When on a virus removal call usually when I ask "How did it happen?" 9-out-of-10 times the response is "I don't know. I was just on a regular page I always read and then all of these pop-ups appeared".
This is usually a truthful statement, and I take them for their word. Sometimes though it's a bit more complicated. Everyone has their favorite homepage to catch the latest news [I use Yahoo], but whatever news page you use, it's always good to be on alert.
For instance, the other day I was on "MY YAHOO" going through the various news sections when I saw an article under "US NEWS" about the winter conditions in Michigan. While scrolling down the page there are news links related to the story you're reading, or something that didn't make the top 10 stories on my page on the sidelines, so if something seems newsworthy I'll read it too.
In-between these links you'll often come across other things like my example below:
I've circled the lighter print which reads "Advertise" because it doesn't stand out like the rest of the text and the...er picture. These are paid advertisements and can be bought by anyone with enough money to put it on the page. Some are legit, some are not. The non-legit links may lead you down the rabbit hole and infect your computer. Are these legit or non-legit? I couldn't tell you as I don't want to take the risk of my computer being infected to find out.
Most websites are all too happy to take in money, because that's what keeps them going, and very often a malicious advertisement with a picture that makes you wonder what it's all about will tempt you to click on it.
So in the words of one of my favorite deceased news reporters, Paul Harvey-
"....and now you know the rest of the story".
'Nuff Said,
Brian
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