Why an ad-blocker needs to be part of your anti-virus suite

[robkelk]

And also why your anti-virus suite needs to be heuristic-based instead of signature-based.

The Register: Let adware be treated as malware, Canuck boffins declare after breaking open Wajam ad injector

The technology industry has numerous terms for sneaky software, including malware, adware, spyware, ransomware, and the ever adorable PUPs – potentially unwanted programs. But there isn't always a clear difference between malware and less threatening descriptors.

In a research paper distributed this month through pre-print server ArXiv, a pair of researchers from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada – Xavier de Carné de Carnavalet and Mohammad Mannan – show that in the case of software known as Wajam, these categorical distinctions obscure how adware relies on the same untrustworthy techniques as malicious code.