Gaia, your VIRUSES has cost me my computer.

[The Plantagenet]

I'm defending the OP 100%.

Because of ads on Gaia, I had to take my computer in to have it reformatted. Not once did I click a single ad. I never, ever do, mostly because there hasn't been a single ad on Gaia that has even remotely interested me. If you happen to be on the right page at the right time (or the wrong page at the wrong time, however you want to say it), ads will just pop up on you screen whether you like it or not. I kept (KEEP) getting anti-virus malware that would actually try to install crap on my computer. Luckily I have Norton now, which prevents it.

I know that Gaia uses a third party for its advertising, and I think that's bullshit. Why can't they be responsible for their own advertising? It's much easier to give a green light or red light to a company if you're dealing directly with them.

[Kimiko no Tenshi]

It's called a Drive-by Download people....

Flash, and well...pretty much anything Adobe...are notorious vectors for them. You don't have to click the add to get it, all you have to do is have the infected ad appear on your screen. It's become one of the more popular attack patterns. As for the issue at hand...

Gaia could do better on screening their ads, no argument against that. The come from Google in a nice little bundle, so I'm sure more than a few slip through. Best option is to screenshot the ad in question and report it to Gaia. But, any site with ads is a possible risk. It's very easy to get a bug and not notice it immediately. Days could go by before a noticible difference in your computer is noticed. A really good AV program and some antispyware will do a world of good, as well as caution and common sense. Firefox with ABPlus is a gem, as if you can't see the ads, then the risk is minimized greatly.

[Misplaced Cowboy]

Get Firefox (free) and AdBlock Plus (free). Problem solved cheaply. Also get AVG for other viruses.

[An Invisible Shapeshifter]

thanks. If I get my computer thru this, I'm getting adblock.
I have Avg, but it was a random guild page that did it.

[Lady Kayura]

xGraceful Lady

Evacuate the dancefloor. I'm infected by the sound. Stop, this beat is killing me...

Install a good anti-virus. I've never had any problems here, so I don't see how it's Gaia's fault.

Hey doctor DJ, let the music take me underground...

Great for you that you've not had any problems. But you not having the problem doesn't mean it hasn't happened to someone else. I've never had cancer so does that mean no one can? That's absurd. Getting a virus on Gaia through an ad is an issue for Gaia. If people can't trust the site they're on then they won't log on. If people don't log on then they don't spend money on Gaia then the site goes bankrupt. Sorry but inappropriate ads are definitely Gaia's business.

[The Butter]

Kimiko no Tenshi

It's called a Drive-by Download people....

Flash, and well...pretty much anything Adobe...are notorious vectors for them. You don't have to click the add to get it, all you have to do is have the infected ad appear on your screen. It's become one of the more popular attack patterns. As for the issue at hand...

Gaia could do better on screening their ads, no argument against that. The come from Google in a nice little bundle, so I'm sure more than a few slip through. Best option is to screenshot the ad in question and report it to Gaia. But, any site with ads is a possible risk. It's very easy to get a bug and not notice it immediately. Days could go by before a noticible difference in your computer is noticed. A really good AV program and some antispyware will do a world of good, as well as caution and common sense. Firefox with ABPlus is a gem, as if you can't see the ads, then the risk is minimized greatly.

Drive-by downloads should be illegal.


We should petition the US Congress for a start.

[Poisonous Fairy]

Lambs and Lions

As a general rule of thumb you never click ads, any ads. If you are a competent computer user you should a) know this and b) have a good anti-virus client. More over, what makes you so bent that you got the virus through gaia and not through some othere means?

Excuse me Mister, I am a "competent computer user" and I've had the same problem. I didn't click the adverts and warnings of malware continually popped up. And it was from gaia no doubt about it, the warnings came up when on gaia.

@Thread Owner: I do blame Gaia personally but meh it doesn't help.
I used Firefox and downloaded No Script, that helped me but your virus may be different to the problem I had.

[Rya Dracosin]

The Butter

Kimiko no Tenshi

It's called a Drive-by Download people....

Flash, and well...pretty much anything Adobe...are notorious vectors for them. You don't have to click the add to get it, all you have to do is have the infected ad appear on your screen. It's become one of the more popular attack patterns. As for the issue at hand...

Gaia could do better on screening their ads, no argument against that. The come from Google in a nice little bundle, so I'm sure more than a few slip through. Best option is to screenshot the ad in question and report it to Gaia. But, any site with ads is a possible risk. It's very easy to get a bug and not notice it immediately. Days could go by before a noticible difference in your computer is noticed. A really good AV program and some antispyware will do a world of good, as well as caution and common sense. Firefox with ABPlus is a gem, as if you can't see the ads, then the risk is minimized greatly.

Drive-by downloads should be illegal.


We should petition the US Congress for a start.

And how would they go about enforcing that? Enforcing things on the internet is difficult. Seems they only take out the big guns on super important things like terrorism, child porn, ect.

[The Butter]

Rya Dracosin

The Butter

Kimiko no Tenshi

It's called a Drive-by Download people....

Flash, and well...pretty much anything Adobe...are notorious vectors for them. You don't have to click the add to get it, all you have to do is have the infected ad appear on your screen. It's become one of the more popular attack patterns. As for the issue at hand...

Gaia could do better on screening their ads, no argument against that. The come from Google in a nice little bundle, so I'm sure more than a few slip through. Best option is to screenshot the ad in question and report it to Gaia. But, any site with ads is a possible risk. It's very easy to get a bug and not notice it immediately. Days could go by before a noticible difference in your computer is noticed. A really good AV program and some antispyware will do a world of good, as well as caution and common sense. Firefox with ABPlus is a gem, as if you can't see the ads, then the risk is minimized greatly.

Drive-by downloads should be illegal.


We should petition the US Congress for a start.

And how would they go about enforcing that? Enforcing things on the internet is difficult. Seems they only take out the big guns on super important things like terrorism, child porn, ect.

I don't know. It would have to take civilian cooperation to do that.


Also, maybe this thread would help. Apparently Gaia cannot screen their ads because of the way internet advertising works.

[Tales From The Crypt]

The only virus I've ever gotten from ads was something close to Pup.ex, it was a trojan.

I can't be sure it came from Gaia, but it did come from an advertisement.

My best advice? Firefox Adblock = WIN.

[GreyMetaru]

I use Chrome and AVG, and have never encountered anything other than tracking cookies in all my time of using Gaia Online, or in fact any other site in the last two years.

Why? Because I don't download things from suspicious websites, and Chrome has a built in feature of prompting you before allowing you to go to a website that is known to have malware, or contains ads connected to websites hosting malware.

But I have had Gaia trigger this feature a number of times, so there are definitely some suspicious ads that may indeed contain viruses. But as Gaia purchases these ads in bulk, all we as the users can do, is protect ourselves as best we can, and report said ads to Gaia, so they can be removed.

[Daffodil the Destroyer]

I've already put my support behind Adblock for Firefox... but I'd also like to mention Flashblock. It replaces any Flash objects on the webpage with a "play" button, so in order for the movie to play, you have to physically click on it. It's also useful for blocking those annoying autoplay YouTube videos and music playlists people have on their profiles. XD

[gls]

Ritzy Crackers xxxx

Get Firefox (free) and AdBlock Plus (free). Problem solved cheaply. Also get AVG for other viruses.

Firefox+ Ad block plus+ WOT= no problems for me.

[An Invisible Shapeshifter]

Thanks everybody =D This has been a great help. Flash ads get me every time... gonk Luckily, I managed to save my computer, although it did take hours of a tech guy. Yknow, I think I'm going to call those guys Wizards. Seriously, they work magic.

Are there other good blocking stuff? And what pictures do you think I should block on gaia besides the outright ads? currently I see no ads, but I'm still rather suspicious that even the gaia pics could be bugged.

[CleoSombra]

Anti-virus programs are a lot cheaper than computers.

Your choice.

And. . .

I'm on IE.

No anti-virus firewall (I just scan now and then).

I don't have viruses.

If you think Gaia is so buggy, wouldn't tons of people be complaining? :/