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FBI Recommends Consumers To Install Ad Blockers

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The FBI issued a warning that cybercriminals are using online advertisements in search results to steal or extort money from victims. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, criminals are impersonating brands by using ads in search engine results such as Google and Bing. The FBI stated in a pre-holiday public service announcement that cybercriminals are purchasing ads to impersonate legitimate brands such as cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the feds, ads are frequently placed at the top of search results with "minimum distinction" between the ads and the search results, which can look identical to the brands that the cybercriminals are impersonating. Malicious advertisements are also used to trick victims into installing malware disguised as legitimate apps, which can steal passwords and install file-encrypting ransomware. [caption id="attachment_74982" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Ad Blocker Ad Blocker[/caption] Installing an ad blocker is one of the FBI's recommendations for consumers. Ad blockers, as the name implies, are web browser extensions that prevent online advertisements from loading in your browser, including search results. By blocking ads, potential victims are not shown any ads at all, making it easier to find and access legitimate brand websites. Ad blockers do more than just remove the massive bloat from websites, such as auto-playing video and splashy ads that take up half the page and cause your computer fans to spin like jet engines. Ad blockers are also beneficial to privacy because they prevent tracking code from loading within ads. That means ad companies like Google and Facebook won't be able to track you as you browse the web, learn which websites you visit, or infer what you might be interested in based on your web history. The good news is that some of the best ad blockers available are free, can be installed, and then largely ignored. Ad Blocker If you're looking for a popular ad blocker, uBlock Origin is a simple, low-memory ad blocker that works with most browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera, and the extension is open source, so anyone can inspect the code and ensure it's safe to use.

By Raulf Hernes

If you ask me raulf means ALL ABOUT TECH!!

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