When clicks turn criminal. [Research Saturday]

Dr. Renée Burton, Vice President of Threat Intelligence from Infoblox, is sharing the team's work on "Deniability by Design: DNS-Driven Insights into a Malicious Ad Network." Infoblox returns with new threat actor research uncovering Vane Viper, a Cyprus-based holding company behind PropellerAds—one of the world’s largest advertising networks. The report reveals that Vane Viper isn’t just being exploited by criminals but operates as a criminal infrastructure itself, built to profit from fraud, malware, and disinformation through offshore entities and complex ownership structures.

The findings highlight the growing convergence between adtech, cybercrime, and state-linked influence operations, suggesting that elements of the global digital advertising ecosystem are now functioning as infrastructure for large-scale cyber and disinformation campaigns.

The research can be found here:

Deniability by Design: DNS-Driven Insights intoa Malicious Ad Network

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