Ad blockers are designed not only to remove annoying ads from your browser but also to protect against potentially malicious 3rd parties. Is this really the case and can they be trusted?
In a video posted on Twitter, Kraken Chief Security Officer, Nick Percoco, says that you can visit websites with a trusted source and with a good reputation, but it’s easy to become a victim of fraudsters because of advertising on these websites.
How does it work? The website you trust sells advertising space to a 3rd party — 3rd parties can be hacked — malicious content enters into your browser session.
Often such Ads will send cookies to your browser, which can be used to track what content you are viewing.
So, Ad blockers can protect your privacy, protect you from unwanted advertising, and save bandwidth. In this regard, you are encouraged to install an Ad blocker and feel safe.
However, what do we know about Ad blocking extensions? Are these safe? Indeed, we give them full read and write access to our devices.
Security researcher Armin Sebastian points out a serious disadvantage of Ad blockers. He says that most Ad blockers use a blacklist to determine whether to show Ads or not. When a browser gets to a page that wants to load an Ad, it is referenced on the list of the Ad blocker. If there is a match, the Ad will not be displayed. The function that Ad blockers use to copy the code on a web page can be used to plant malicious code instead of simply removing an Ad.
At this stage of the development of the Internet (Web2), advertising is the driving engine of the internet commerce. Or, alternatively, you need to buy your “peace” by paying a premium to privileged centralized provider. You will rarely need an Ad blocker on a bank web page or on Google front page.
Web3 promise is that we still pay for the service, but we don’t need intermediary in form of advertising agency or centralized provider. We pay for the author, producer directly. So, probably, Ad blockers will not be required soon.
What is your opinion on this? Do you have an Ad blocker?
