Infected From a MySpace Page? [Tech Rest]

Girlwithvirus
Can you get a virus or other malware from just viewing a webpage? Absolutely. Not too long ago people got infected from viewing a MySpace page. A similar incident happened when people visited John’s Hardware.

Was the problem the sites? Not exactly. You see the problem was with infected, 3rd-party ads that were on the pages.

This may be the beginning of a new type of attack. Want to prevent these kinds of problems? Try AdBlock Plus for Firefox.

This add-on for Firefox allows you to block all ads or some ads. For sites that I trust (the problem is I probably would have trusted John’s hardware), I allow all ads unless I find one offensive. It’s a bit of a dilemma because me and others like me support their sites with ads. On the other hand, I don’t want my computer infected just because I viewed an ad. Using AdBlock Plus selectively is working well for me. I recommend you add it to your security tool kit.

Of course, there is no substitute for good backups (see Do you backup . . . at home? )

Original post here: Craig Huggart

23 August 2007 | AdBlock, Craig Huggart, Firefox, Security, Software, Web/Tech | Comments

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