Installing uBlock Origin

The internet can be a dangerous place. Unfortunately, attackers use advertisements to trick people into installing software that they did not intend to install. Installing advertisement-blocking plugins can help protect your system. uBlock Origin is a free, popular ad blocker.

Learning Objectives

You should be able to:

• Explain why ad blocking can enhance cybersecurity
• Install the uBlock Origin browser plugin
• Disable and enable uBlock Origin for specific sites

Video Walkthrough

Use this video to follow along with the steps in this lab.

Evil Ads and PUPs

Ad blockers are controversial. Many people are reluctant to pay subscriptions for online services like newspapers, social media, and email. Service providers make money in part by collecting data about their users and showing their users advertisements. Ad blockers cut off a revenue stream. For this reason, some consider ad blockers a violation of the social contract between content creators and consumers.

Unfortunately, advertising platforms do not thoroughly vet the advertisements run on their platforms. For example, Facebook unwittingly distributed malware through its advertisements. By exploiting browser vulnerabilities, malware can be installed without the user doing anything except browsing a website. In another scenario, websites encourage users to download potentially unwanted programs (PUPs).

A great tool for taking and editing screenshots is Greenshot. The following is a screenshot that shows the Greenshot download page without running ad blockers. Notice that the first thing on the page is a link to a download. However, that download link is not for Greenshot--it is for a completely separate application. Likely, it is not the application you want to download.

Greenshot download page without ad blocking

The following screenshot shows the Greenshot download page while running an ad blocker. The link to download the PUP is gone.

Greenshot download page with ad blocking

Browser Extensions

Browser extensions are small software programs that modify and enhance the functionality of a web browser. Browsers limit what extensions can do. For example, extensions might be prevented from reading files on your computer. Browser updates can break extensions because the extensions may rely on a feature that the browser no longer supports. In the case of uBlock Origin, Chrome is phasing out support for extensions that analyze and block network requests at the level needed to block ads effectively. Firefox has committed to supporting these types of extensions. For now.

Install uBlock Origin

There are many ad blockers on the market. uBlock Origin is solid. Some ad blockers take payments from advertising companies to unblock their advertisements, but uBlock Origin does not do this.

• Do an internet search for [browser] uBlock origin install, replacing browser with your web browser, such as Firefox or Chrome.
• Follow the link to the plugin repository for your browser. For example, if using Chrome, you should be taken to the Chrome store.
• Verify that you found the correct plugin. It should be named "uBlock Origin" and there should be millions of downloads. (Be wary of any plugin that only has a few hundred users.)

• Add the plugin to your browser.
• You may see a warning in Chrome on the uBlock Origin extension page.
• If you want to use uBlock Original specifically, use Firefox. Otherwise, choose another ad blocker, such as uBlock Origin Lite or Ad Block Plus.

Using uBlock Origin

Occasionally, ad blockers break websites. It may be necessary to disable it for the website to function. Ad blockers typically break sites when that site relies on a third party for things like shopping cart functionality.

• Navigate to a website.
• Click on the uBlock Origin icon in your browser's toolbar.
• Click the power button to disable uBlock Origin for the site.

• Reload the page for the changes to take effect.
• Enable the plugin again by clicking the power button.

It is recommended that you use uBlock Origin (or a similarly trusted ad-blocking plugin) on your host machine.

Challenge

• Ad blockers sometimes break sites. Practice turning uBlock on and off for different sites and compare the results.
• Visit several websites. For each website, see how many ads were blocked. Which sites have the most ads blocked?

Reflection

• Is blocking advertisements ethical?

Key Terms

• Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP): Software that a user may perceive as unwanted, often because it was downloaded unintentionally or bundled with other software. PUPs can include adware, toolbars, or other software that may compromise user privacy or system performance, even though they are not classified as malware.
• Ad Blocker: A software tool or browser extension designed to prevent advertisements from being displayed on web pages. Ad blockers work by filtering out content from ad servers and blocking scripts that load ads, thereby improving the browsing experience by reducing clutter, speeding up page load times, and enhancing privacy.