An Auckland based SEO marketing agency has issued a warning to all digital marketing agencies operating in New Zealand and across the world that their Google Adwords accounts are vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Kim Voon, the CEO of Insight Online- termed as a leader in SEO Marketing in New Zealand said yesterday that the money in some of the AdWords accounts is being siphoned off via digital campaigns organized by hackers.
Mr. Kim said that his agency has already got a couple of reports where Google ads accounts were being hijacked and the links being pointed towards some Ponzi Schemes in Africa.
“Here the money in the AdWords accounts is not only at risk, but client data is also vulnerable in this scenario”, said Voon.
According to a survey conducted by Standard Media Index (SMI) early this year, the digital advertising spends tops $338,997,508 in New Zealand. That means, with so much money being invested one can easily come to a conclusion that more digital harvesting accounts will become a priority target for cybercriminals in near future.
One way to tackle this situation is to get an insurance cover for advertising losses. This gives a cover to a company when one of its employees goes to a café and uses an unsecured network to access the funds lying in the AdWords account.
Adoption of 2FA which is nowadays a standard data protection can also help to keep your company’s Google Adwords accounts safe from prying eyes.
Ronan Nichol, the Director of Storm IMC Digital Marketing has also confirmed this news and added that 17 of his company’s clients reportedly fell prey to cyber crooks in this year. He added that all those who link their credit card accounts to Adword accounts are sure to put their funds to risk, as a lot of damage can be done before the bank blocks a credit card.
So, to all those who are using/managing Google Adwords the next step is up to you….
