I have noticed a high occurrence of flash ads on sites lately. These are not unusual, in their essence. The problem with flash ads is that either by limitations of code or intentional omission, they often do not display a URL. When these appear on game sites, especially ones which are a haven for WoW players like DeathKnight.info, I grow incredibly concerned about my security. Until I have an Authenticator in my hands, I will remain very cautious of my security.
Right now I surf on my laptop and game on my desktop, still being incredibly careful what I download and where I surf to. You never know if a trojan will know to look for zip files or other known packaging used in the Mod community. I do not know if the URL issue is a coded one or a Flash based flaw, but I refuse to risk myself and my account on the chance of a cool product or game that is marketed to people like me.
Add to this the chance of so far unknown holes in Flash or other multimedia ad methods, the prevalence of gold farming, leveling guide, and power leveling ads on any site that has Warcraft or MMO in it's keywords, and you really become concerned about clicking much of any link on the sites you visit online.
I wonder, though, a I paranoid? I know a lot of folks thing that all these big security measures that even the less secure take are too much, and I go much further in my own technology. Would you go so far as to refuse to click any Flash based links? Would you take security measures like weekly trojan searches, multi PC use, and other such measures? Or are you one of the many that thinks a decent browser and some addons for it is enough?
Right now I surf on my laptop and game on my desktop, still being incredibly careful what I download and where I surf to. You never know if a trojan will know to look for zip files or other known packaging used in the Mod community. I do not know if the URL issue is a coded one or a Flash based flaw, but I refuse to risk myself and my account on the chance of a cool product or game that is marketed to people like me.
Add to this the chance of so far unknown holes in Flash or other multimedia ad methods, the prevalence of gold farming, leveling guide, and power leveling ads on any site that has Warcraft or MMO in it's keywords, and you really become concerned about clicking much of any link on the sites you visit online.
I wonder, though, a I paranoid? I know a lot of folks thing that all these big security measures that even the less secure take are too much, and I go much further in my own technology. Would you go so far as to refuse to click any Flash based links? Would you take security measures like weekly trojan searches, multi PC use, and other such measures? Or are you one of the many that thinks a decent browser and some addons for it is enough?
Yes, you do sound a little paranoid. I found out in 2002 that web pages can embed a virus in a picture that your just viewing on their web site.
I don't think we have to worry just yet...I mean do we have to have a standard of everything we see on a web page has to be done in https:// ?
For a little added security you can use/install a Linux or Unix distro.
Do these viruses affect Macs? Or just PCs? If they don't affect Macs... then I think one solution might be to just play WoW, and visit WoW sites on a Mac instead.
I've never heard of "web pages can embed a virus in a picture that your just viewing on their web site". That's pretty darn scary. If stuff like that is out there, then, I guess you aren't paranoid after all. What's the phrase? "I'm not paranoid. They really are out to get me".