[Civil] Protecting/fixing your computer

[Aeson]

There have been several cases with Avast. 1 was actually bad, there was an ad that would lock up the browser by showing an iframe. The source of the iframe used a very simple javascript to trigger browser alert messages in an endless loop, trying to get the user to call a number to get the virus removed. There was no virus involved, though the javascript was of course a major PITA. I got the offending site hosting and domain suspended within a couple hours of getting a complaint on it.

Others have just been warnings of potential malicious code that turned out to be benign. Avast never clarified on what was going on, just that it had been checked out and cleared.

[Ming]

As someone who makes a living off of ad revenue, Adblock is kinda a sore topic for me.

While I understand (and I'm part of the advertising community) it still comes down to the user. If there weren't so many BAD pop ups and other trash that take away from my internet experience, I wouldn't have to use it

[loinburger]

There may be a tool that would validate ad code to ensure that it's not doing anything wonky - doesn't need to be complicated, basically just "no popups/alerts" which can probably be verified with a text search (it's impossible to verify arbitrary properties of arbitrary programs, but ads shouldn't be "arbitrary programs" - they're usually just "the monkey dances when you mouse over it")

[Aeson]

Yah, I use Adblock myself and have donated to it. It's useful for me because my ISP injects some JS into every page ... and it does nothing except for wreck the page layouts. Adblock allows me to keep it from changing the page layout.

I still think Adblock is in general a bad thing that decreases the value of the internet and promotes even more nefarious types of advertising or sale of user data. Which is why I don't surf with it on.

[Aeson]

There may be a tool that would validate ad code to ensure that it's not doing anything wonky - doesn't need to be complicated, basically just "no popups/alerts" which can probably be verified with a text search (it's impossible to verify arbitrary properties of arbitrary programs, but ads shouldn't be "arbitrary programs" - they're usually just "the monkey dances when you mouse over it")

Well the problem is I may never see the ads, and neither does my server. The ads are served by 3rd party networks. Some of them allow reviewing ads. But Adsense for example has 397k ads that it's used on my sites, and the interface for viewing them is not very efficient. Most other networks don't have any transparency. So I will only ever see the ads that target my geolocation, device, cookies, etc.

[loinburger]

Hmm, the only thing I can think of is that maybe it's possible to wrap the ad frame in some code that would intercept any popups/alerts/etc - it would still be flagged by Avast since the program is seeing the unfiltered ad javascript, but at least it wouldn't crash your users' browsers. That's outside of my bailiwick though, I'm **** at front-end coding.

[Ming]

I still think Adblock is in general a bad thing that decreases the value of the internet and promotes even more nefarious types of advertising or sale of user data. Which is why I don't surf with it on.

While I understand your POV, I have to disagree. It does NOT decrease the value of the internet. It enhances the internet experience. Like all "content", you have to come up with better ways to make money... provide something that people will want/view. I love when I see some sites "ask you to turn off adbockers" so that they can continue to provide the content you are coming for. As long as the ads are "NOT" annoying, I will turn off my adblock for those sites. But when they deliver nasty pop up ads, forget it.

[loinburger]

I have no problem with having a few to a handful of non-animated or slightly-animated (e.g. mouseover) banner ads - that's how the ads are at SomethingAwful, so I've whitelisted them. Other ads are awful, and advertisers kind of shot themselves in the foot by introducing them.

[kentonio]

I still think Adblock is in general a bad thing that decreases the value of the internet and promotes even more nefarious types of advertising or sale of user data. Which is why I don't surf with it on.

This is exactly the kind of thinking that caused the problem in the first place. Adblock does not decrease the value of the internet, intrusive and ****ty advertising decreases the value of the internet. It's sad yet utterly predictable that advertisers instinctive response to Adblock is to try to find more intrusive and obnoxious forms of advertising to get around the filter rather than taking on board the reasons why it exists in the first place.

It reminds me of how the movie companies started filling DVD's with trailers and adverts in many cases that couldn't be skipped. The inevitable response was for many people to just download ripped off movies that had all the extra crap removed. The movie companies response? Add even more adverts including ones that lecture about how terrible piracy is.

[loinburger]

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30648666/is-there-a-way-to-sandbox-the-execution-of-third-party-javascript-on-a-webpage

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell and back for mentioning banner ads, but it's worth a shot.

[giblets]

This is exactly the kind of thinking that caused the problem in the first place. Adblock does not decrease the value of the internet, intrusive and ****ty advertising decreases the value of the internet. It's sad yet utterly predictable that advertisers instinctive response to Adblock is to try to find more intrusive and obnoxious forms of advertising to get around the filter rather than taking on board the reasons why it exists in the first place.

It reminds me of how the movie companies started filling DVD's with trailers and adverts in many cases that couldn't be skipped. The inevitable response was for many people to just download ripped off movies that had all the extra crap removed. The movie companies response? Add even more adverts including ones that lecture about how terrible piracy is.

You seem to be thinking of "advertisers" as a collective entity who should co-ordinate their activities for the benefit of all advertisers. If you're an advertiser and you know other advertisers are doing stupid **** that makes people want to use Adblock, there probably isn't anything you can do about how other advertisers are behaving. You have to take the existence of Adblock as a given.

[Aeson]

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3...t-on-a-webpage

I'm probably going to get downvoted to hell and back for mentioning banner ads, but it's worth a shot.

Google Adsense (the one I use most often and am most familiar with) doesn't allow their ad serving to be altered in any way. Serving them in an iframe is definitely against TOS. Not showing an ad (after including their ad tag) or altering an ad they serve is also against the TOS.

Given that Adsense has $billions invested and at risk if their ad network is compromised, I think they probably can do a better job than I can of avoiding showing problematic ads. But with (guessing) 10's or 100's of millions of ad variations, occasionally something is bound to slip in even in their inventory. I know there was an issue with some Adsense ads recently auto-redirecting users, I think through a flash vulnerability.

The other ad networks are likely less proficient and strict to varying degrees. I'd have to look closely at the TOS for each network. I'd be surprised if any of them allow filtering ad serving outside whatever tools they offer though. They're best served by having blanket statements that would cover any possible manipulation of their ad serving, mainly to avoid unforeseen types of click/view fraud.

[Sava]

ESET smart security has served me well. I buy two two year licenses every two years. Uses minimal resources. Never had any issues. They update their definitions a few times a day.

5/5 stars

[Sava]

Good guide BTW

[kentonio]

You seem to be thinking of "advertisers" as a collective entity who should co-ordinate their activities for the benefit of all advertisers. If you're an advertiser and you know other advertisers are doing stupid **** that makes people want to use Adblock, there probably isn't anything you can do about how other advertisers are behaving. You have to take the existence of Adblock as a given.

Expecting basic standards of practice isn't a wildly insane expectation. Pretty much every other industry manages it just fine.