The news website dv.is found itself the unwitting accomplice of as yet unnamed sources looking to extract personal information from people accessing the site.
The attack itself is a well-known technique: embed Java code in a banner ad, sell that ad to a website, and profit from the information you gather from every person accessing the website. DV encourages everyone who visited their website between 17:40 on 2 September and 11:50 yesterday to do a virus scan at once.
This advice extends not only to those using Windows XP and Windows Vista, but to those using Macs as well. Linux users are, as always, not affected by this attack. Windows 7 users are also said to be safe, but of course, running a virus scan just to be sure couldn’t hurt.
Many who tried to access the site yesterday received an attack site warning from Google. Bogi Örn Emilsson, the managing director of DV, told Vísir that the attack had been a serious blow to them, as they are in constant competition with other media sources.
“But we hope that readers of dv.is see how well we responded to this situation and trust us even more after this,” he said.