Unfortunately David, that statement is "not 100 percent" true. You don't have
to believe me, but read this
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20000898-245.html and kindly scroll down to
the seventh paragraph, to read what the experts say. It's the first one I could
find in a hurry; but there are many others out there that will tell you the
same. In short: you don't have to click on anything to get infected. I clean up
PCs like this on an almost daily basis, from customers who swear on their
mother's grave that they never clicked on anything. And I know they're speaking
the truth.
It's not as simple and straightforward as you think it is. Hackers, in many
situations, can alter an ad's code, and - simply by displaying the (altered) ad
on your screen - have that download malware on your PC. And QRZ.com and others
may never be the wiser; because the best of those crooks have a way of covering
their tracks. They are "here today, gone tomorrow".
Worse: the code can be split up in different segments, and doesn't have to come
from ONE site. There are cases in which they break up their malicious code,
hide one part in one ad, and another part in a second ad, and so on, on totally
different websites. You could be visiting Google search one day, and a week
later pick up the remainder of the code on eBay (just an example, I know Google
and eBay have teams to check for those attacks). After that - you're screwed.
These suckers are getting smarter, yes.
I run my amateur radio applications on a Windows desktop, because I have no
other choice. Everything else (90 percent of my email, and all of my web
browsing) runs on a Ubuntu laptop. Not that Linux won't be infested with
virusses, a few (!) years from now; but for now it's the safest thing to do.
If you want a virtually headache-free internet experience then by all means
switch to an operating system that is not so virus-inviting. And if you want a
totally headache-free internet experience... then stay off of the internet!
And another word to the wise: services and programs such as Adblock Plus only
work because they detect the ad's code. That means the ad's code is ran first.
Then intercepted. It's only a matter of time before those services/programs get
bypassed. Don't trust them with your life: the scammers will always be one step
ahead of the counter-scammers - if not more.
73,
Erik - K5WW
> From: david@levinecentral.com
> Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:46:51 -0500
> To: k8sm@windstream.net
> CC: ve3vid@hotmail.com; rtty@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] FW: QRZ.com virus
>
> Scott and others.
>
> Visiting QRZ won't cause the malware people have reported to get installed.
> I'm pretty sure you need to take an action (click a pop-up alert, etc) or
> download something and AFTER that you would see what was reported. You
> certainly wouldn't see it just by visiting a web page.
_______________________________________________
RTTY mailing list
RTTY@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rtty
|