“Think you’re downloading a new song or video? Watch out–that file may be stuffed with pop-ups and adware,” Andrew Brandt and Eric Dahl report for PCWorld. “PC World has learned that some Windows Media files on peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa contain code that can spawn a string of pop-up ads and install adware. They look just like regular songs or short videos in Windows Media format, but launch ads instead of media clips.”
Brandt and Eric Dahl report, “When we ran the files, we noted over half a dozen pop-ups, some attempts to download adware onto our test PC, and an attempt to hijack our browser’s home page… Not only did we get bombarded with unwanted ads, but one of the ad windows in a video file tried to install adware onto our test PC surreptitiously, while another added items to our browser’s Favorites list and attempted to change our home page. And a window from the original music file asked to download a file called lyrics.zip, which contained the installer for 180search Assistant, commonly categorized as an adware program… However, you can take steps to guard your PC against this ad invasion.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “You can take steps to guard your PC against this ad invasion” or you can just use your head and get a Mac instead. Nope, no adware, spyware, viruses, worms, or any other malware affects us Mac users. We just surf the ‘Net and get our work done. Imagine that.
Sorry, if we sound short, we’ve grown very tired of this whole situation. It goes kind of like this:
Microsoft: Hello, Mister! Here’s a vat of acid to swim in – only $3.00 for the day.
Apple: Hello, Sir. How are you? Here’s a pool of spring water for your swimming enjoyment – only $10.00 for the year.
WILL YOU WINDOWS PEOPLE PLEASE WAKE UP?! STOP TRYING TO SAVE $7 UPFRONT – YOU’RE GETTING BURNED!
Deep breath. Okay, we’re calm again.
For our Windows-only friends, information about smoothly adding a safe, secure, powerful, and fun Mac OS X machine to your computing arsenal can be found here.
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