The NYTimes.com site warned Sunday that it had inadvertently displayed an "unauthorized advertisement" over the weekend that tried to use fake malware warnings to trick viewers into installing scareware.
The various analyses of this attack point to a browser hijack, which uses Javascript to display the fake scan warnings in modified browser windows. As long as you're not tricked into downloading any software, security experts say this type of attack is relatively harmless. But fake malware warnings can also signal an existing malware infection on your PC.
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