Does the Disconnect addon protect against malvertising?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by Tar_Ni, Jul 5, 2015.

  1. Tar_Ni

    Tar_Ni Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2015
    Posts:
    4
    Hi,

    I've been holding off for years using an adblocker, because I feel bad stripping websites off their revenues. No eveyrone agree but I just think that some form of ads are necessery for webmasters to generates revenue and keep offering free contents to all.

    But twice now over the course of this year I've come across this threat known as ''malvertising'' which is basically malware bundled with a legitimate ad provider. This has infected my computer (but thankfully I've been able to clean it up with Malwarebytes). Now I feel it's time for me to do something about it, but I still don't want to use a full-fledged adblocker that will just ''block everything regardless''.

    An interesting browser addon I discovered for Firefox is Disconnect. What it claims to do is:

    ''Block the invisible trackers that collect your online activity and may expose you to malware and identity theft''.


    So I guess that's my question: Will Disconnect really help protect me against Malvertising?
     
  2. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami Registered Member

    Joined:
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    Posts:
    3,418
    Location:
    Slovakia
    No. It is basically about blocking tracking not ADs.

    I share your thoughts, I did not want to block ADs either, but blocking ADs = blocking malware.
    You can try adblockers, which allow useful ADs and obviously, do not forget about flashblock.
     
  3. Nanobot

    Nanobot Registered Member

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    Jun 23, 2010
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    Location:
    Neo Tokyo
    You don't need the Disconnect add on for that, Firefox has a built-in Tracking Protection
    which is based on Disconnect's blocklists, One of the four lists that is included is called "Malvertising filter list". By enabling this Built-in protection you'll get an extra benefit too.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  4. TomAZ

    TomAZ Registered Member

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    Feb 27, 2010
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    Location:
    USA
    Disconnect's Malvertising Filter List is also available in the uBlock add-on.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  5. Tar_Ni

    Tar_Ni Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2015
    Posts:
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    After some research, I don't think the Firefox Tracking Protection uses the Malvertising list from Disconnect. But it does use the Tracking list.

    Will look into that. I've also been recommended Ghostery which I shall try tommorrow.
     
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