[Quote:]

and installing malicious software after falling victim to a complex scam that continues to plague well-known websites, a researcher warns.

The scam is the latest to piggyback on banner ads that are fed to high-traffic destinations. Malicious code hardwired into the ads prompts a pop-up that warns of a bogus security threat on the visitor’s machine. It offers to fix the problem in exchange for a fee and for credit card information. The ad then attempts to install a back door on the victim’s machine.

“These are pretty well-respected, high-traffic websites,” said Don Jackson, a researcher with security provider SecureWorks. “The point is to compromise [the user's machine] and basically have it on demand.”

From the reports it seems businessweek.com was one of the sites compromised by this ad network. I recommend adblock.

Oh, and remember: If someone tells you about a problem you have never heard of then in the next breath will fix it for a price then its a scam.

Come to think of it, that accurately describes most advertising as well…