Jay notes a Wall Street Journal report about ad expert systems unintentionally selling empty space to malware loaders (the link is to a syndicating site that doesn't require a hamlet antenna eye* to view). The submitter comments: "The labeling of the fake ad sellers as hackers is pretty bogus; there's no hacking involved. Simply sign up for one of these networks, create your fake site, put up another company's creative, and you're good to go." The ruse being reported go back a few months, but the pattern of this illegal usage seems to be coming clear only recently."EWeek.com, a computers news site owned by Ziff Davis Enterprise, in February displayed an ad on its homepage masquerading as a elevation for LaCoste, the shirt maker. The retailer hadn't placed the ad — a hacker had, to direct users to a Web site where harmful programs would be downloaded to their computers, says Stephen Wellman, skipper* of locale and content for Ziff Davis."

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Mark