The site, which reviews consumer gadgets and upcoming technology developments, was temporarily hosting advertisements which were infected with malware and fake antivirus software earlier this week after falling victim to what was described as an “elaborate scam”.

“Guys, I’m really sorry but we had some malware running on our site in ad boxes for a little while last week on Suzuki ads,” Gizmodo’s editorial director, Brian Lam told readers in a blog post.

“They somehow fooled our ad sales team through an elaborate scam. It’s taken care of now, and only a few people should have been affected, but this isn’t something we take lightly as writers, editors and tech geeks.”

He urged readers, particularly though who thought that they may have been affected, to update their antivirus software in order to minimise the risk to their PC and privacy.

“Be careful, load up some antivirus and make sure your system is clean.”

It is not the first time that online advertising has been the target of malware attacks, with major publications proving to be a particular target.

Back in September, the website of the New York Times recently suffered a similar attack, in which users clicking on a box advertising antivirus software found their PCs infected with viruses and malicious software.

It is believed that hackers broke into the server that hosted banner advertisements for nytimes.com to ensure that the site served up advertisements that encouraged users to download antivirus software that claimed to remove malware from a user’s PC, even though it did not exist. The publication claimed that the banners were the result of an “unauthorized advertisement”.

Surfers visiting www.nytimes.com over the weekend were confronted by malicious pop-up window that falsely warned that their systems were infected. The ruse was designed to scare people into buying a clean-up utility of little or no value.

“Some NYTimes.com readers have seen a pop-up box warning them about a virus and directing them to a site that claims to offer antivirus software,” read a statement posted on nytimes.com. “We believe this was generated by an unauthorized advertisement and are working to prevent the problem from recurring. If you see such a warning, we suggest that you not click on it. Instead, quit and restart your Web browser.”

The New York Times is not the first high-profile media publication to have been targeted by hackers in the past, the the Daily Mail, Digital Spy and ITN have all been subject to attacks that has resulted in their sites serving up advertisements for various forms of malware. Similar attacks have also affected Google AdWords, Yahoo, MLB.com, MySpace and photo bucket.

Developed by 121Media, Phorm is an advertising programme designed to deliver targeted advertising based on individual user browsing habits by using a process known as deep packet inspection. The software, which has attracted the interest of a number of ISP’s including BT, Virgin Media and Talk Talk, monitors a user’s online activity to deliver specifically targeted advertisement which it believes match the user’s interest.

But the program has attracted controversy from privacy campaigners and customers of the ISP’s concerned, claiming that the implementation of software represents a breach of privacy and data storage regulations. Others have pointed to previous products developed by 121Media which have previously been classified by some security companies as forms of spyware.

The implementation of the software suffered two more setbacks this week, with both Amazon and Wikipedia stating that it will block Phorm from analysing the habits of their users.

In a letter to Phorm’s creators, Wikimedia’s chief technology officer Brion Vibber said: “We consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors’ behaviour by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy.”

But a legal challenge now surrounds the program from European Commission after they claimed that the UK government failing to ensure the privacy of UK internet users.

The EC claim that by allowing the use of Phorm, the government is failing to comply with European privacy laws.

It has also emerged that BT had already run covert trials of the software, in 2006 and 2007 but despite complaints to the police, Government and Information Commissioner’s Office, no action was taken against BT.

Viviane Reding, EU telecommunications commissioner said: “The rules are quite clear. A person’s information can only be used with their prior consent. We cannot give up this basic principle and have all our exchanges monitored, surveyed and stored in exchange for a promise of ‘more relevant’ advertising.”