Sundance Talks About Malware and You

I’ve no idea if the following notice rests on firm foundations or is just part of the growing paranoia which surrounds computers and this particular election. However, I thought I’d pass it on and let our readers decide:

It’s a bigger issue than appears on the surface. However, to avoid a lengthy distraction -which will consume unnecessary energy- the short version is:

Until the election is over, if you travel the internet into news sites, political sites, and content containing political discussion therein, clear your browser and cache frequently throughout the day.

SHORT SUMMARY: We have become aware there is a specific, intentional and ongoing “malvertising” effort. That is, hidden and targeted malware embedded within political advertising (by Team Clinton) that is intended to disrupt targeted users based on their web browsing history.

If you have seen a Clinton ad anywhere you are probably a ‘carrier’. It doesn’t take any action on your part to gain the malware virus other than to be on a site where the malvertising is active. Once you carry the malware it travels with you in an effort to disrupt your navigation on targeted web sites/web pages.

CTH is one of the targeted sites, I’m sure there are many more, including popular social media platforms. It would not surprise me to discover the majority of Pro-Trump sites are the primary targets. (More on that at another date/time).

If you are having navigation issues you have probably been exposed. Word Press, the platform we use, estimates that 20% of CTH readers are carriers (it’s probably much more). However, the good news is (hopefully) you can rid yourself of the issue by deleting your cache and/or cookies frequently.

If you are having site navigation issues, try clearing your browser history, cookies and especially the cache.

Remember, there are trillions of dollars at stake. There is nothing the opposition will not do to retain power. Truth and sunlight is a risk.

Be sure to read the comments. They’re full of information for the technically challenged.

NOTA BENE When you clear your history and cache, you’ll lose your auto-stored passwords.

Thus, when I followed Sundance’s advice and then tried to access the comment section of Sundance’s post, guess what? It’s been so long since I commented I no longer remembered my password there. So I had to apply to WordPress to re-set it. Yes, I do have a file of passwords for ‘just-in-case’ but one has to possess enough working memory cells to remember setting up that folder in the first place, and, in the second place, where one stored the file.

The B has always said he could make my computer Dymphna-resistant but not Dymphna-proof.

Sigh.

9 thoughts on “Sundance Talks About Malware and You

  1. One way to avoid this might be to use a new “private” browsing tab, or incognito browsing tab on laptops, phones and tablets, named slightly differently in different browsers. Called variously “private window” or “incognito tab” etc

    The original purpose of these private tabs I assume was to allow visits to certain websites, perhaps on a work laptop, where no trace or history of the site would be left festering away there until discovered. I learned to use this on a puzzle solving site, where cleaning out the cache was essential to clear away the old puzzle and load today’s new puzzle. I realized it had other beneficial uses.

    Since then I use this incognito browsing tab on nearly every site I visit – no cookies, no cache cleaning and no deposits accepted on my laptop or tablet.

  2. Seán Ó Duibhir +1 on using incognito/private browsing for any untrusted site, and on your regular browser use a script blocker, i use “safescript” on chrome.

    Dymphna, please do not use text files to store password, password management tools are way better, i use enpass.io, stores them locally or/and in dropbox etc. and encrypts them nicely for you.

    This article though at CTH is crap, cookies just don’t work like that way, there is nothing nice about the way they are misused, but they don’t carry malware, a client could craft one to harm a site, but not the other way around. I have the pleasure of working professionally with malware authors (good guys I promise), I knew this was “off” I shared this with them, they had a good laugh at it.

    • Thanks…

      I hoped someone who worked in the field could tell me, and you have. I store my passwords in my webmail files. I don’t know if that’s worse or not.

      My OS is Chrome. On the office computer it runs atop a IE installation, but my laptop is a Chromebook…Samsung, I think. Would love to have a Google Chromebook but they’re waaay too expensive.

      • I wouldn’t trust webmail, but that’s better than an excel or .txt file which i have seen most people use. and yep, I have a google nexus 7, 2013, waiting for the new one (i have no phone). we know google are evil as a search engine provider, but their hardware is still pretty cheap compared to apple which are also very secure.

      • Passwords are safe ONLY in the head.

        I’ve forgotten ONE password in 30 years and have had many dozens, perhaps more than a hundred. (I worked on mainframes first and was NOT permitted to have the same PW for ANYTHING and needed to maintain up to 10; hence the need for an algorithm.)

        Use an algorithm, my algorithm: begin with a manufactured word–one NOT in the dictionary; a personal word that, ideally, ONLY you know. I use a made-up word I’ll never forget that I used for a particular animal.

        Attach–on the right, or left, as you wish–X letters from the URL at which you are establishing a password. Attach to X–at the same end each time, some number to satisfy alpha-numeric requirements for passwords. Always use the same X letters for each URL: for example, the trailing 3 letters (those before “.com/.net/.org” and so on.).

        • As a classical music fan, I find names derived from the works of a favourite composer easy to remember.

          For the numbers, try your birthday, but transposed. If you’re a Brit born on Christmas Day, write it American style, ie 1225; if American, 2512.

        • On my bad days I can’t recall much, sometimes including what day it is. I couldn’t even aim at your suggestion, much less implement it.

          Sure is a good one, though…

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