By Scott Dunn

Some of the Flash ads that crowd your browser are serving up more than just another annoying sales pitch.

Windows Secrets readers suggest simple and free methods for protecting yourself against an onslaught of malware-toting advertisements.

Pull the plug on animations bearing malware

They’re hard to miss: those ubiquitous Web ads bounce and glow and gambol across nearly every page your browser opens. As I reported in last week’s column, a newbreed of Flash ads is appearing on sites large and small. These “malvertisements” can infect your PC with viruses or spyware if you simply view the page they’re loaded into. No clicking required.



Protecting yourself against these attack ads entails updating your Flash Player and deactivating Flash and other active Web content on sites you don’t trust. Unfortunately, knowing which sites to trust is nearly impossible.

Reader Elaine Allison writes to point out that even Microsoft-sponsored sites have had problems serving up malvertisements:

• “Microsoft [MSN] Web sites were infected about 18 months ago. [The company] denied it at first, of course (and probably still would). JudyC, manager at the Community Feedback MSN help group, informed MSN about these dodgy ads, and it’s funny how they were all removed very quickly from the group’s pages (without [MSN] acknowledging that the ads were infected).
  
  “Judy had to remove the malware from a number of members’ computers by her sheer determination and expertise. (Community Feedback [was] started by MSN and is now run by [more] knowledgeable members.)”

Turn Flash on and off with IE7Pro

A number of readers offered a recommendation first sent in by Dave:

• “I find that the IE7Pro add-on for Internet Explorer 7 is very valuable for Flash blocking and is useful in several other ways as well. Thanks for all the great info.”
  

Thanks, Dave. Although installing IE7Pro requires you to restart Internet Explorer 7 when it’s first installed, you can turn Flash animations on and off thereafter without launching a new instance of the browser. Moreover, the program lets you selectively unblock individual Flash animations on a single Web page.

This free add-on for IE 7 adds a number of other useful features to the browser, including tab management, spell checking, and crash recovery.

If you don’t want to create separate profiles for Firefox, Mark Henn has an easier solution:

• “One potential solution you left out: install two browsers. I use Firefox with Flashblock because I can’t stand the annoying adverts that use constant motion ond gaudy colors to get your attention. My Firefox sessions are quiet. There are times, however, that I have to have flash in order to view some sort of content. For that, I open up IE.”
  

Thanks, Mark. Naturally, you can use any combination of two browsers, as long as at least one of them has Flash turned off or a flash blocker installed.

Get the latest Flash Player version

When it comes to removing an old version of the Flash Player, Rick Austin has some advice:

• “As a fan of Secunia’s Software Inspector, I frequently have been notified to install the latest up-to-date version of the Flash Player and get rid of the old one. But I have found that getting rid of the old version as you describe doesn’t work. The only way I know to do it is as follows:
  
  Step 1. Download the Adobe Uninstaller found on Adobe’s Web Players page and save it for future use. (It only needs to be downloaded one time, because it is not version-sensitive.)
  
  Step 2. Create a desktop shortcut linking back to the same Web Player page.
  
  Step 3. Close the browser.
  
  Step 4. Run the “Uninstaller.”
  
  Step 5. Click the link to the Web Players page to open your browser, and then run the appropriate installer.
  
  Step 6. Run Secunia to confirm.
  
  Step 7. Rejoice!
  
  “This works every time for me.”
  

Thanks, Rick. Some users may also need to uninstall other applications that come with Flash components — such as older versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements — and then upgrade to newer versions.

Readers Elaine, Dave, Mark, and Rick will each receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of their choice for sending tips we printed. Send us your tips via the Windows Secrets contact page.

The Known Issues column brings you readers’ comments on our recent articles. Scott Dunn is associate editor of WindowsSecrets.com.

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