This is one reason why people use adblockers

BowdonUK

BowdonUK

BowdonUK

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I was just watching the news earlier and this story came up;

Student jailed for blackmailing porn users worldwide
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47800378

Over 18 months, the teenager posed as a legitimate supplier of online promotions and booked advertising space on some of the world's most popular legal pornography websites.

But each of the adverts that was promoted on the websites contained a malicious tool called the "Angler".

Any visitor to the adult site who clicked on one of Qaiser's fake adverts would trigger the download to their own computer of the attack kit.
Click to expand...

The online advertising brokers seem to do the bare minimum checks on the people buying advertising space that then appears on millions of peoples computers. If that person adds some kind of virus/malware to the advert then those millions are exposed to it.

So next time websites are whining about people using adblockers, maybe they should start whining to the irresponsible people selling the advert space instead of punishing users who don't want to take the risk of that potentially malicious advert appearing.

These malicious adverts dont just appear on adult sites. It tends to be the same broker who sells adverts to anyone willing to buy.
 

stockhausen

stockhausen

stockhausen

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Over 18 months, the teenager posed as a legitimate supplier of online promotions and booked advertising space on some of the world's most popular legal pornography websites. But each of the adverts that was promoted on the websites contained a malicious tool called the "Angler". Any visitor to the adult site who clicked on one of Qaiser's fake adverts would trigger the download to their own computer of the attack kit.
Click to expand...
In this context, I would have thought that the "popular legal pornography websites" could be described as the "publisher" of the virus.

It would be nice to think that they would be prosecuted for having (unwittingly / negligently) delivered the virus. However, I am sure that they are all based in lawless locations that can't be touched . . . I am quite sure that they are in no way complicit, No Siree, not them.


As it happens, this sounds very much like the scam discussed on this very forum where an emailer claims to have compromising videos of someone visiting a porn website and demands payment in bitcoins.
 

Caracus2k

Caracus2k

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This is partially a result of the trend for free at the point of access Internet services that rely on advertising for a good chunk of their revenue.

Margins are inevitably going to be rather tight for such a business model leading to very little checks on what is being advertised.

The old adage remains true.. . if you aren't paying for something you are not a customer so much as being a product yourself (with your details or attention in turn be sold on to an actual customer)
 

ianh

ianh

ianh

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For myself, the Daily Fail website takes 41 seconds to load with no adblocker due to the ads, videos etc and takes 2 seconds with Ghostery and Ublock Origin - hmmmm, which should I choose?

That's my primary reason for an ad blocker!
 
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