I use the latest version of Firefox with several free add-ons: Ad-Blocker Plus (ABP), No Script, and Ghostery. ABP and Ghostery are set-and-forget. No Script takes a bit of getting use to and has a minor learning curve. But the 3 together pretty much prevent any ads from showing at all (sorry, Bryan) which speeds up browsing immensely. I also have no fear of any site as No Script will allow, well...no script to run without my giving it explicit permission. I've ditched the annoying, CPU hogging McAfee anti-virus in favor of Microsoft's Security Essentials (free) and Windows Defender, which come with Windows 7. Even if you use a Mac, Firefox and the add-ons work wonders. I allow the scripts on TDP to run, but I see no ads, so I've never seen the issue discussed in this thread. The malware is installed on your machine when you click on the offending ad. If you never see the ad to begin with, you have no worries. As a minimum, use Firefox and Ad-Blocker Plus. You'll instantly be surfing safer and faster.