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Porn Sites More Infected Than Thought
nk497 writes "Porn sites are five times as likely to host malware as previously thought, with 3.6% offering up a digital infection of some sort, according to a researchers who set up their very own adult sites for a new study. One reason for the high rate of malware is that the online porn industry makes use of affiliate programs, where one site will drive traffic to another in exchange for links, cash, or simply free pornographic material to use. Because such programs don't check who they're doing business with, and sites use disguised links and other clandestine methods to drive people to different pages, it's easy for criminals to abuse the system to spread malware. Researcher Gilbert Wondracek said, 'They inadvertently have created an ecosystem that can easily be abused on a large scale by cyber criminals, and that's worrying.'"
But that's ok... only ethically bad people use pornography, right? Right?
What? You mean risks to one part of the internet make it less safe for the rest of us? Gasp!
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
For random web browsing on assorted sites, boot up from a Linux boot CD. Your entire OS will be in memory, nothing on your HD is touched.
I'd better run a full scan just in case.
Not like I've been to as many porn sites as would be necessary to be statistically likely to have gotten infected. Several times over. Nosiree!
I'll be honest, we're throwing science against the wall to see what sticks. -Cave Johnson
according to a researchers who set up their very own adult sites for a new study.
Strictly for research purposes :)
Wow... what a shocker! Porn sites have lots of malware! Who woulda guessed?
Really... who on earth is actually surprised by this?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Weird.
That is WAY lower than I'd have expected.
Not yet?
In soviet Russia, God creates you!
I don't know the stats, but maybe it's more correct to say that malware sites are more likely to host pornography than they are to fall into other categories? It's probably the best way to attract large streams of users.
qntm.org
You might catch something playing the field if you don't use protection!
"There might be intelligent beings created by God in outer space even if there are none here on Earth." -Anonymous
Did they submit their own collections?
Porn SITES .
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
I work for a facility where a large number of our computers are for public use. We do not filter access (but if children are near someone known to be surfing porn, we have that person stop surfing such material). We all know some people choose to surf porn here, though it boggles the mind why.
One day, I saw an older lady take a wet-nap style cleaning towel from the container we provide and begin cleaning the keyboard with it. I expressed my concern over using a WET-nap for an electronic part (they're for cleaning the desk, seat, hands, etc.).
Lady: But you know they watch porn on these PCs, right? ....?
Me: Yes. We aren't allowed to filter the content. But cleaning the key...
Lady: And you know these porn places are infected with all kinds of viruses, don't you?
Me:
I hope this comment is well received... I could have moderated instead!
Persecutors will be violated!
Porn sites aren't the only ones promiscuously mixing affiliates: there's a great deal of it going on with otherwise decent web advertisers as well, with results that range from the merely annoying to just as dangerous. It's very difficult to track the sources down beyond the first few layers because the whole thing is a bunged-up mess.
probably take a close second to pron.
Rick B.
not only because of the sloppy tech, but because of the clientele. Lots of money flowing from folks trying to lose their real identities and who are less likely than most to try and seek investigations if they get scammed. Doesn't get better than this.
Actually no. Sex professionals take their occupation quite seriously. It is the non-professional who is lose and fast with their machines and their sexual practices. Do you think just "keeping a high moral standard" will keep you safe? Think again.
Just as with computers, preventative measure and testing are needed. For me, I run Linux, Firefox, no-script and adblock. Testing isn't quite as required for me, but I routinely check processes running and the like. Sex workers frequently get tested and people in the industry know what other people in the industry have been up to for the most part. "average people" get sex diseases a LOT more often than sex industry pros.
Unsafe behavior leads to spread of viruses
We knew that qualitatively. The article provides a quantitative measure, which allows drawing stronger conclusions about how to improve security against distribution of malware through ad networks. It's the difference between "are there infections" and "how much".
film at eleven.
(Eleven what?)
Eleven hours after high noon. Before modern electronic news gathering, television news would often report the story at 6 PM and then have the "film" (footage shot on the scene) available for the 11 PM newscast.
Porn Sites More Infected Than Thought
I'm pretty sure "thoughts" aren't subject to the same kinds of infections...
Haha, you said but-related.
James Tiberius Kirk: "Spock, the women on your planet are logical. No other planet in the galaxy can make that claim."
Right but they also have boobies! Maybe but me, but everything is about risk versus reward. Malware, boobies, malware, boobies... hmmm.... Seems worth it to me.
I have experience in this area (see my sig). Harmless fetishes have a bit of a viral quality to them, sometimes following a pattern of Step 1) Revulsion Step 2) ??? Step 3) "You know, that's kind of hot."
Adult Role Playing Forum
Is there any kind of sex that is safe?
My dog humping your leg?
Anyway, here's a true story:
When I was self-employed, my dog, Jake, used to lay on the floor by the check-out counter.
One day while a guy was checking-out, Jake started licking his balls.
Seeing this, the guy commented, "Gee, I wish I could do that!"
I replied, "Go ahead--Jake won't mind.
What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
Clarification:
One day while a guy was checking-out, Jake started licking his (Jake's) balls.
What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
I think most of us realize that scammers, cheaters, criminals, and fraudsters prefer 2 types of targets:
1) Those who are safe/easy prey.
2) Those who they can justify doing it to, or even deserve it.
Because of too many people find porn to be embarrassing or shameful, some people may not want to report or fight back. They make themselves into easy marks. Also, it's easy to find people who want porn, especially free porn (because of embarrassment, lots of people don't want their identities and payments traced back to them for these sites).
Also, because porn is perceived as such a shady thing, it's easy for some to justify screwing over these types of people.
In the end it's about getting away with it without being plagued by a guilty conscious.
How much unprotected 'face shot and swallow" is there? a lot.
How much preventative measures? Very little.
How much testing? Monthly!!
But only HIV will kick you out of the business.
The other STDs are very common if scientific reports are to be believed. Outbreaks for the other stuff prevent work for a week if AIM Healthcare is to be believed.
So if you take infected as being HIV only, sure, porn stars don't hardly have it. The other stuff can be up to 30%
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892037/
They do test, but the window period can be as high as three months with plain ELISA, down to a month if you spend extra for Western blot, and that means that when someone comes out positive, all his/her partners within that period have to be tested as well as their respective partners. It happened in 2004 (5 infected) and 2009 (16 infected).
Back on topic: I haven't gotten anything from the web *ever*, perhaps for the simple discipline of not authorizing ActiveX components, applets and other gimmicks.
But that's me; I guess less computer-literate *and* porn hungry guys make easier targets - "Yes, Ok, Yes, show me the movies already!".
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
from tfa: "More than 90% of the 35,000 pornographic domains analysed in the study were free sites."
links, please.
One reason for the high rate of malware is that the online porn industry makes use of affiliate programs, where one site will drive traffic to another in exchange for links, cash or simply free pornographic material to use.
No, it's totally wrong.
It's simply because the most dangerous ads are the ones which pay the most.
Malware authors know that if they want to infect sites, they just have to propose more money than Google's Adsense and similar companies.
They'll recover this money after a few infections.
Also, I'm pretty sure that a lot of malware authors create free porn sites, just to avoid paying for ads.
I saw that on a lot of cracks collections sites.
Totally agree.
I personally have never had any problems whatsoever getting my hands (err... eyes rather) on pr0n, without any sort of virus nonsense. It still amazes me how gullible are, installing those bullshit porno-dialers on their computers and getting a $500 phone bill the next month for calling long distance to Christmas Island or some damned place.
For all intents and purposes, the pornography-access problem is solved - there is no incentive for anyone would pay for pornography anymore. Even if you locked-down every leaked porno video from a paysite, there are still tons of insanely hot (and stupid) girlfriends, hood rats, and drunk chicks willing to get nekkid for the testosterone-charged 4chan hordes - completely free of charge. Some even fuck on camera and let their boyfriends upload it to youporn. And there is always beloved Bittorrent and Usenet.
Just be sure to have NoScript (and maybe RequestPolicy too) on to be safe. TrueCrypt is also handy for securely storing the hit parade.
That would be interesting.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.