"How did I get hacked?"

[Aitana]

No, I didn't get hacked, but I found an article that provides a possible answer to that question for others. nnNo doubt you've heard people ask that question. Typically they are told that they must have gone to a questionable web site to pick up a keylogger. They proclaim their innocence which is met with skepticism. Surely they would not have been hacked if they had only been going to legitimate web site, right?nnNot necessarily so, oh wise ones. Did you ever notice those little ads all over the internet? Apparently they are not all harmless. Some are harboring malware including keyloggers, even on legitimate sites. Take a look atnhttp://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20000 ... =rtcol;pop

[Thulcondar]

Moral of that story is don't click on ads, eh?

[Aitana]

No, the moral of the story is that you don't even have to click on ads to get hacked. Simply loading a malicious ad on a reputable site is enough, and malicious ads can be served even from reputable ad servers.

[Gorehorn]

Indeed. I was hacked today and after reviewing my history I didn't go anywhere out of the ordinary ...except to elitistjerks.com. nnOtherwise my same-as-always visits were all in line. nnI didn't click any ads, downloads, pictures or videos. I read a pally tanking thread and (after getting lost in the theorycraft) left.

[Tomoyo]

Tomoyo's anti-hacker defence kitnnGood anti-virus software: Good does not mean expensive, thank goodness. Avast is the preferred free solution. Do NOT go near AVG, it's nowhere near as good as one was, and has security holes up the wazoo.nnGood firewall software: I personally recommend Comodo Personal Firewall. Again, free. Just make sure you install only the firewall component and not their full security suite. They only recently moved into doing anti-virus, and they're not as good at it as they are with Firewalls.nnGood anti-malware softwate: Get Malware Bytes, keep it updated, and do regular scans. Get Spyware Blaster, keep it updated and its features enabled. Consider getting Spybot Search & Destroy and using its immunise feature, though make sure you turn off its real-time watchdog stuff, since that can interfere with anti-virus.nnGood browsers with security addons: Firefox with AdBlock Plus and NoScript. No ifs, buts, or maybes. There are versions of those addons for Google Chrome as well, but nowhere near as well developed yet.