt150a286cff24bae4\\\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\\\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News\",\"description\":\"%%focuskw%% Threat Intel \u2013 Threat Intel Services \u2013 CyberIntelligence \u2013 Cyber Threat Intelligence - Threat Intelligence Feeds - Threat Intelligence Reports - CyberSecurity Report \u2013 Cyber Security PDF \u2013 Cybersecurity Trends - Cloud Sandbox \u2013- Threat IntelligencePortal \u2013 Incident Response \u2013 Threat Hunting \u2013 IOC - Yara - Security Operations Center \u2013 SecurityOperation Center \u2013 Security SOC \u2013 SOC Services - Advanced Threat - Threat Detection - TargetedAttack \u2013 APT \u2013 Anti-APT \u2013 Advanced Protection \u2013 Cyber Security Services \u2013 Cybersecurity Services -Threat Intelligence Platform\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Threatshub.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ThreatsHub.org\",\"alternateName\":\"Threatshub.org\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg\",\"width\":432,\"height\":435,\"caption\":\"ThreatsHub.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/threatshub\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.threatshub.org\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476\",\"name\":\"TH Author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"TH Author\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","description":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","og_description":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/","og_site_name":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","article_published_time":"2023-01-19T22:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt66983808af36a8ef\/blt150a286cff24bae4\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"TH Author","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@threatshub","twitter_site":"@threatshub","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"TH Author","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/"},"author":{"name":"TH Author","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476"},"headline":"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered","datePublished":"2023-01-19T22:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/"},"wordCount":178,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt66983808af36a8ef\/blt150a286cff24bae4\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg","articleSection":["DarkReading |TI"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/","name":"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered 2026 | ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt66983808af36a8ef\/blt150a286cff24bae4\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg","datePublished":"2023-01-19T22:00:00+00:00","description":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News | ThreatsHub.org | Cloud Security & Cyber Threats Analysis Hub. 100% Free OSINT Threat Intelligent and Cybersecurity News.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt66983808af36a8ef\/blt150a286cff24bae4\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt66983808af36a8ef\/blt150a286cff24bae4\/63c9bcf65da36057261a213d\/mobilead-Alejandro_Guillermo_Santiago_Ruhl-alamy.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/massive-adware-campaign-shuttered\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Massive Adware Campaign Shuttered"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/","name":"ThreatsHub Cybersecurity News","description":"%%focuskw%% Threat Intel \u2013 Threat Intel Services \u2013 CyberIntelligence \u2013 Cyber Threat Intelligence - Threat Intelligence Feeds - Threat Intelligence Reports - CyberSecurity Report \u2013 Cyber Security PDF \u2013 Cybersecurity Trends - Cloud Sandbox \u2013- Threat IntelligencePortal \u2013 Incident Response \u2013 Threat Hunting \u2013 IOC - Yara - Security Operations Center \u2013 SecurityOperation Center \u2013 Security SOC \u2013 SOC Services - Advanced Threat - Threat Detection - TargetedAttack \u2013 APT \u2013 Anti-APT \u2013 Advanced Protection \u2013 Cyber Security Services \u2013 Cybersecurity Services -Threat Intelligence Platform","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Threatshub.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"ThreatsHub.org","alternateName":"Threatshub.org","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/coredata\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/coredata\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Threatshub_Favicon1.jpg","width":432,"height":435,"caption":"ThreatsHub.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/threatshub"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/12e0a8671ff89a863584f193e7062476","name":"TH Author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/066276f086d5155df79c850206a779ad368418a844da0182ce43f9cd5b506c3d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"TH Author"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}