Spotify serving malicious ads to freemium users

Several Spotify users are reporting that the streaming music service is serving malware to its users through its advertiser network. Users on company's user forum noted that ads running on Spotify Free, the streaming music service's free product, automatically open malicious websites without their permission.

“If you have Spotify Free open, it will launch - and keep on launching - the default internet browser on the computer to different kinds of malware / virus sites,” wrote user Tonyonly. “Some of them do not even require user action to be able to cause harm.” The comments were tagged “under investigation” by forum moderators.

Another user reported that adware “seems to be injected through ads” on the free service and noted that the problem did not occur on another account.

The streaming service issued a statement in response to the incident, according to MacRumors. “We sincerely apologize to any users affected. We'll continue working hard to ensure this does not happen again and that our users enjoy Spotify securely and in confidence.”