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Too Many Malicious Droppers on Daily Kos [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-05-30

Yes, I get it. I get to enjoy the news, post, camaraderie and company of my Daily Kos community and friends because the Management works its ass off to keep the Servers up and the lights on. I get it.

I get that these things don’t come cheap. That money doesn’t fall from heaven. That bills have to get paid. That Adverts is inarguably a proven, reliable source of revenue for independent outlets and communities like Daily Kos. That, the more eyeballs, impressions and clicks an Ad generates on a site, the larger the payout, and, correspondingly, the more assured I can be that Daily Kos will be there for me to jump onto tomorrow, when I need my daily dose of sanity and reality-based news, opinions, commentaries and, yes, pie fights.

Here comes the “however” (thanks for waiting so long)… at what cost? At what cost to the security of our devices? At what cost to the safety of the information we store on those devices? At what cost to our privacy? And sanity?

For a long time now, I have tried to ignore these security warnings triggered by several of the Ads (and their embedded nefarious codes) served on Daily Kos, but it occurs to me that, while (as a technology-savvy individual) I can take steps to protect myself, how does this impact others who can’t tell a Dropper from a Teardrop?

Daily Kos is taking adverts from unscrupulous advertisers whose malicious codes do more than just pitch us something to buy from them. And this needs to stop. Daily Kos needs to do better. It needs to take steps to ensure that its community members are not maliciously exploited, as it seeks to generate enough money to cater to their needs. It is the least DK Management can do. And, it is all I’m asking for.

It is not a favor, really. Because, the alternative is for the community members to start taking individual actions to protect themselves if DK won’t do it. Such “self-service” (e.g. blanket script blockers) will, in turn, hurt DK’s ability to generate the needed funds from Ads, leading to belt-tightening and, eventually, attritions. We don’t want that.

Daily Kos Management and Technical Staff, please do better. Screen out these malicious advertisers. For our collective benefit and safety.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/30/2172344/-Too-Many-Malicious-Droppers-on-Daily-Kos

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