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Title: Flash ads bearing malware plague popular sites


msequine - April 20, 2008 04:58 PM (GMT)
QUOTE
A Flash-based advertisement that appeared last week on the USA Today site downloaded malicious code to users' computers, generating erroneous warnings of a malware infestation and offering a phony solution.

The Flash vulnerability is so widespread that such "malvertisements" may be present on thousands of sites, but there are measures you can take to reduce your exposure.

Just opening the page puts you at risk

Visitors to USAToday.com last Thursday got more than they bargained for. A hacked Flash advertisement meant that merely viewing a page in your browser was capable of triggering a malware attack on your PC. According to an alert on the security site Websense, the ad can take control of the browser without any user interaction at all.


Paraphrased from article above:
You can protect your computer by
1--Uninstalling Flash completely (see: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewConten...nalId=tn_14157)

2. Installing browser add-ons that allow you to block Flash Ads.





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