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Ghostsdoj
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Post by Ghostsdoj » November 24th, 2018, 8:53 pm

I just got hit with an ad that redirected my browser (when I didn't click anything; I was just reading a post) It played an obnoxious beep and said "Warning: Windows Firewall has reported that your system is infected with a virus." Blah Blah Blah... 

This was the link in my address bar before I quit with Task Manager:
http://gbm1170.website/ln/7k_9o8PGCQa6G ... BCojQqq.qq

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Chain_Reaction
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Post by Chain_Reaction » November 26th, 2018, 4:49 am

Cororon wrote:
November 20th, 2018, 11:35 am
Found another bad ad today, "Internet Speed Tracker", which is another Browser Hijacker.
Still unable to find, perhaps Google pulled it already.
Ghostsdoj wrote:
November 24th, 2018, 8:53 pm
I just got hit with an ad that redirected my browser (when I didn't click anything; I was just reading a post) It played an obnoxious beep and said "Warning: Windows Firewall has reported that your system is infected with a virus." Blah Blah Blah... 

This was the link in my address bar before I quit with Task Manager:
http://gbm1170.website/ln/7k_9o8PGCQa6G ... BCojQqq.qq
Did you happen to notice anything you could tell me about the two ads that were on the page? That domain isn't listed in my manifest and I suspect it's because the ad was masking it.

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Ghostsdoj
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Post by Ghostsdoj » November 29th, 2018, 8:24 pm

I  wasn't really looking at the ads. I was reading the posts. And then when the thing hit I was redirected and it was too late to notice.

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Cororon
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Post by Cororon » November 30th, 2018, 1:44 am

Speaking of browser hijackers, I updated a small program (not related to NRaas, Sims or ads) and without asking me it installed a browser hijacker called "Web Companion". It changed my start site and default search engine to Bing, and probably installed stuff that would affect the search results. I managed to uninstall the hijacker and ran Malwarebytes and it found lots of PUP's that I deleted.

Be careful out there. :)

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Post by igazor » November 30th, 2018, 10:56 am

Cororon - Web Companion (the real one) is from Lavasoft and is not really harmful by design or a browser hijacker. Not sure I would recommend it necessarily and it does tend to score high as potential malware or a Potentially Unwanted Program (PUP) itself because of the way it works when using other tools such as Malwarebytes or more standard anti-malware or anti-virus types of products alongside of it. Lavasoft used to be one of my favored Go Tos for protection and detection products long ago, but things have changed and they do tend to be more heavy-handed and get in the way of ordinary stuff than necessary.

Unless of course you managed to get a Web Companion imposter or something else that goes by the same name or only looked like the real thing, and there are certainly plenty of unhelpful imposters out there in this arena, I might not have been so quick to hit the alarm button.

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Post by Cororon » November 30th, 2018, 5:52 pm

igazor wrote:
November 30th, 2018, 10:56 am
Cororon - Web Companion (the real one) is from Lavasoft and is not really harmful by design or a browser hijacker.
Maybe it wasn't intended as such, but when it hides in other downloads, installs without asking permission and makes changes in your browsers, then it is an unwanted program and a browser hijacker. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavasoft
 

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Post by igazor » November 30th, 2018, 6:02 pm

Cororon -  But it's a benevolent sneaky hijacker, you see. It's like vitamin fortified cereal or kids' programs that sneak educational experiences into the fun cartoons. Just consume it, be grateful, and stop asking so many questions.  :x

Okay, I'm joking. It's a shame what happenend to the company and its business practices after it got sold as they were definitely one of the "good guys" in the decade prior. But it really shouldn't be difficult to remove the unasked for protection as it might be with the more evil forms of drive-by malware that are out there. Was it complicated to uninstall once you found it present?

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Post by Cororon » November 30th, 2018, 6:11 pm

igazor wrote:
November 30th, 2018, 6:02 pm
Cororon But it's a benevolent sneaky hijacker, you see. It's like vitamin fortified cereal or kids' programs that sneak educational experiences into the fun cartoons. Just consume it, be grateful, and stop asking so many questions.  :x

Okay, I'm joking. It's a shame what happenend to the company and its business practices after it got sold as they were definitely one of the "good guys" in the decade prior. But it really shouldn't be difficult to remove the unasked for protection as it might be with the more evil forms of drive-by malware that are out there. Was it complicated to uninstall once you found it present?
Yeah, I remember having something from Lavasoft ages ago, and it must have been alright back then. I uninstalled Web Companion through the Control Panel and ran Malwarebytes two times. The first time it found nine PUP's and the second time one.

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Post by Cororon » December 30th, 2018, 12:20 pm

Saw these bad ads for browser hijackers here today:

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Post by Cororon » December 30th, 2018, 2:41 pm

And this one:

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