The Forbes 30 Under 30 list came out this week and it featured a prominent security researcher. Other researchers were pleased to see one of their own getting positive attention, and visited the site in droves to view the list.
On arrival, like a growing number of websites, Forbes asked readers to turn off ad blockers in order to view the article. After doing so, visitors were immediately served with pop-under malware, primed to infect their computers, and likely silently steal passwords, personal data and banking information. Or, as is popular worldwide with these malware "exploit kits," lock up their hard drives in exchange for Bitcoin ransom. The exploit used was a version of hackenfreude.
Forbes has recently taken some flack from Soylent News readers for its heavy-handed approach to ad blockers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 11 2016, @11:22AM
Bullsh*t. Imagine a paper newspaper outsourcing their ads. A few days later they run a full page ad for joining ISIS.
Do you think the editor in chief will have a job after that? Do you think the board will accept the "blame the ad companies" excuse?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 11 2016, @03:47PM
Depends: Are you talking about the the paper or I-device edition?
With the paper edition, the news-paper is still the publisher with editorial control. In the case of the i-edition, Apple is the publisher with editorial control.