hummingbird wrote:
> On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:23:03 +1000 'Me Here'
> wrote this on alt.comp.freeware:
>
>> Tom wrote:
>>> On Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:45:20 -0400, C A Upsdell wrote:
>>>
>>>> If Windows, Ctrl Alt Delete to call up the task manager; select the
>>>> browser; kill it.
>>> Very inelegant.
>>>
>>> When you have a dozen tabs open, killing the browser, kills all the tabs.
>>>
>>> When you restart Firefox, it asks if you want to open all the old tabs,
>>> but, of course, that will just open the quicksand site all over again.
>>>
>>> So, without editing the hosts file and shift reloading, you're forced to
>>> say NO to reloading your old tabs ... and you lose them all.
>>>
>>> That's why you don't kill the browser session.
>>>
>>> Luckily we found a single-click way to solve the problem (type "start ->
>>> run -> hosts, add the offending domain, and shift reload the browser). This
>>> turns the quicksand URL into cement. Voila! Thanks to hummingbird!
>
>
>> If you have other tabs open that you want to keep viewing, then yes,
>> it's a good immediate, albeit 'temporary' solution to the problem. I
>> say temporary because using a Hosts file isn't a good solution. Many
>> malware sites scan and remove their listings from hosts files (and even
>> locking it via the read-only attribute won't protect you). They do it
>> by making you log into a benign site first (one that isn't blocked) and
>> using that to remove their entry from your Hosts file before redirecting
>> you and trapping your browser.
>
> Good point MH. I've never experienced that trick, especially since
> I started safe hexing, but I am aware it can happen.
>
> These days, I seem to be safe with a hosts file to block unwanted
> sites, plus a supplementary program or two (SpyWareBlaster etc).
>
>
>> Even running free FireFox addons such as
>> NoScript won't protect you unless you've been caught before and know not
>> to allow the site access to Java or JS. You should really be running
>> an IP blocking program like PeerGuardian or if that is too much hassle,
>> do what I do and use OpenDNS. I'm sure there are other solutions, those
>> two just spring to mind. My advice, if you don't want this happening
>> again and you're the type that's likely to run across sites like these
>> often, is to do a bit of research into blocking methods and choose the
>> one that best suits your need.
>
>

As I said, a hosts file is great, so long as you protect it otherwise it
becomes pointless. Many programs out there now protect things like Home
pages and hosts files simply because security companies are aware that
they are easily hijacked with things like WSH or ActiveX (or even a
crappy FF addon).


--
Me Here


Don't let your education interfere with your intelligence. -- unknown