Posted on 04/07/2010 3:07:20 PM PDT by PJ-Comix
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Sites get tagged mostly because their ad servers have no scruples whatsoever about running ads containing malware. The adservers protest this vemhemently, but seem unable to detect such malware ads, though even freeware antivirus software has no problem detecting them. They might want to switch their domain, or at least switch their ad server. INE (In my Experience) Adgardener is one of the worst offenders.
Yah. My Trend Micro antivirus gives me a warning lately when I’ve gone there.
The warning is for “Mal_Hifrm”. My real-time scan grabs it and deletes it.
Use your Linux machine.
If you don’t have one, you can do a quick Ubuntu install on a $100 machine.
So why doesn’t Weasel Zippers get rid of those ads? Right now those warnings must be killing his traffic.
When it’s “safe” let me know. Right now I can’t take the chance.
Most of the time it’s one ad server that rotates the regular ads and pop ups on the site, and the admin has no control exceptto get rid of the ad server...you might try contacting him or her.
I think Weasel Zippers knows about the problem.
Really, if they know about it and want to keep up their traffic, it’s odd that they don’t do something about it.
March 17, 2010Site Update: The Virus Warning Saga Continues...
Norton is still giving off a warning when people visit WZ. No other virus detection software is doing it. I'm at a loss, not sure what to do. I know it's either bogus completely or it's one of the few picture which with Java script in it (you would have to download it to your hard drive for it to be a problem, something nobody would do), either way it's still nothing to worry about.
Anyone have any suggestions? Email me or leave a comment (I'm not as computer savvy as you would expect)
The Norton Full Report lists the specific threats, almost all of which come from a single html file on the site. Here is one example:
Threat Name: Direct link to JS.Downloader
Location: http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2010/04/unreal-obama-proclaims-that-without-obamacare-the-us-would-have-gone-bankruptalso-says-forcing-chang.-BAD-html
I added the "-BAD-" to the URL of the problem page.
Might be a good idea to look at that page to see if Norton is correct.
Is it safe?Yes, it's safe, it's very safe, it's so safe you wouldn't believe it.
No. It's not safe, it's... very dangerous, be careful.
If you want off my ping list get over it!
I just had a client tell me that her website kept having a question mark instead of a green checkmark like her competitors websites had when she went to Google to check. I’d not heard of such a thing, so I did some checking.
Seems that Norton has come up with a little revenue enhancement project preying on the fear of malware. This client had Norton installed on her personal computer and probably their “toolbar” in her browser. When she went to find out what she had to do to get her website “approved”, they required a registration - with plenty of her private info, I’m sure - and then sent her code to be put on her website index.html page.
After the code was applied and a “special” file with another code was installed in the base directory, then she had to “register” the site URL and in “two to three weeks”, after they “investigated” the site and found it free of malware, they would show her site as “safe”. I think the scam is called “Web Secure” or something.
McAfee’s must be “TrustedSource”. Apparently McAfee has done the same thing, only I’m sure it’s proprietary to their software and site owners have to register their sites just like Norton’s proprietary scam.
What I told her was that this was a way to get her information into their database, in addition to what they collect already because she “subscribes” to their bloatware Krap(tm) that phones home and that this probably wasn’t as benign a program as she thought.
Naturally, she said she wanted to do it anyway, so I installed everything they required. But I advised her to get rid of Norton completely off her computer and go with a better anti-virus program or security suite. NOT McAfee.
This is a big scam, preying on naive users, collecting their data to mine for advertising revenue or sell to scammers and spammers. Because once her website is “scanned” for malware, unless it is rescanned 24/7, the little green checkmark and “certification” means nothing, as malware could be installed after the scan.
I’ve just watched Norton/McAfee become total scammers and ripoff artists over the past 15 years. Their programs are the very first things I’ll wipe from a computer and it will run better immediately.
As I told my client, I don’t have an antivirus program on my internet connected Windoze computer and I don’t have any problem. But I don’t do stupid things like using IE or Outlook or clicking on links that would get me infected. Recently, for almost all my web surfing, I use a Linux box behind a router, behind a switch. Not gonna be a problem.
So the best thing you can do is get rid of McAfee and go with something like AVG or Avast or any of the other free antivirus programs. McAfee and Norton have been in bed with the malware purveyors and ad servers for a long time.
I’m not saying that WZ isn’t a problem, but I KNOW that Norton/McAfee ARE problems. I won’t let either one of them on a machine that I control.
You should take better care of your teeth. You have quite a cavity here.
Anybody ever tell you you’re brutal with a dental instrument, Szell.
I’ve never liked Norton or a McAfee.
As per the site advisor website:
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No! What makes you think that? - Moe Szell.
What about this concern, Liam?
What is it and why do I care?
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