onMouseOver

Some exploits employ onMouseOver to redirect to a new page/site.

Can someone post a link to a site that legitimately (= not for malicious purposes) uses such a tactic? Or is it that all uses of this tactic are not legitimate and will be found only on compromised sites?

If I have set the firewall to query all outgoing requests from my browser, won't I get a prompt asking me if I wish to proceed?

This is a newbie question so please oblige

 

Do an internet search for that term - you will find hundreds of sites and tutorials.

It is a legitimate javascript function which, like so many others, has been misappropriated for cybercriminals' malicious use.

I don't know the answer to your firewall question.

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rich

 

Thank you, Rmus and JRViejo:

I understand that onMouseOver is a normally useful tool for drop-down menus, as just one of many examples, whether triggered by javascript or CSS and I didn't mean to question its utility.

My question is specific to the issue (if I understood it correctly) that mousing over without even clicking a certain region (or even a link) of a web-page could trigger a redirect to another site as seems to have been the case in the recent Twitter example.

While Firefox can be set up to warn on redirect and then notifies the user that a redirect is requested on a per request basis, from the little I saw of Opera, it's an on or off setting and far less convenient. I can't even find the equivalent in Chrome.

Here's where the firewall comes in. I can set the way the firewall handles internet requests from an application including any browser: always block, always allow, or always ask.

In other words, a browser can be set by the firewall to a rules-based mode. So unless I set a specific site as always allow, the firewall will hold up things until I allow or deny the request. In other words, I shouldn't be unknowingly directed to another site.

I wanted to know if such a procedure would minimise the chances of unwanted redirection if I use a browser like Chrome with "the always ask" (unless I mark a site as trusted) setting in the firewall.

 

Using Opera browser, I 'mouseover' all the time....have not been bitten yet!

 

JRViejo,

Thanks! I'm using PC Tools Firewall 6.0.0.88.