Top all-time · #3665
Confiant
Company blog · blog.confiant.comsecuritybusiness
Confiant is the company blog at blog.confiant.com, writing about security and business. Since 2018, 21 different Hacker News readers have linked it 31 times, most often “Uncovering 2017’s Largest Malvertising Operation”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-15, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (6) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Confiant's blog as a source on malvertising and ad-tech abuse, including ad-based spyware, crypto wallet drainers, ad fraud and Mac adware. Comments cite its posts without judging the writing.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 6 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Field Intelligence for the Ad Economy.
Most-linked posts?
- Uncovering 2017’s Largest Malvertising Operation3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2018-01-23
- CashRewindo: How to age domains for an investment scam like fine scotch2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-11-29
- /p/adint-weaponized-ad-tech-for-zero-click-spyware-and-mass-identity-vacuuming2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-10-15
What Hacker News says?
Probably a wallet drainer. Connect it with your wallet and empties it. https://blog.confiant.com/how-one-crypto-drainer-template-fa...
Comment linking /how-one-crypto-drainer-template-facilitates-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-in-theft-66f3794aea4b?gi=7ca6cba243de
on “What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?”Submitted “Crypto drainer” template facilitates theft as a story · 187 points
HN discussionHow the ad-based spyware actually worked (from the Citizen Lab and Confiant reports): - It came in through the front door. Discover-Tech ran its own ad-buying platform and was listed as a "certified" vendor by Google and IAB Europe for six years. Nothing was hacked to get in. It bid in ad auctions like any other buyer. - The ads looked harmless. Plain banners for games, AliExpress deals and an IP-lookup site. Hidden…
Comment linking /p/adint-weaponized-ad-tech-for-zero-click-spyware-and-mass-identity-vacuuming
on “AdFection: Targeted ads turned into a pipeline for zero-click mercenary spyware”Submitted Steganography Based Ad Payload That Drops Shlayer Trojan on Mac Users as a story · 128 points
HN discussionhttps://blog.confiant.com/p/adint-weaponized-ad-tech-for-zer... https://citizenlab.ca/research/how-discover-tech-turned-targ...
Comment linking /p/adint-weaponized-ad-tech-for-zero-click-spyware-and-mass-identity-vacuuming
on “AdFection: Targeted ads turned into a pipeline for zero-click mercenary spyware”Submitted Uncovering 2017’s Largest Malvertising Operation as a story · 110 points
HN discussionThe notion that advertisements pay for websites is entirely fabricated. Recent research shows massive amounts of fraud with the involvement of the ad industry which eats through the money flowing through the ecosystem. See https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/ad-industry-insiders... and https://blog.confiant.com/uncovering-2017s-largest-malvertis... .
Comment linking /uncovering-2017s-largest-malvertising-operation-b84cd38d6b85
on “How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works”Submitted How SeaFlower installs backdoors in Web3 wallets to steal your seed phrase as a story · 12 points
HN discussion> Name any CSS or JS exploit that had meaningful real-world impact in the last decade. The tale of frequent compromises of browsers via ads is told merely to legitimize the practice of blocking even entirely plain and benign ads. I think the actual malware infections themselves legitimize the practice of blocking even entirely plain and benign ads. Ads do still infect people with malware. https://blog.confiant.com/t…
Comment linking /tag-barnakle-the-malvertiser-that-hacks-revive-ad-servers-redirects-victims-to-malware-50cdc57435b1?gi=9fbcec4471e2
on “uBlock, I exfiltrate: exploiting ad blockers with CSS”Submitted Uncovering 2017’s Largest Malvertising Operation as a story · 7 points
HN discussionMany of the screenshots in the posted article are too small and blurry to be of any use. In the original article [1] they can be zoomed and are actually readable. [1] https://blog.confiant.com/osx-hydromac-a-new-macos-malware-l...
Comment linking /osx-hydromac-a-new-macos-malware-leaked-from-a-flashcards-app-2af28f1caa9e
on “OS X/Hydromac: New Mac adware, leaked from a flashcards app”Submitted Malvertising: Made in China as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Opsec Fail Leaks a Rare Look Inside a Media-Buy-Powered Scam Operation as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Malvertiser “VeryMal” abused Firebase to conceal and smuggle their payload as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Malvertiser ‘EGobbler’ Exploits Chrome and WebKit Bugs, Infects over 1B Ads as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted OS X/Shlayer New Shurprise.. Unveiling OS X/Tarmac as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Malvertiser ScamClub Bypasses Iframe Sandboxing with PostMessage (CVE-2021–1801) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted DCCBoost: A thorough analysis of a malvertising JavaScript attack chain as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Tag Barnakle: The Malvertiser That Hacks Ad Servers-Redirects Victims to Malware as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Fake Celebrity-Endorsed Scam Abuses Ad Tech to Net $1M in One Day as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted New macOS Bundlore Loader Analysis as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Hong Kong Based Malvertiser Brokers Traffic to Fake Antivirus Scams as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted A deep dive into a live example of cloaking based ad fraud as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted CashRewindo: How to age domains for an investment scam like fine scotch as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted CashRewindo: How to age domains for an investment scam like fine scotch as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Tag Barnakle One Year Later: 120 More Revive Adserver Hacks as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Browlock Malvertisers Abuse Denial-of-Service Bugs That Sit Dormant for Years as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Confiant And Protected Media Uncover Mobile Billing Malvertiser WapSiphone as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Trending Client-Side Innovations in Malvertising Payloads as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Malvertiser ‘EGobbler’ Exploits Chrome and WebKit Bugs, Infects over 1B Ads as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
