Define Cynical Fan Forums

Whilst reading O&M just now, I had a banner ad appear for MalwareAlarm.Com which claimed that it scanned my hard drive and found lots of spyware. I knew immediately that this was a scam because I run Linux, not Windows.

The "scanner" invited me to click to download a malware removal tool called malwarealarmsetup.exe.

Googling on MalwareAlarm.Com reveals that the download is actually adware.

Beware of this when reading web comics at Keenspot!

This isn't the first time that a Keenspot banner ad has done something naughty. Last week, one of their banner ads crashed my browser.

Ah, this is why I block scripts...

This is why I don't click on anything ever on the internet.

This is why I don't click on anything ever on the internet.

You clicked on the "reply" button

The solution:

http://adblockplus.org/en/

Even lets you block flash ads.

It happened to me D:

It happened to me D:

Suckage!

*beats the adware with a 2x4*

The solution:

http://adblockplus.org/en/

Even lets you block flash ads.

The better, more secure solution: http://noscript.net/

Blocks flash, annoying scripts that draw ads on top of what you're reading, and much more, without the security problems inherent with relying on a blacklist.

Plus, it also blocks selected annoying non-ads, like those stupid dancing pigs. (Well, the really malicious ones anyways. Since when do GIF files become trojan horses?)

The even better solution, take a hammer to your modem

I couldn't care less about banner ads (it's popups that annoy me). I just don't click on them.

Never had a banner crash my browser.