Blogger users can host their blogs whereever they like, but if they choose Blogger’s free BlogSpot hosting, a navigation bar appears across the top of the page. On that nav bar is a button labeled “next blog.” Click it, and you are taken to a randomly selected Blogger blog. Now comes word from lawyer Alvin Borromeo, writing on MT Law Blog and then again here, that randomly clicking the “next blog” button can leave you infected with viruses and spyware. The same thing happened to the author of the blog Obiter Dicta.

There are two ways to avoid this. First, as comments pointed out here and here, this would not have happened had they been using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. Second, the problem is not with Blogger, but with coding added to some of the blogs hosted by Blogger. If you use Blogger and want to avoid sending your visitors to some random, virus-infected site, stop hosting on blogspot and instead host on another server. You can find Web site hosting deals for a couple dollars a month.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.