Anti Ad Blocking

Discussion in 'privacy problems' started by snowman, May 17, 2002.

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  1. snowman

    snowman Guest

             this is a should read:


        http://www.antiadblocker.com



           I briefly went to the site....have not as checked my os for any possible changes.....so just in case....visit site with caution.


                                snowman
     
  2. spy1

    spy1 Registered Member

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    Good catch, snowman!

    I went to the four links they gave as customers - pages displayed fine (minus ads at the top and bottom of the pages) - celebphoto page TRIED to open a pop-up (which Opera promptly killed).

    I guess we'd have to try to d/l something from one of those pages to see if the thing actually works? Pete
     
  3. snowman

    snowman Guest

         This may be totally un-related..but due to the nature of the anti-ad blocking product...its herewith mentioned


          nearly right after leaving the above url..I was hit with a sub-seven scan......ports 12345 and 27374


           this is no real biggie...an just mention as a pre-caution.


                                    snowman
     
  4. snowman

    snowman Guest

          Pete

          thanks for sharing the info...I have to go out for awhile..but will futher check into this later......
         

                            snowman
     
  5. javacool

    javacool BrightFort Moderator

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    Doubleclick may be testing a new technique to get around Ad-Shield (at least, in pop-ups).

    In just a couple pop-ups that I have found, the DoubleClick ad refreshed itself in the window after Ad-Shield substituted its own graphic! I did not get the source code of those pages (unfortunately) but it could also have been remotely caused by the parent web page.

    This did not seem to be a fluke, as it has happened a couple times now (if I find another page that shows a pop-up that causes this behavior, I will definitely let you know).

    As for how they could be managing this, the only way I can think of would be to insert a new graphic remotely into the pop-up, as it seems Ad-Shield only blocks ads once the web page has finished loading.

    (BTW, Ad-Shield is excellent software IMHO, and I recommend it to everyone.)

    -javacool
     
  6. javacool

    javacool BrightFort Moderator

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    The Anti-AdBlocker technology obviously requires JavaScript, and will not run without it.

    The test pages, at least, are coded in php, and parts are loaded directly from the server. A quick analysis has shown that on one of the tests, a file named index6.php loads a pop-up window with the TITLE ad.doubleclick.net (from a file named index4.php).

    There's more data I found, such as index6.php containing a message about invalid security keys, and also one about "We've determined you use pop-up blocking software". I don't really want to tell everything I've found out about how it works, given that I do not believe I'm supposed to have even found it out.  ;) (I do find it just a bit sad that it was rather simple - but still.)

    But ad-blockers should be able to get around this by looking for pop-ups with the title "http://ad.doubleclick.net/" and letting those through (and then closing them if necessary when if they try to load any images, which the Anti-Ad-Blocker script/pages do not.) It turns out the technology also uses other page names - it exploits a general issue with many pop-up blockers (by titling the page as a blocked site).

    Plus, it does not seem to detect Ad-Shield on my system, which I believe is because I only block isolated annoying images, and NOT pop-ups (which has the desired effect, also).

    So, the code does not seem to try to download ANYTHING to your computer. It requires JavaScript, I believe, to change variables between code in the main window and the pop-up window (so it can confirm either the pop-up got through, or didn't). So basically, there's nothing to worry about!  :) (Except for the inconvenience of this technology, to all those who block ads and pop-ups.)

    That's all for now, folks.

    -javacool
     
  7. Paul Wilders

    Paul Wilders Administrator

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    Nice going, JC!  :cool:

    regards.

    paul
     
  8. snowman

    snowman Guest

         JC...thanks for taking time to look into this...appreciated.

         I've tryed it with a couple of broswers....whatever its suppose to do...isn't working.......although I never enable jave or activeX....so perhaps I would not notice any changes.

       its rather interesting to note that the snakes are getting desperate........there seems to be a new cult growing in the area of anti-blocking thechnology.....nice to see them wasting their time and money.



                             snowman
     
  9. FanJ

    FanJ Guest

    Javascript disabled (using IEClean), HOSTS enabled (using Hostess), IE-SPYAD installed, NIS-adblocking-feature enabled: nothing happend.
     
  10. Prince_Serendip

    Prince_Serendip Registered Member

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    I found a couple of really useful programs addressing your concerns at ZDNet Downloads. The one I like best answers a question I posted here about Internet Explorer giving away where I've been to those I'm about to meet. It's called Internet Sweeper 1.7.1. It loads on start-up, wipes out your "footprints," and totally blows away pop-up windows--even in AOL. It is really freeware but they do accept donations.

    The second one is shareware and is called Pop-up Stopper Pro 2.0. I haven't tried it but it looks pretty good.

    Reading what you guys wrote here helped me search for these downloads. Thanks.

    Hope this helps out.
     
  11. javacool

    javacool BrightFort Moderator

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    Did it give you a page that said you passed the test? If not, the test didn't run at all (unusual, but high security settings can do that).

    Normally, if you have JavaScript disabled, it gives you an error regarding that issue (and that you must have JavaScript enabled to "access the site").

    -javacool
     
  12. snowman

    snowman Guest

       hows this for yet one more way of seeing ad-blockers


          http://savethefreeweb.com/proposals/user_agent/
     
  13. spy1

    spy1 Registered Member

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    lol! I gotta print that one in full, snowman! it sure started my day out with a laugh!

    "Ad-Blocker User-Agent

    By Bill Dimm
    April 23, 2001

    Motivation

    Web site owners should be able to determine how many of their users are using ad-blocking software so that they can make informed policy decisions about allowing the use of ad blocking on their site.

    Proposal

    All ad-blocking software should modify the User-Agent field in the HTTP header of requests sent to a web server to indicate that ad-blocking software is active. The software should append:
      AdBlock software_name
    to the User-Agent value supplied by the browser. This would allow web site operators to easily determine both the total number of ad-blocked pages and the number attributable to each software package."

    I can just see all the ad-blocking software people saying "Yup! I'll be happy to comply with that! Anything else we can do to make us easier to defeat?"

    ROTFL! Pete
     
  14. Checkout

    Checkout Security Rhinoceros

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    Dimm by name, dim by nature.
     
  15. TonyKlein

    TonyKlein Security Expert

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    ROTFL!  :D
     
  16. Mike_Healan

    Mike_Healan Registered Member

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    LOL Checkout.  :D

    I posted about this critter at the Proxomitron forums and a fellow named Arne said he'd work on it. http://asp.flaaten.dk/pforum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=&TOPIC_ID=552

    I think this whole thing is silly as hell. People didn't block ads in large numbers until some evil SOB escaped from Hell and invented the popup. Now they want to block me for turning off popups in Mozilla? Screw them then. I don't need the site content that bad.
     
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