Microsoft: nearly one million devices hit by malware spread through ads on illegal streaming websites

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust In brief: If you're going to visit websites that host pirated video streams, you'd better be willing to accept the risks. That's something owners of the one million devices affected by a malware campaign originating from these sites might not have considered. Microsoft writes that its threat analysis team detected a large-scale malvertising campaign that impacted nearly one million devices globally in December 2024. The company traced the attack back to two illegal streaming websites – movies7 and 0123movie – embedded with malvertising redirectors. Attackers injected the ads into videos the sites hosted. These generated pay-per-view or pay-per-click revenue from malvertising platforms and subsequently routed traffic through one or two additional malicious redirectors. Victims were eventually led to another website, such as tech support scam website, which then redirected to GitHub. The ... Read full article.