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What to Do If You Saw an ‘Antivirus’ Pop-Up Ad
By Riva Richmond

Some nasty ads have hit the Web browsers of visitors to NYTimes.com and some other sites in recent days. The ads, which are not authorized or endorsed by The Times, can “hijack” a person’s browser and make it appear as if a scan for viruses is running. They then promote some so-called antivirus software that is itself virus-like. The Times believes it has eliminated these ads, but if they popped up on your screen, here’s what you need to know about your computer’s security.

While all of the details of how these particular ads operate are not yet clear, it is unlikely that they pose a real threat to Mac or Linux computers, since the downloads they try to push appear to work only on Windows machines. If you are a Windows user and saw a suspicious antivirus warning on your screen, it is possible that the ad’s creators infected your computer with a malicious program, even if you avoided all contact with it. “Click or not, the user could still get infected,” said Neil Deswani, a founder of Dasient, a security firm that specializes in Web site security issues.

Some similar antivirus scams have been known to use security vulnerabilities in Web browsers to automatically install malicious software in what are known as drive-by downloads, Mr. Deswani said. As a precaution, those who encountered a pop-up warning should run a scan using their favorite (legitimate) antivirus software...

The rest of the story here:
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/200 ... -up-ad/?hp

NY Times Site Serves Up Browser Hijack


Learning from the NY Times Attack Ad
Erik larkin

Sep 14, 2009 1:31 pm

The NYTimes.com site warned Sunday that it had inadvertently displayed an "unauthorized advertisement" over the weekend that tried to use fake malware warnings to trick viewers into installing scareware.

The various analyses of this attack point to a browser hijack, which uses Javascript to display the fake scan warnings in modified browser windows. As long as you're not tricked into downloading any software, security experts say this type of attack is relatively harmless. But fake malware warnings can also signal an existing malware infection on your PC.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/171941/l ... _t_cbintro

the only trojans i saw were on the shelf in the drugstore, man
they spozed ta stop virusesis

I saw what I saw when I saw it

News at avast
Clearly Malicious
Malware is getting more malicious, with a new round of bogus advertisements attempting to defraud or infect hitting well-known web sites like the New York Times.
Avast recognized the new threat from the beginning, according to the NYTimes “Gadgetwise” blog. Bogus ads on the NYTimes were flagged by avast running on the journalist’s own computer.
The newest attacks show how the battleground for computer security has shifted from email to the internet, with around 80 percent of all new infections now originating via the internet.
To remain protected, pay attention to avast warnings. If avast blocks access to your favorite sites, trust us - there is a reason.
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/200 ... pop-up-ad/