Does running Ads on a site install Spyware on visitors machines?

[dapslyrics]

Somebody emailed me today saying my site put all this spyware on their website. I currently run Adtegrity pop ups on my website, could that have been the cause? What should I do?

The person wrote:

"I made the mistake of visiting your site, and the moment I did, my box started churning and spitting so I looked to see what was up. I now have, loaded on my system, the following:

Stcloader
ClrSchloader
msbb
slmss
SQInstaller

So now I have the following hijackers on my computer!
Xupiter
SeekSeek
2ndThoughtSoftware
I Get Net
nCase

I have no doubt this is a result of your site, it being the first I've visited since scanning my system and running maintenance.
This REALLY pisses me off, and I'm getting really tired of sites such as yours thinking it is OK to dump this crap on peoples computers so that you can drain them.

I just became your worst PR nightmare."

[moltar]

The only way to test it is to go to your website yourself with deafault security settings in your IE and see what happens. After that run a spyware removal and see what it catches.

[jomaxx]

Just for fun I took a look at your site and I have no doubt they did get it from you, presumably via Adtegrity. I saw several banners for Gator's spyware and something else tried to auto-install itself.

You should really investigate this further and ask yourself whether you want to assist these people -- who IMO are the scum of the Earth, even worse than spammers -- infect the PC's of people who are trying to use your service. Why not start by scanning your own PC using several of the free packages available, such as AdAware? You might be amazed how many programs you've got that spy on your browsing habits and monitor your keystrokes, and how hard it is to get rid of them.

[dapslyrics]

Well ok I've gone to my website with a default setting and yes I do get all those installers to pop up. I agree, it is pretty annoying. I have now removed those pop ups from my website. Hopefully that will do the trick and I won't have anymore people trying to contact the FCC. :) Do banners also install spyware on my viewers comps too? If that's the case I'm just going to sign up to adsense or something. Thanks for the help peeps.

[okrogius]

The most harm a banner does is a cookie. So nothing big to worry about there.