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Heidi — How Malware Works Via Banner Ads
Published: 2012-01-06 00:54:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 27138; Favourites: 147; Downloads: 0
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Description
by $Heidi
How Malware Works Via Banner Ads
As many deviants know, deviantART has been working hard to combat malicious banner ads that infiltrate
our advertising network, and we've previously addressed this issue in
April 2011
and August 2011 .
In our ongoing effort to keep the deviantART community safe, we wanted to share the following
USA Today-produced
video that explains how malicious ads inundate the Web.
How Malicous Ads Inundate the Web
(Source: USA Today )
Protect Yourself
Malware advertising is an Internet-wide problem that affects many of the Net's top sites.
Keeping your browser up to date is one of the best ways to ensure your computer's safety.
Additionally, anti-virus programs offer another level of protection against malvertisements.
We strongly recommend that you download the latest version of your favorite browser.
Reports of Malware and Virus Advertisements
Our Ongoing Battle Against Malicious Ads
Related content
Comments: 769
Yeah, I plan on getting it looked at for some viral scans, that sounds like a good idea. 
FB always made me suspicious too, but I'm glad you got it off your computer! Thanks mate!
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how did you get it fixed? Mine is doing that also >.<
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Order a technician. My mother knew one, so we were lucky.
That's the last resort.
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Lucky. My mom will murder me then find a tech. 
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I don't recommend taking any matters into your hands until you contact a technician X'D the one my mother contacted had the cure on a usb stick. it was....very easy. O_O
I can't say that you've gotten the virus off of the computer, but....I dunno. All I can say is good luck X'D I don't know too much about malare and all of that poop.
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Me neither >.<
But I'm glad that you aren't having anymore issues!
But maybe I get the cure if my "lappy" has anymore abnormal issues that I won't be able to solve 
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There are viruses that affect Macs, but they're generally so well-designed that when you do get one it's game over.
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Really? Wow thanks for the info, I thought it was safe! (well, at least they're harder to find! i hope)
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**also--I had NoScript and AdBlock Plus and it didn't prevent me from getting Win 7 somehow. :\
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I have chosen to go almost completely inactive on here due to viruses. I get more viruses from here than anywhere else, even with 2 or 3 virus programs to protect me, and I'm not going to pay DA to remove the ads through a premium membership. I'm not going to pay the website that is giving me the viruses, I'd sooner just leave. I find it overkill on the amount of ads on each page anyway. It's ridiculous. DA, fix this issue, or you are gonna lose a lot of members.
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Back when I haven't had PM I didn't had a virus problem. But I agree with you.
It's ridiculous to roll this into the community to deal. I just was off for a while back then (april)
Just a Q. don't you have to click ads to get viruses? so won't you avoid by not clicking?
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Nope. I get viruses from having it merely on the page. Most of the ones I get execute without asking me. And I NEVER click ads on DA. That's asking for trouble.
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Wah really I had no idea? @.@
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Wah really I had no idea? @.@
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Viruses have progressed.
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Wouldn't it be simpler to just not click ads---ever?
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It doesn't matter if you click the ads or not. If the ad just loads on the page, you can get a virus.
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thanks but i don't need to download the latest internet browsers because i already installed an upgrade on my powerful norton 360 anti-virus program, and the best part about it is that norton 360 can scan websites and report threats before i even enter it
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◊≈≈≈ newf4gs can't download adBlock plus for firefox and google chrome and other browsers like safari... ≈≈≈◊
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nuh, I got a premium membership due to getting a virus on my mom's laptop a year or two back, and then I got adblock and noscript.
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nice
thouh I have sweet protection cuz I can block the scripts and I'm ad free
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how do you block the scripts???
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get no script for firefox
you can also get adblock plus
its all freware
but noscript will block everything so you gotta right click and select what links to play. like for example u can block a youtube vid.
google noscript and follow the instructions
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And I thought I was just a bad person for getting all that malware... I emailed this to my dad, now he can't yell at me if it happens again!
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Adblock Plus. Before anyone criticizes me saying I'm draining revenue from this site, I've got a premium sub- the only time I'd see ads anyway is getting to the login screen. Second, Adblock Plus has a new feature that by default allows ads that use minimal scripts- allowing sites that are responsible about their advertisers to still get that ad revenue. I leave it toggled on. Now I do see some ads, but they are very few and they are always passive, non-invasive ones.
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make attention what you download !
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Well i get attacked by devaint art ads constantly for like 3 years now so I had to get 3 different virus blockers. Everything I have is up to date, so it's just that Deviant art ares more about putting unsafe ads and getting money then the safety of their patrons.
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Dear deviantART Admins,
There is one effective solution to this - TAKE DOWN THE ADS. But if you still need them, then oh well...
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We do need them. 
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Good thing I use AVG 2012. Protected me from 37 virus attacks in 2011 alone.
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So they finally realized that drive-by ads can happen? Those guys are fast.
This whole deal however is not new, it has been going on for many years, and as far as dumb users exist, so will malware that exploit this fact. Ad blockers can only prevent ads from being shown or loaded, but if they're sophisticated enough to be marked dangerous, they'll find a way through.
Some people also prefer to protect their computer from contacting dangerous domains and isolated sites by adding special rules in the windows hosts file. There's a site maintaining a list of such here: [link]
Worth checking out for those who know more than to browse a folder, it can save lives.
Despite all that, there's always the chance of a safe, white-listed site of becoming dangerous by being hi-jacked and starting to distribute malware, so a more sophisticated protection application is needed to counter-act that. I'm sure people have a lot of AV programs to suggest, but riddle me this: How hard is it to delete their files? Shut down their services and terminate their processes through task manager and the such? If by no means are you able to terminate them, that's a positive. On the other hand, if you CAN, consider choosing something else. Real malware doesn't play games and doesn't give you time to react. A good AV doesn't rely on signatures only, and simple access scanning is not enough. It needs to monitor active elements in real time and check their behavior at all times to ensure they do what they're supposed to do.
Though most of the time what you need is common sense to avoid what doesn't look right and some basic knowledge of what to do with simple infection cases. Some people can be hysterical, can't name enough cases where i was called to clean out a serious infection and all i had to do was remove registry keys and a phony startup executable that would remove access to task manager, display a message on the taskbar and hide files.
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You could have just said "as far as dumb users exist, so will malware that exploit this fact" and left it at that!
There is no way to educate everyone, unfortunately!
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One can try. If no progress is made, one can bask and laugh at it.
Either way, smarter people win.
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And thus completes the circle of life!
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These sorts of things have plagued Windows computers for many years
They are one reason I don't use Microsoft products any more
When I did have that system on my PC I found a free product called 'Spybot Search & Destroy' that was excellent for discovering & removing these Malware nasties
It can be downloaded from the Internet
Another removal tool I used was called 'Hijack This' but this required a certain amount of expertise to use
In addition it was useful to perform an on-line scan, which could isolate much more
In the end I walked away from Windows and picked an operating system not plagued by viruses, trojans, malware & so on
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How do malware get into banner ads? Do the websites that host the ads not monitor what they are advertising? I just get so confused about it all, its hard to trust any sort of link, even on the websites that you trust and have all the security checks.
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Nothing but a white frame with the mouseover popup "movie not loaded", could be that its for USA consumption only.
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A few months ago when the first Malware came from a DA ad banner, my anti virus sent a warning that DA was a known Malware site and the site should be blocked. Odd that now you are telling us that we are responsible for protecting ourselves from you.
Adblocker has kept the virus off my computer.
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Yeah. It's crazy.
So basically I need to leave this site to maxiumum protecation? not smart. other art sites can take their userbase.
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Many people fail to realise there is a reason why these exist. Malware is a crafty means of making money.
They make the damage, and they offer to fix it...for a price.
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*takes deep breath* this only proves my point: people are shit.
anyway, that virus that he describes at the beginning, where it installs a fake antivirus on your computer and holds it hostage: that's happened to me a couple of times. and there is a way to get rid of that program without having to pay. since it holds your computer super-hostage, you'll have to go into safe mode. i downloaded this program called Malwarebytes at [link]
its free and completely kick ass. go into safe mode, run this program. it'll take about an hour, but it will get rid of the virus. and any other viruses you might unknowingly have.
fine, don't believe me...
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That has happened to me... except on a different website, asking me to fill in a questionnaire. I had a "so called" anti-virus program installed in my laptop without me knowing about it. I was thinking it's a virus in itself so I got someone to remove the viruses for a decent price. Now I know NOT to do that ever again, since it has more private details on my laptop relating to a Computer Game Artist and Animator course. I have Malwarebytes aswell plus avast! Anti-virus program installed so it's really handy. ^^
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I think these might have been attacking my computer, but its a mac so they don't do anything. Just every now and again a deviantart ad will ask me to open a file. Firefox means I see these requests, but it hardly matters as my computer actually can't open them in anything but textedit.
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Thanks for the info's
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