14 DAY TRIAL // Google has recently confirmed it is investigating a new trojan which replaces its AdSense advertisements with fake ones, directing users to pornography and gambling sites, just like any other spam intruder.
The trojan was discovered last week and reported by Web publisher Raoul Bangera. The malware apparently installs itself on Windows systems when users access a specially crafted website, and then creates fake ads which are positioned to cover up legitimate AdSense ads. The fake ads take after the real ones, the similarity of the two being the catch spammers count on. But, even if the ads look authentic, the fact that they lead to porn and sex sites, online casinos and ads for Viagra and other prescription only drugs is a certain indicator that the Trojan is up and running.
Google admitted running its own investigation on this matter and with he help provided by Raoul Bangera, who provided the search engine with system logs, screen shots and system files from infected systems, the trojan should be uncovered soon enough. The company was not able to comment on what other dangers might be posed by the trojan.