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Mon 6 Sep, 2004 06:44 pm
I installed Spybot Search & Destroy a few weeks ago and have it set to notify me whenever it blocks something malicious.
So far, most of what it catches (dozens of times per day!) is a "Download of Avenue A, Inc."
Avenue A apparently attempts to download to my computer whenever I access a2k and a few other websites--the others seem to be random, but it ALWAYS happens on a2k, sometimes 3-4 times while opening a single page.
What is Avenue A, and how do I keep it from even attempting to download?
I have a firewall and virus blocker/scanner (by computer associates), and I don't have problems with viruses.
Thanks,
General Tsao
"Avenue A" is just an advertising network, and the software is flagging cookies.
Basically the "privacy" issue is that advertisers use cookies to avoid showing you the same ad over and over.
I ignore just about all cookie warnings, they are misleading and a way for software companies to compete by pretending to protect against more "threats".
The cookies are not really a privacy threat, and if you want to block them just use your browser cookie settings.
You can go to
www.atlasdmt.com/privacy/opting.asp for an explanation of how the company (Atlas DMT) will allow you to "opt out" of their cookie being placed on your computer by letting them put a "blank" cookie that basically says keep out to any web ads using their service.
But that won't stop the warnings from Spybot, & the Avenue A service is on tons of sites that are ad-driven.
I'd recommend that you just set Spybot to "block all pages silently," tell Spybot to ignore all "Avenue A" cookies, or like previously mentioned just use your browser settings to block cookies.
In comparison to "real" spyware, cookies are mostly harmless.
So, the concensus here is that Avenue A will be OK to allow onto my computer? I am getting tired of clicking the Spybot warning box that comes up, but I do like seeing what is being blocked for some reason.
General Tsao
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