Ad Security Scanning via Tracking Code Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Online advertising networks and exchanges are vulnerable to malicious advertisements that redirect users to attacker-controlled resources, leading to potential harm such as virus installation, personal information extraction, and unsuitable content display.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method that adds tracking code to advertisements served by an advertising server, which transmits the advertisement contents to a security server for scanning. The security server detects malicious code and stores results in a database, allowing the advertising server to query and block malicious ads before serving them.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If advertisements are served without security scanning, then advertising productivity is maintained, but users are exposed to malicious code and harmful content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary security scanning of advertisements before they are served to users. The security server scans ad contents for malicious code, malware, and harmful elements in advance, storing the scanning results in a database. This allows the advertising server to quickly check whether an ad has been scanned and is safe, avoiding repeated full scans and maintaining serving speed while ensuring user safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a security server as an intermediary between the advertising server and the ad delivery process. The security server independently scans advertisements and stores results, allowing the advertising server to query results without performing the actual scanning. This intermediary approach separates the security checking function from the ad serving function, maintaining productivity while improving reliability.
2Reliability
If security scanning is implemented for all advertisements, then user protection is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service security mechanism where the security server automatically scans advertisements, stores results in a database, and provides quick lookup for the advertising server. The system serves itself by maintaining a cache of scanning results, reducing the need for complex real-time verification processes and simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high security standards.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by storing scanning results in a database that can be quickly queried. Instead of re-scanning the same advertisement multiple times, the system creates and reuses copies of the scanning results. This approach reduces system complexity by avoiding redundant scanning operations and simplifying the verification process.
3Measurement precision
If tracking code is added to all advertisements, then malicious content detection is improved, but advertisement processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adding tracking code and performing security scanning on advertisements before they are served. The security server scans the ad contents in advance, stores the results, and the advertising server queries the results before serving. This preliminary processing ensures that when an ad is served, the security check has already been performed, minimizing the time loss during actual ad delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by storing the results of tracking code execution and security scanning in a database. Once an advertisement has been scanned and its safety determined, this information is copied and stored for quick retrieval. Subsequent advertisements can be verified by querying the stored results rather than re-executing the tracking code and scanning process, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining detection precision.
Data Source
AI summary
At an advertising server: adding tracking code to advertisements served by the advertising server, wherein the tracking code is configured to cause web browsers displaying the served advertisements to transmit their contents to a security server. At the security server: scanning the received advertisements to detect presence of malicious code, and storing results of the scanning in a database. At the advertising server: prior to serving a new advertisement that has won in RTB, querying the database for scan results associated with the new advertisement. When the scan results indicate a malicious advertisement, preventing a serving of the new advertisement. When the scan results indicate a safe advertisement, allowing a serving the new advertisement. When no scan results are available for the new advertisement, adding the tracking code to the new advertisement and serving it, such that its contents are scanned by the security server.