Posted by BigDaddyBS on 09/29/07 17:44

"Blinky the Shark" <no.spam@box.invalid> wrote in message
news:slrnffqr4p.ebs.no.spam@thurston.blinkynet.net...
> Jonathan N. Little wrote:
>> Blinky the Shark wrote:
>>> I'd say this was a weird one. Someone in a not-HTML group (a browser
>>> group it was) this morning asked for a way to have the user that clicks
>>> on a link be sent to a URL in the anchor's title attribute rather than
>>> to the hreffed URL.
>>>
>>> Anyone ever heard of such?
>>>
>>> Yes, I have the thread set for "watch". I just thought it might be an
>>> interesting thing to look at here.
>>
>> It would be nasty eh? Well seems to work...I would say the JavaScript
>> would go in external file to complete the deception. The link will of th
>> thatway.html and not thisway.html, of course when JavaScript is enabled:
>
> Remind me to make sure NoScript has your sites in its crosshairs. ;)
>
> <snip fiendish but creative code> :)
>
>
> --
> Blinky RLU 297263
> Killing all posts from Google Groups
> The Usenet Improvement Project - http://improve-usenet.org

Weird? Yes. To fake out search engines? Possibly.

But the way I see it, Jonathan, who posted the "fiendish but creative code"
just gave phishers, scammers, and malware senders ANOTHER way to get people
to go to sites where the sole purpose in life is to cheat the poor slobs who
don't see the cheat.

First thing I thought of when I read the above was something like the
following:

"Use this link to change your Login info: Mobile Fun" [underlying link:
http:// 219.70.221.5/]

which is one of the scam/malware emails that can be found at my page
http://www.orangefrogproductions.com/ofp2s_malware_email_example_009-011_page2.shtml.

From my experience, those who try to hide to where a page links, are trying
to pass viruses, spyware, porn, phishing pages, etc., not cheat the search
engines. Yes, those of us "in the know" can rollover the link and see the
underlying one, and the title, so if a link appears in that attribute that
doesn't match, we can be forwarned. But "Average Joe/Jane" user don't
realize the implications. (One of the reasons for my Scams info.)

Please be careful the code you post. (This is one of the first times I've
seen this type of questions and full code posted.) - You might just be
giving the "bad guys" more ammo! (It's nice to know how its done, but why
show THEM?)

(Sorry if I come off like being on a "high horse", but GEEZE!)

--
BigDaddyBS

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