request: a more powerful web becacon, web bug, etc., removal

[harryg123]

I notice that web bugs often call some kind of script, e.g.,

<IMG WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 border=0 SRC="http://media.preferences.com/ping?ML_SD ... OfSite_Any &db_afcr=4B31-C2FB-10E2C&event=reghome&group=register& time=1999.10.27.20.5 6.37">

What would be the result of filtering out all of the info from the "?" to the ">". Or perhaps displaying the script call and allowing the user to see decide if he or she wants to execute the foreign script.

Or is that what NoScript does already?

Recently I’ve been hit with a bunch of malware that has weaseled onto my machine in the form of animated gifs, or perhaps in avi or mpg files, I don’t know. So far I’ve just had to close the browser, run ccleaner to wipe the temp directories, and then continue. But it’s an annoyance. Only a couple of hours ago my Outpost Firewall reported Word 97 was requesting an outbound connection! Strange, because the file I was working on hadn’t even been saved yet, and all that was up was a couple of sites marked “safe”. Later, Word reported that it “could not load graphic.” Interesting because at the time there was no document loaded!

How did this S..t get onto my machine, and what can I do to prevent it?

Thanks to all. I love Flashgot and NoScript.