Note to readers on fraudulent ad

The Seattle Times network had a malicious ad campaign scheduled on our site from a fraudulent advertiser. The details as we know them are as follows:

• Between approximately 4:00 PM Thursday (11/20) and 9:45 AM Friday (11/21) an ad that was fraudulently placed on The Seattle Times Network which includes seattlepi.com, seattletimes.com, nwsource.com, nwjobs.com, nwautos.com, nwhomes.com, and nwapartments.com may have attempted to install malware on readers' machines.

• Non-Windows users and users with antivirus installed were not likely at risk.

• Our current knowledge of this malware is that a user would only be exposed to risk if they selected run or save on the pop-up that was served by the malicious ad.

• The campaign was immediately disabled once we became aware of its malicious nature. Once the campaign was disabled, our network users were no longer exposed; however users who installed the malware may still have the infection.

• If you believe you have been infected, we are providing the link below because our research shows that it has an excellent reputation in the internet security community:

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/uninstall-antivirus-2009

• We respect that a decision to download anything on your computer is a personal one. There are many sources for removing malware and protecting your computer from future infections, and we encourage you to find one that you trust.

• We understand that the malware is called Virus2009 and you can find more information about it at Symantec.com: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2008-082521-2037-99&tabid=2

A quality and secure user experience on our network of sites is of great importance to The Seattle Times Company. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact: webmaster@seattletimes.com.