The Des Moines Register notified readers at about 3:30 p.m. ET that it had learned an online advertisement on its website contained "malicious software" of a type the newspaper did not identify. The Register said the same advertisement had appeared on other Gannett websites before it was removed. Here's the full text of the paper's note to readers:
Earlier today, The Des Moines Register was made aware of an online advertisement on our site that contained malicious software.
The offending ad, which was part of a national network purchase was identified and quickly removed from all Gannett websites. The ad was being served on many sites across the United States.
It is now safe to visit our website.
We take these issues seriously. We monitor our site closely and will continue to do so — unfortunately this does happen to many sites.
We appreciate a continuing interest and for visiting DesMoinesRegister.com.
Did this ad appear on your website? What did you tell your readers -- and when? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
3 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yah, Parsippany Daily Record!
ReplyDeleteEarlier today, when I clicked on the very first Obit "Carroll" that "Malicious software" window came up!
You all know I didn't click it on, but that's where it turned up! I don't know if it's fixed yet, I immediately left the entire site and went to the Star-Ledger's site!
I wonder if the ad was trafficked by National, or locally. I work for a large media company's national ad ops department (I'm an ex-Gannetteer) and we physically test every single ad for malware. You'd think Gannett would do that too.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, if National screws up, Local has to put out the fires and deal with the complaint calls.
This hit several computers a few months ago in county government offices in Salem (Gannett's Statesman Journal is based here). County IT folks brought up the problem to the SJ and were told "nothing we can do because they aren't our ads". Maybe there was nothing they could do, but I find that hard to believe.
ReplyDelete