Pdf viruses and talking ads.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

Hello, I know this is a known issue but I am just wondering what is being done about it. Several times I have been looking through the Dragonage Nexus site and had a PDF doc randomly load up and put a virus on my system. I have been able to catch them so far but it really makes one insecure about going to any Nexus site or downloading anything from them for that matter.

 

Also, I know that the web master doesn't get to pick what kind of ads companies choose to put up after buying space on the site. However, is it possible to not run ads that auto-load movies with sound? I understand that ads keep the site running for free users, but when I have several tabs with Nexus sites open and they are all in the middle of some commercial about weight loss and something about washing my dishes all while I am trying to listen to music... that just gets really irritating.

[LHammonds]

I cannot say this enough times...please take a screenshot of the page with the irritating ad or virus attack.

 

When something like this happens, just press the "Print Screen" button on the keyboard. You can then go into MS Paint (under Start, Accessories), paste the image, save the file and upload to somewhere such as PhotoBucket or ImageShack

 

Thanks,

LHammonds

[Zumbs]

A general security tip: Open the preferences in Adobe Reader and disable javascript. Better yet, uninstall Adobe Reader and get another pdf reader, such as Foxit Reader.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

That is a good tip thanks, however it doesn't really solve the issue of the Nexus sites becoming labeled as attack sites.

[buddah]

Like LHammonds says, capture it so it can be removed from the rotation. The staff here is always logged in.....our accounts are set up not to display any of the advertisements when we are logged in, so if you don't tell us (in particular Dark0ne) of an intrusive/infected advertisement when you see one we won't know.

 

A screen capture tells us which is the culprit and it can be removed, but we have to positively identify it. The company that I work for is part of the system and I have seen our ads here so I know for the most part they are good ones, but the provider of them seems lacking in weeding the wheat from the chaff so to speak.

 

Thanks for you help on this issue, it will take a community effort to kill them.

 

Buddah

[Fatalmasterpiece]

Ok, I will do that buddah. Thankfully in the last few days they have been gone so I think maybe someone got to them already, or they moved on.

 

As a side note... Let me see if I get this; Nexus gets ads from a company (which you work for?) which pays them for the space, but they don't really know what all the ads are, and that company gets it's ads from another company, who pays them, but they also don't exactly know what is in all of them... so some of this stuff with viruses and talking ads makes it through the strainer.

[Vagrant0]

so some of this stuff with viruses and talking ads makes it through the strainer.

Kinda, yes. But there are other factors to consider.

 

Companies which supply ads to sites usually don't list ads which contain malware simply because this, more often than not, causes that company to lose many clients. It's in their best interest to check their own ads before listing them.

 

Some of these ads are not necessarily hostile, or even malware, but are being detected as malware by some varieties of anti-virus or other browser addons. Furthermore, some of the freebie "no name" antiviruses actually work to run extra bits of code which force you to see additional ads and popups on sites which are not controlled by the owners of that site, and although they might impart some limited anti-virus capabilities, they are also malware.

[buddah]

No not the company that provides the ads, but a company that advertises here.

[Vagrant0]

While going through images without being logged in or my scripts being blocked, I've found one related to tribal fusion, a notorious malware ad source.

 

do not click

 

http://a.tribalfusion.com/h.click/ajmMvf5UQ2VbMGUPf2PabXQGnsPd3xYtBtWP3u4sJ0XUYJVmTn56vdR67K2HUr0W3LpWAO5mB14GM9Ts

JdUcb8RAFwTtJSWrf03U2sWajpVav8QTrFSsjZaQrmqRHY6UVUQ5riqmd6yXqXN4dbqNEmcwV/http://www.communityofveterans.org

 

 

 

http://a.tribalfusion.com/h.click/aJmMQgScYMQWYMYdnmVAbw2VM4YrUZbVmTr56r9R6rF2WYrXWvLmWeM363Y5cr6UGr9VcbjP6FmTWUTU

bM05bEuWarvVTniPEBZaSGZbCQb6vRWM6VsrR2FqqntEMYTuM3dbDPVJZd5AYZcmWImUtQhTVrUx83QJC/http://www.uncf.org/waveofhope

 

 

However, so far, I have not had any unusual security popups. Will edit this post as more or found or once I've done a security sweep through my cookies.

Edited January 31, 2010 by Vagrant0