'20 million users tricked into installing fake and malcious ad blockers'

[system]

Originally published at: https://www.myce.com/news/20-million-users-tricked-into-installing-fake-and-malcious-ad-blockers-84141/

More than 20 million Chrome users have been tricked into installing fake and malicious ad blockers, according to adblock developer AdGuard. Fake adblockers are a recurring issue, at the end of the last year we reported that 37,000 users installed fake adblock software.

[coolcolors]

Meanwhile, Google has removed the fake ad block extensions as mentioned by AdGuard from the Chrome WebStore

Really it takes them this long. Well at least my hosts edit does a better job then theirs and it’s free of charge or malware infections.

[Zzyzxroad]

I use coolcolors’ hosts edit as well. Works like a charm.

[Mr.Bill]

Hi, coolcolors how do you create a host? Thanks

Mr.Bill

[coolcolors]

There is already one created…

Hosts file

I hope there will be some interesting input on this. Myself I just used what Spybot S&D added till about a year or so ago. For example: How many here use the hosts file ? (Other than to "no function" one Windows come with) In the post below I wrote a short guide for combining more than one hosts file . One of the tools ckdupe will fail if you try a hosts file with too many lines. Of course this would be larger than you would generally use. I did come across one hosts file site that I …

[TSJnachos117]

Somehow, the idea that there might be a ton of fake ad blockers never occurred to me. I guess I’ve been using uBlock for so long, I never even considered the idea that there might be fakes.

As for Google failing to keep fake/malicious “ad blockers” out of it’s store, I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ll bet Google would be happy to let it’s users get infected if it scared people into accepting malicious ads.

[coolcolors]

Somehow, the idea that there might be a ton of fake ad blockers never occurred to me. I guess I’ve been using uBlock for so long, I never even considered the idea that there might be fakes.

As for Google failing to keep fake/malicious “ad blockers” out of it’s store, I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ll bet Google would be happy to let it’s users get infected if it scared people into accepting malicious ads.

I already figured this would happen…that’s not rocket science to figure malicious software makers would go this route. This is the reason I use a host blocker to stop before they load.

[TSJnachos117]

I probably should have figured as well, but somehow I didn’t. Silly me, I guess.

[coolcolors]

I probably should have figured as well, but somehow I didn’t. Silly me, I guess.

Trust me it too me a long time to finally get the hosts edit right so I didn’t have to waste time and money on those adblockers that they themselves were already compromised to allow ads to get through. I was looking and trying for 2 years before stumbling on the hosts edit and that was like Night/Day when surfing the internet-when the internet wasn’t loaded will all these junkware ads. Those were the days when it was still a young internet and you go get from Point A to Point B without crap in-between your surfing.

[TSJnachos117]

Blockquote Those were the days when it was still a young internet and you go get from Point A to Point B without crap in-between your surfing.

Aw, yes, the days when browsing the internet without an ad blocker was *not* a PITA. Don’t we all miss those days?

[TL7]

Chrome

Better get Firefox!

[coolcolors]

Hi, coolcolors how do you create a host? Thanks

Mr.Bill

I didn’t have any formal instructions so I’ll have to get one made and posted so you can see how it was done or edit to fit your need.

[Mr.Bill]

OK. Thanks