5 ms·

If you're seeing ads on Wikipedia, your computer probably has malware

84 points by vgnet 14y ago

bicknergseng 14y ago
Or you're using a Chrome extension that serves ads. I flipped out the other day because I thought someone had hacked our application and decided all they'd do is serve ads. Bad behavior on the part of Chrome extensions.
- Zikes 14y ago
  I'd like to hear more about your experience. Was it a previously straight-laced extension that, upon acquiring a decent user base, then decided to update with ad injections? What function did the extension serve? If it did start serving ads after an update, did the update also ask for additional permissions, or did it zealously ask for more than it needed originally, if its function did not legitimately call for that sort of access?
  - garyrichardson 14y ago
    I had installed a Safari extension that was designed to let me auto-reload a tab on a sechedule. I never really used it. I can't think of the name. One day it updated itself and started replacing IAB sized HTML containers with ads. I only noticed because I was doing testing with Safari and the player I expected to be loading was being replaced by an ad.
    - starwed 14y ago
      I'd be completely comfortable with calling that malware.
  - jraines 14y ago
    I used YAGBE (Yet Another Google Bookmarks Extension) and it was really nice until it pulled this trick. No additional permissions were asked for IIRC, so it probably asked for what it needed at first.
  - bicknergseng 14y ago
    I was also using YAGBE. From what I can tell yah they hit a critical mass and decided to add in ads. No permission changes as far as I can tell. I think I filed a ticket with Google a while ago... it seems like a serious security flaw to me.
- joejohnson 14y ago
  Couldn't that Chrome extension be considered malware if it serves ads and the user is not aware of this behavior before they install?
  - jacquesm 14y ago
    I hope that was a rhetorical question.
- prawn 14y ago
  I had a few confused minutes the other day after noticing a persistent affiliate tag when browsing Amazon. Seemed to overwrite my having come through a friend's affiliate link (testing). Worried that it was malware until I realised it was the monetisation scheme of clea.nr (YouTube/Amazon simplifier which is otherwise fairly good).
nutmeg 14y ago
I noticed this same thing when viewing YouTube on my daughter's laptop. Oddly spammy ads where there normally were no ads. I guess the new model for adware/malware is to try to integrate so seamlessly that a normal person doesn't even realize they are seeing someone else's ads.
- pavel_lishin 14y ago
  Doesn't this sort of parallel real-world infections? Something too obviously virulent in real life will kill the host before it gets to reproduce; so it makes sense to be as innocuous as possible while still reproducing/bringing profit.
fennecfoxen 14y ago
A commentor on that page notes that it might not be malware, just an evil ISP. If that notion comforts you at all.
encoderer 14y ago
For what it's worth, I don't think it's strictly fair to call all plugins that inject ads onto pages "malware." If the app -- suppose it's a toolbar or something -- gives the user valuable (to them) functionality, and it was installed legitimately, I think it's perfectly acceptable to monetize that way. So the measure of the malware should be based on the app itself, and how it got onto the computer, and not the apps monetization. While I can sympathize with site owners who could have their reputations tarnished by users seeing ads and assuming they came from the website, I also feel that if I, as a user, want an app and "pay" for it by accepting ads injected into my browsing activity, that strikes me as something I should be allowed to do.
- pavel_lishin 14y ago
  As long as the plugin explicitly warns you that this is happening, I don't see it as being any worse than running AdBlock.
  - jacquesm 14y ago
    Publishers might disagree with you. Not only are they denied the income of their work, someone else profits from it.
- JoshTriplett 14y ago
  > For what it's worth, I don't think it's strictly fair to call all plugins that inject ads onto pages "malware." Quite a bit of malware runs with user "consent", and purports to provide some value to the user. However, "malware" does often has the connotation of something that exploited a security vulnerability to end up on the system, hence terms like "adware" to cover software that introduces advertisements and often gets installed along with some other software package the user actually wanted. And given the extensive tracking associated with most advertising, pretty much any adware will also qualify as spyware, though not to the same degree as software like keyloggers and similar. Some people have also introduced broader terms like "badware" to encompass many different categories (https://stopbadware.org/ https://stopbadware.org/), but that term hasn't caught on nearly as much as "malware", "spyware", and "adware". If a user truly did intentionally install a piece of software that explicitly said it would add advertising to arbitrary websites, and the software installed with the full knowledge and consent of the user, then by all means let the user annoy themselves. But for every user somehow simultaneously knowledgeable enough to figure that out and yet not knowledgeable enough to avoid it, there exist several million users with unwanted adware, spyware, and malware on their systems. (And in many cases, such a "choice" affects more than just that one user; most spam comes from infected systems, for instance, since that has a lot more "value" than just spamming the user of the infected system.)
kokey 14y ago
The worst are the adds with a picture of some guy called Jimmy and another one with long hair. Both asking for money. It takes up the whole top of the page.
- Flimm 14y ago
  I wish more ads were like Wikipedia's: relevant, temporary and of great consequence. I don't see how they qualify for being "the worst".
  - notatoad 14y ago
    they're the worst because they're the best. normal ads i can ignore. wikipedia's ads are not only visually hard to ignore, they're morally hard to ignore (and they don't go away after you donate)
- joshu 14y ago
  http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6MTFDFYHgzo/TyLtGzJmTfI/AAAAAAAAADI/2DciRgNmrIw/s1600/Dimmy+Waywes.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6MTFDFYHgzo/TyLtGzJmTfI/AAAAAAAAAD...
- sien 14y ago
  Would you prefer it if wikipedia just ran a line of ads all the time? This is a serious question. It's open to others to.
  - twelvechairs 14y ago
    I think the real answer is it doesn't really matter. Especially for those of us with adblock.
    - altrego99 14y ago
      I agree and hence if it means more profit for Wikimedia organization, from people who do not use or do not know about adblock, then it is definitely a better choice than the current donation model.
throwaway63-90 14y ago
Read the NYTimes blog post. "Revenue eXtraction Gateway" (RG) They tried calling the RG helpdesk, and the RG people hung up. Classic. Encrypting all internet traffic would put a swift end to this problem.
tomdtpink 14y ago
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84 points by vgnet 14y ago

Or you're using a Chrome extension that serves ads. I flipped out the other day because I thought someone had hacked our application and decided all they'd do is serve ads. Bad behavior on the part of Chrome extensions.

Zikes 14y ago
I'd like to hear more about your experience. Was it a previously straight-laced extension that, upon acquiring a decent user base, then decided to update with ad injections? What function did the extension serve? If it did start serving ads after an update, did the update also ask for additional permissions, or did it zealously ask for more than it needed originally, if its function did not legitimately call for that sort of access?
- garyrichardson 14y ago
  I had installed a Safari extension that was designed to let me auto-reload a tab on a sechedule. I never really used it. I can't think of the name. One day it updated itself and started replacing IAB sized HTML containers with ads. I only noticed because I was doing testing with Safari and the player I expected to be loading was being replaced by an ad.
  - starwed 14y ago
    I'd be completely comfortable with calling that malware.
- jraines 14y ago
  I used YAGBE (Yet Another Google Bookmarks Extension) and it was really nice until it pulled this trick. No additional permissions were asked for IIRC, so it probably asked for what it needed at first.
- bicknergseng 14y ago
  I was also using YAGBE. From what I can tell yah they hit a critical mass and decided to add in ads. No permission changes as far as I can tell. I think I filed a ticket with Google a while ago... it seems like a serious security flaw to me.
joejohnson 14y ago
Couldn't that Chrome extension be considered malware if it serves ads and the user is not aware of this behavior before they install?
- jacquesm 14y ago
  I hope that was a rhetorical question.
prawn 14y ago
I had a few confused minutes the other day after noticing a persistent affiliate tag when browsing Amazon. Seemed to overwrite my having come through a friend's affiliate link (testing). Worried that it was malware until I realised it was the monetisation scheme of clea.nr (YouTube/Amazon simplifier which is otherwise fairly good).

nutmeg 14y ago

I noticed this same thing when viewing YouTube on my daughter's laptop. Oddly spammy ads where there normally were no ads. I guess the new model for adware/malware is to try to integrate so seamlessly that a normal person doesn't even realize they are seeing someone else's ads.

pavel_lishin 14y ago
Doesn't this sort of parallel real-world infections? Something too obviously virulent in real life will kill the host before it gets to reproduce; so it makes sense to be as innocuous as possible while still reproducing/bringing profit.

fennecfoxen 14y ago

A commentor on that page notes that it might not be malware, just an evil ISP. If that notion comforts you at all.

encoderer 14y ago

For what it's worth, I don't think it's strictly fair to call all plugins that inject ads onto pages "malware." If the app -- suppose it's a toolbar or something -- gives the user valuable (to them) functionality, and it was installed legitimately, I think it's perfectly acceptable to monetize that way. So the measure of the malware should be based on the app itself, and how it got onto the computer, and not the apps monetization. While I can sympathize with site owners who could have their reputations tarnished by users seeing ads and assuming they came from the website, I also feel that if I, as a user, want an app and "pay" for it by accepting ads injected into my browsing activity, that strikes me as something I should be allowed to do.

pavel_lishin 14y ago
As long as the plugin explicitly warns you that this is happening, I don't see it as being any worse than running AdBlock.
- jacquesm 14y ago
  Publishers might disagree with you. Not only are they denied the income of their work, someone else profits from it.
JoshTriplett 14y ago
> For what it's worth, I don't think it's strictly fair to call all plugins that inject ads onto pages "malware." Quite a bit of malware runs with user "consent", and purports to provide some value to the user. However, "malware" does often has the connotation of something that exploited a security vulnerability to end up on the system, hence terms like "adware" to cover software that introduces advertisements and often gets installed along with some other software package the user actually wanted. And given the extensive tracking associated with most advertising, pretty much any adware will also qualify as spyware, though not to the same degree as software like keyloggers and similar. Some people have also introduced broader terms like "badware" to encompass many different categories (https://stopbadware.org/ https://stopbadware.org/), but that term hasn't caught on nearly as much as "malware", "spyware", and "adware". If a user truly did intentionally install a piece of software that explicitly said it would add advertising to arbitrary websites, and the software installed with the full knowledge and consent of the user, then by all means let the user annoy themselves. But for every user somehow simultaneously knowledgeable enough to figure that out and yet not knowledgeable enough to avoid it, there exist several million users with unwanted adware, spyware, and malware on their systems. (And in many cases, such a "choice" affects more than just that one user; most spam comes from infected systems, for instance, since that has a lot more "value" than just spamming the user of the infected system.)

kokey 14y ago

The worst are the adds with a picture of some guy called Jimmy and another one with long hair. Both asking for money. It takes up the whole top of the page.

Flimm 14y ago
I wish more ads were like Wikipedia's: relevant, temporary and of great consequence. I don't see how they qualify for being "the worst".
- notatoad 14y ago
  they're the worst because they're the best. normal ads i can ignore. wikipedia's ads are not only visually hard to ignore, they're morally hard to ignore (and they don't go away after you donate)
joshu 14y ago
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6MTFDFYHgzo/TyLtGzJmTfI/AAAAAAAAADI/2DciRgNmrIw/s1600/Dimmy+Waywes.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6MTFDFYHgzo/TyLtGzJmTfI/AAAAAAAAAD...
sien 14y ago
Would you prefer it if wikipedia just ran a line of ads all the time? This is a serious question. It's open to others to.
- twelvechairs 14y ago
  I think the real answer is it doesn't really matter. Especially for those of us with adblock.
  - altrego99 14y ago
    I agree and hence if it means more profit for Wikimedia organization, from people who do not use or do not know about adblock, then it is definitely a better choice than the current donation model.

throwaway63-90 14y ago

Read the NYTimes blog post. "Revenue eXtraction Gateway" (RG) They tried calling the RG helpdesk, and the RG people hung up. Classic. Encrypting all internet traffic would put a swift end to this problem.

tomdtpink 14y ago

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