Sunbeltblog comments
So this is yet another reason to block adverts....given that any given website does not seem to be able to control what is being advertised on their website because its bought by 3rd parties.
Thankfully I'm not into sports. But here's the horror show in my mind: In computer class, someone goes to one of the websites and infects a school computer. This would be followed by shouting ("Turn the Internet off!" "Pull the plug!" "Hit it with a sledgehammer!) from me. Although at least one of the computers may have new (d0t) net, because someone went to a website that said something like "Quick! Search technology provided by new (d0t) net." Which was followed by a "Ack! Get off! Get off!" From me.
I spotted this about three weeks ago (see http://www.dynamoo.com/diary/mal...com-hijack.htm)
but I didn't make the connection to Doubleclick.
As K1 says, this sort of sloppiness encourages people to block ads.. but that is a *very* bad thing considering that almost all content is ad-supported. However, doubleclick.net and falkag.net are always in my Adblock filters because both networks have been misused like this in the past (plus some of Doubleclick's ads can be *really* intrusive).
Surely it's not hard to inspect rich media before it's published? Even with my nonexistant Flash knowledge, I managed to decompile the ads to find suspect code.
Conrad -- remember it's not DoubleClick running ads. DT is (these days) simply a platform that websites use to display their ads. DT is not involved in the ad buying, placement, etc. themselves.
They aren't? I always though they made the ads.
Whoops, I meant to say thought, not though.
We saw a situation not too long ago where Adtraff was pushing ads that attempted an unsolicited push of WinAntiVirus onto a user. They only did it intermittently so it was very hard to track down and kill. I can't remember the chain, but I'm pretty sure doubleclick was not involved in that one.
Oops, I appear to have included a homepage in the comment above in error. Feel free to edit that out and then delete this comment. Thx
-K
One more reason to outlaw advertising and marketing. Do you remember, who was first against the wall when the revolution came (referring to Douglas Adams, NSA, don't you touch me, it's legal - yet).
Please note - these guys are_legally_buying_ad_space. They're advertising _legal_companies_ that are selling _legal_products_. I'd say there's something wrong with that pesky definition of "legal" in the USA.
@TheCaptain..
I've implicated adtraff in an outbreak at www.allmusic.com and my blog contains all the proof that is needed.
I *strongly* recommend that all of us point victims of redirects to Fiddler - they can use that product to safely capture undeniable proof of redirects - proof that we can use to shut down malicious advertisements fast... and all the trickery in the world by the bad guys can't stop us.. because the victims are providing the proof... not us...
Fiddler is available here - created by a Microsoft employee and 100% free:
http://www.fiddler2.com/fiddler2/
Anybody is welcone to send me proof of a redirect (a Fiddler SAZ file) at any time and I'll happily pass it on) ;o)
If we all ask redirect victims to use this product (and follow the advice in the News pane of my blog before doing so to maximise the chances of reproducing the redirect), then we will *always* be able to prove the problem and start causing major headaches for the bad guys.
Last year I was infected with winantiviruspro2007. It was a very nasty piece of work. Not only did it kill my security programs when I tried to run them, it froze my pc every time I tried to download any piece of legitimate anti spyware. Why these people have not been prosecuted is beyond me. I am sad to see they are still around and making peoples lives miserable.
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