Online auction site Gumtree has admitted to a security breach over the weekend involving a third-party ad which contained hidden malware. Hundreds of customers were alerted to the situation via browser security warnings.
If you were trying to land yourself a bargain via Gumtree last week, you might want to run your next anti-malware scan ahead of schedule — the site has warned that a rogue advertisement containing potentially malicious software appeared over the weekend.
This caused mass disruptions to the site’s auctioning process, with many users electing to steer clear of the website once the threat was made known. According to Gumtree, the malware was detected by Google within an ad provided by a third party company and was removed the same day:
Gumtree has not had any form of security breaches. Please be advised the site is safe and secure and the technical difficulties that prompted last night’s issue has now been resolved.
The lesson here is that you need to always be security vigilant — even when using trusted big name websites. If you’re a bit of a security novice, you can find plenty of malware-thwarting tips via out Security section.
Comments
One response to “Beware Of Malware Ads On Gumtree”
And people question me why I run Adblock plus and say it’s unfair to website owners. I don’t mind ads that much, but there are so many infected ads that’s it’s just not safe to not run an ad blocker.
Which browser do you run adblock on Brendo?