This week a flash advertisement on USA Today was hacked and spread all kinds of badware to all kinds of users, who, trusting USA Today assumed that the ad was something endorsed by USA Today. It was not.

The point of this tip is not to scare you out of you wits or teach you never to click on an advertisement, but to again remind you to use common sense, keep your Windows updates current, use a good anti-virus program, two good anti-spyware programs and keep them updated!

Had visitors to USA Today used common sense and done the other things we list, they would not have been bombarded with multiple installations of badware. But, they were, and of course now the fear mongers are running amok with this story - blaming it on the vulnerabilities of Flash ads, Windows, and everything else they can think of.

The vulnerabilities may well exist in Flash-based ads, but the real and most important vulnerability is the person sitting behind the keyboard. That would be you, me, and everyone who uses a laptop or home PC and accesses the Internet. Yet the "geeks" are running wild with this story blaming it on Adobe (the makers of Flash and the Flash-viewers) and scaring readers into thinking that every Flash add has the potential to infect their computers with all sorts of nefarious junk.

It's fear-mongering, plain and simple. When you have news articles to write, or newsletters, you have to write about something. Yammering on about the dangers of flash and vulnerabilities of Windows and how every user is in grave danger from the miscreants who hack Flash ads, is just a lot of hyperbole. But it makes a great story - and gets "Digg"ed a lot. It's good for your newsletter or Web site when people Digg it.

We don't "dig" this sort of journalism. It just gives folks more to worry about.

Here are the facts as we see them:

1. Unless otherwise noted on a particular site, all ads served to Web sites, like USA Today, Yahoo, Cloudeight and thousands and thousands of others - are network ads. That means the site provides the network space to run their ads, and the site is paid for the number of clicks, the number of impressions, or if someone buys something from the ad. Many times the site doesn't even know which ads are going to be shown at any given time on any given day. Don't assume because you see an ad on USA Today, Yahoo, Cloudeight or anywhere else that the site in any way endorses the product or service being advertised.

2. Use common sense. Click ads if they interest you. Check the product or service out if you're not sure about it. Use the tools you have at hand (like Google or your favorite search engine) and research the product or service if you're not sure about it.

3. Do all of the things we always remind you - Windows Updates, anti-virus, and anti-spyware programs - all installed and all updated.

Take a look at the article that started this maelstrom and see if you would have fallen for any of this stuff. Common sense would have told you something wasn't right. Right?

©2008 Cloudeight Information Avenue, Issue #325, April 19, 2008