I don’t really use facebook anymore so couldn’t care less; but so happened to log in today to change my password and saw this on my front page.

    • Uranium3006@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      if ads were just static PNGs with a link you went to if you clicked I wouldn’t have ever bothered. but ads became a major malware and tracking risk so plugging that security hole became mandatory.

      • u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org)@lemmy.sdf.org
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        11 months ago

        I tried finding that website, but I can’t remember what it is. I’ve seen it use the static image advertisement. It changed on each reload too.

        But yes, that website had last update somewhere in the early 2000s.

        • RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml
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          11 months ago

          When I last used it a few years ago ExplainXKCD used static images and had a note about how they hand picked each ad to avoid any problems.

      • rwhitisissle@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

        People are gonna say I’m being hyperbolic or crazy, but I swear that the internet died the day the first line of production Javascript was ever written.

      • PM_ME_FAT_ENBIES@lib.lgbt
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        11 months ago

        Even static PNG ads are purpose engineered to grab your attention. People with attention disorders like ADHD and autism don’t have as much attention to give, and when it’s gone we’re debilitated. We need to start considering cognitohazards a legally prosecutable form of violence.

          • zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev
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            11 months ago

            Which part of it, specifically?

            Edit: No, the ADA word not apply. My point was that you should understand the ADA a bit better and what it covers. Accessing a building open to the public, not facing discrimination in employment, and accommodations in education environments are examples of things it covers. I’m willing to be proven wrong, but don’t just guess or generalize. Please try and understand the topic a bit more as it’s a very important piece of legislation that makes a big difference in a lot of lives and treating it lightly dilutes that in a similar fashion to emotional support alligators vs trained service animals.

    • monsterpiece42@reddthat.com
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      11 months ago

      It’s true. I work in a computer shop and we see literally thousands and thousands of dollars lost from people clicking on ads that look like normal buttons (things like “Download”, “Next”, etc). And not just the elderly either. Everyone has a a combination of inputs to get scared and comply. Folks that are otherwise extremely competent and savvy can get scammed too.

      The best security you can have online is adblockers, only beaten by using trusted websites.

      Edit, fair points with sites being slimy these days. I meant using legitimate versions of websites rather than copy/fake websites designed to steal credentials.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I dunno’, the way Google themselves have served vulnerable ads, it might be true that ad blocking is more important than using “trustworthy” sites.

      • hstde@feddit.de
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        11 months ago

        But what websites can you trust these days?

        YouTube? Serves up scammy bitcoin ads. Google? Places ads as “search results” Twitter?

        Maybe that one website unchanged since 1998.

      • moitoi@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        11 months ago

        Does anyone have screenshots of these buttons? I didn’t see an ad for so long that I don’t even know how they look like.

          • monsterpiece42@reddthat.com
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            11 months ago

            Yes, these exactly. There does seem to be a bias towards sites with multi-page articles (think Yahoo news, BuzzFeed type stuff), and what I’ll call “disposable income listings” like boat and sports car-listing websites.

    • viking@infosec.pubOP
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      11 months ago

      Definitely. Ads are eye cancer at best, and infiltration channels for malware at worst. Compromised ad networks pumping out executable code via javascript (or back in the days, Flash) are still a major source of trojan infections.

    • Teon@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      And just to add to your important point, Ad Blockers are really Content Blockers. They allow the user to delete annoyances that have nothing to do with advertising. We should all start calling them Content Blockers.

    • stoy@lemmy.zip
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      11 months ago

      I have said it before, snd I will repeat it as many times as it takes.

      Adblocking is security, untill website owners take legal and financial responsibillity for the harm that a hacked ad spreading malware or attenpting any kind of deception, I won’t even consider removing my adblocker.

      If this changes, I will consider it, but will still not do it, the risk to my data is too large.

    • NightOwl@lemmy.one
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      11 months ago

      Yeah, there’s no proper screening process and companies aren’t help liable for malicious advertisements. It’s the Wild west out there, and companies take money from anyone due to there being no consequences. Internet advertising has no proper screening process like network television.