Comments on: On Ads & Security & Privacy http://www.christopherprice.net/on-ads-security-privacy-26.html Christopher Price tackles the rest of tech. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:01:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Christopher Pricehttp://www.christopherprice.net/on-ads-security-privacy-26.html/comment-page-1#comment-32 Christopher Price Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:34:58 +0000 http://www.christopherprice.net/2007/09/12/on-ads-security-privacy/#comment-32 No, I didn't forget that. The problem with that logical argument is that it ignores that any web site can display malicious content... I don't know why people think that an advertisement is a specific threat gradient. There's nothing stopping someone from creating a site, gaining high media publicity (digg, et al)... and then adding a Flash, Java, or ActiveX exploit to it. The solution is simple: Either safeguard your system (by keeping your browser, plugins, OS, and anti-malware up-to-date), or, disable all rich media content. It's just not a moral objection to use AdBlock... if your computer is already protected from such exploits, you have nothing to worry about. If you are still worried, you should have already blocked Java, Flash, and ActiveX. No, I didn’t forget that. The problem with that logical argument is that it ignores that any web site can display malicious content… I don’t know why people think that an advertisement is a specific threat gradient.

There’s nothing stopping someone from creating a site, gaining high media publicity (digg, et al)… and then adding a Flash, Java, or ActiveX exploit to it.

The solution is simple: Either safeguard your system (by keeping your browser, plugins, OS, and anti-malware up-to-date), or, disable all rich media content.

It’s just not a moral objection to use AdBlock… if your computer is already protected from such exploits, you have nothing to worry about. If you are still worried, you should have already blocked Java, Flash, and ActiveX.

]]> By: Jeff Hickerhttp://www.christopherprice.net/on-ads-security-privacy-26.html/comment-page-1#comment-31 Jeff Hicker Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:35:59 +0000 http://www.christopherprice.net/2007/09/12/on-ads-security-privacy/#comment-31 You shouldn't forget also that a simple ad can be a source of a more serious problem - a malware. The information that I collect using reporting functionality of the desktop management solution I use to manage and control security on my desktops shows perfectly clear that the sites that contain the massive advertising are often source of infection by malware. That's what I love in Scriptlogic's Desktop Authority http://www.scriptlogic.com/Anti_Spyware.asp - the management tool that I use - it plots bar diagrams showing the density of infection through the domain. Reports are stored in an SQL database what allows to gather statistics to post-process the collected statistics and find the law to reveal how one information correlates with the information that we receive from our firewall. It clearly shows that the users that are most affected to threats are often visit sites that contain much ads on its pages. The only thing that saves us here is the rapid reaction of the anti-spyware protection built-in the Desktop Authority that prevents Trojans and keyloggers from affecting user computers by cleaning them out on the stage of penetration. You shouldn’t forget also that a simple ad can be a source of a more serious problem – a malware. The information that I collect using reporting functionality of the desktop management solution I use to manage and control security on my desktops shows perfectly clear that the sites that contain the massive advertising are often source of infection by malware. That’s what I love in Scriptlogic’s Desktop Authority http://www.scriptlogic.com/Anti_Spyware.asp – the management tool that I use – it plots bar diagrams showing the density of infection through the domain. Reports are stored in an SQL database what allows to gather statistics to post-process the collected statistics and find the law to reveal how one information correlates with the information that we receive from our firewall. It clearly shows that the users that are most affected to threats are often visit sites that contain much ads on its pages. The only thing that saves us here is the rapid reaction of the anti-spyware protection built-in the Desktop Authority that prevents Trojans and keyloggers from affecting user computers by cleaning them out on the stage of penetration.

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