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The FBI also makes a good argument that adblockers prevent scammers from directing people to malicious sites. https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/22/fbi-ad-blocker/

• nicce 1y ago
  I have said it years that adblocker is the best anti-virus these days.
  • caminante 1y ago
    I get miffed when corporations manage employee browsers and disable adblocker extensions.
    • BLKNSLVR 1y ago
      I don't understand why DNS ad blockers (Ad Guard, Pi-Hole, other) aren't frequently used across corporates. Especially given the regular-ish training on cybersecurity and related.
      • bitpush 1y ago
        Because ads are not how malware is distributed? You have higher chance of getting a malware from `pnpm add` than seeing an ad on the web.
        • BLKNSLVR 1y ago
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvertising https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvertising
        • minitech 1y ago
          > Because ads are not how malware is distributed? Malware is absolutely distributed through ads. In the case of more reputable ad platforms that don’t allow arbitrary scripts, it’s by linking to malware, but they’re also used to serve drive-by exploits. > You have higher chance of getting a malware from `pnpm add` than seeing an ad on the web. If you’re a normal computer user who browses the web without an ad blocker and never runs `pnpm add`, the relevant chance is a little different. (Fun side fact: current pnpm wisely doesn’t run install scripts by default.)
          • vasco 1y ago
            And its users wisely read all of those scripts before manually running them, same as the library code, they read all of it before running.
        • kstrauser 1y ago
          This is very incorrect. Ads are basically running a program they wrote on your computer. If there’s any exploitable feature in your browser’s JS sandbox, count on someone sending you an ad that will exploit it.
        • muppetman 1y ago
          [flagged]
        • chithanh 1y ago
          To add to the other reply, there were even targeted malware campaigns through ad networks. Because nowadays, you can choose who sees your ads so precisely (by IP block or geolocation) that you can target individual organizations.
        • akho 1y ago
          I took a careful look at the definition of malware on Wikipedia. Ads are malware.
        • nicce 1y ago
          GIMP is one of the best examples that comes to my mind: https://www.techradar.com/news/this-fake-gimp-google-ad-just-ends-up-serving-malware https://www.techradar.com/news/this-fake-gimp-google-ad-just...
      • sciencejerk 1y ago
        Don't ad blockers breach Terms of Service? I assume this is one reason that corps don't roll out adblockers
        • jacquesm 1y ago
          sosume.
        • caminante 1y ago
          Only on a specific handful of sites. I'm skeptical that inside counsel would really have an issue with adblock or a moderate approach -- whitelist a subset of a subset of sites like YouTube that they might see risk. The benefits are tremendous.
      • SoftTalker 1y ago
        I don't understand why Apple does not ship Safari with an adblocker. They advertise how they keep you safe on the web but deliver one of the worst browser experiences and don't even support the plugins that would make it better, let alone include them. I found the Orion browser and am never touching Safari again.
        • lII1lIlI11ll 1y ago
          They actually do support "plugins that would make it better" though: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id674534269...
    • bb88 1y ago
      For some industries, it's critical their employees are not spied upon. The CISO should prioritize this for those companies. Banks, Defense, etc.
    • mordae 1y ago
      When I've worked in the public sector IT dept, I've made sure that the installed browser is Firefox and uBlock Origin is set up. Do your part.