# Spyware again **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 21, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyware-again/589909 "2011-07-21T22:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyware-again/589909/41 "2011-07-29T14:50:12Z")
Adblock is not a panacea. It doesn’t block all ads, and it doesn’t block malicious scripting in the form of non-ads. It does a great job in blocking most ads, but Adblock relies on two things to work properly: the first, a subscription list which is updated as new ad sources are discovered; the second, manual intervention by the end-user to block ads the subscription list does not cover. Because of the current model, a small number of ads will always peek through. Its usefulness is also limited by an end-user being tricked into willingly downloading and installing a “video codec” or other trojan horse. You’ll see this a lot on Facebook or other social media sites where a friend’s hijacked account asks you to click on a link to view a “funny video”. Either the linked-to site has malicious code that runs through Firefox’s (or, insert browser) security holes, or it tricks the user into downloading and installing a malicious file. Right now I’m not convinced you were infected by malware on this site. I say that for numerous reasons, but mainly because, at this point, you’re the only one making a complaint. In the past when the SDMB has been the victim of a malicious ad, numerous people get hit. It’s not just one. It’s not impossible that you’re the only one to get infected, but with the high traffic of this site, it’s not very likely. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyware-again/589909/42 "2011-08-12T15:16:36Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > But IMO, regardless of the source, if you get infected with malware, your own lax security measures are more to blame than any one site is to blame. You can either vent your anger at a site that may or may not have been the source, or you can take matters into your own hands and properly secure your system from infection from all sites. If you got infected by a mostly innocuous and annoying piece of malware, take that as a cheap reminder that you are also vulnerable to much more serious and damaging things if you don’t improve your security. Awesome victim-blaming here. Maybe later you can go find a teenage girl who was raped at a frat party and tell her it was her own fault for wearing such a short skirt and drinking too much. :thumbs-up: ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyware-again/589909/43 "2011-08-12T17:50:09Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Awesome victim-blaming here. Maybe later you can go find a teenage girl who was raped at a frat party and tell her it was her own fault for wearing such a short skirt and drinking too much. :thumbs-up: Quoting from the registration agreement: **You are free to express your views in a forceful manner provided you remain civil.** You bumped a two-week old thread to be inflammatory and rude, and needlessly so. If you have an issue with another poster, take it to the Pit. Closing this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spyware-again/589909.md?page=2)