cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/4912712
Most people know at this point that when searching for a popular software package to download, you should be very careful to avoid clicking on any of the search ads that appear, as this has become an extremely common vector for distributing malware to unsuspecting users.
If you thought that you could identify these malicious ads by checking the URL below the ad to see if it directs to the legitimate site, think again! Malware advertisers have found a way to use Google's Ad platform to fake the URL shown with the ad to make it appear like a legitimate ad for the product when in fact, clicking the ad will redirect to an attacker controlled site serving malware.
Don't click on search ads or, even better, use an ad-blocker so that you never see them in the first place!
I remember my coworkers (who were devs) Google searched Firefox to download and hit the first link which was an ad. It was a German version of Firefox with spyware.
Our IT department caught it but I was sorta surprised my coworkers hit the link as opposed to the first search term. That ad was active for a long time though ... I think years.