OT: Potential AdWare, Malware, Virus from MGoBlog?
I have been getting a lot of Adware recently when visiting the blog. I have switched between Firefox, Chrome and IE to see if it was one browser or another. I haven't noticed it with most other pages I go to, but I do get a lot of pop up ads (not the standard sidebar/banner ads) when clicking on some of the diary and board posts here.
To be clear, I'm not savvy enough to know how and where this stuff comes from, but I am just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same issues.
I've been struggling to get rid of the culprit(s) as well, so any legit recommendations are certainly appreciated and welcomed.
EDIT: I do actively run virus protection (MS Essentials) and Malware protection (Malwarebytes Premium).
BigTex
October 16th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
I've never had any issues off this site, and I keep my computer scanned regularly. I'd recommend doing an online scan from Trend Micro, I've used them constantly when I need peice of mind. Its free and all you need to do is sit and wait for it to complete.
October 16th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^
...I ran the scan from TrendMicro and it found nothing. Yet the problems persist. I have a feeling there is some obvious step(s) I am overlooking to fix this (buying a Mac doesn't count), but this is getting frustrating.
October 16th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^
Chrome+Adblock+Ghostery=Win
October 16th, 2014 at 7:23 PM ^
Yep, but then you turn it off for sites you value and trust, like this one....right? I'm guessing most of this site's revenue comes from ads.
October 16th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
Been using the blog for years, and have never had an issue I can trace to MGoBlog. I use a Mac though and people (so far) tend to not make viruses for Macbooks, at least not yet.
October 16th, 2014 at 1:16 PM ^
Get avast! and do a boot-time scan. Never fails.
October 16th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^
That shit works like magic.
October 16th, 2014 at 1:19 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 1:20 PM ^
Brian's had issues in the past with ad scripts causing malware to spread through the site. Send him a description of what you noticed in an email. It may end up being nothing on his end, but he'll probably be interested to know.
Also, while I like the blog and want it to continue through ad revenue among other things, AdBlock extension is a great, great thing.
October 16th, 2014 at 1:54 PM ^
I love adblock. But out of respect for the site I disable it for the blog.
October 16th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^
Email me details. [email protected]
We haven't had any other reports of this so usually that means it is on your end, but let's be sure.
October 16th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 16th, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 2:00 PM ^
switch to a Linux distro like Ubuntu or Mint. There's no such thing as viruses over here.
October 16th, 2014 at 7:28 PM ^
I hope you are just trolling.
October 16th, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^
And I use Chrome.
I post a bunch of GIfs and pictures and have no issues.
October 16th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^
I'm 99.9% sure that the ads on MGoBlog aren't creating scumware issues for your PC. Don't use AdBlock here. That's how revenue is generated, people.
October 16th, 2014 at 5:51 PM ^
I use firefox with adblock. I did not realize it was detrimental to the site. I found how to disable it for the blog and have done so. Gotta do my part in keeping the best sports blog on the net going. :)
October 16th, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^
Stop watching porn...(or watch it on a Mac)
October 16th, 2014 at 2:46 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 3:28 PM ^
2 PC's completely destroyed, Mac going strong for 4 years now...just sayin...
October 16th, 2014 at 2:13 PM ^
My former employer blocked MGoBlog about a year before I left (~2011). I never knew if it was a security-related thing, or because they noticed that a network user was accessing a non-work related website several times a day.
It goes without saying, that contributed to my search for a new job.
October 16th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
Someone on here posted this combination a month or so ago. I have used it ever since without fail.
October 16th, 2014 at 2:48 PM ^
I run those as well, but disable AdBlock for this site and have never had any problems. You should really cosider whitelisting mgoblog. Literally the least you can do to support the site.
October 16th, 2014 at 2:58 PM ^
To reiterate what other above have said, using AdBlock on sites like this that you frequently visit and want to support is a BAD idea. MGoBlog needs money, and they get money from you being slightly inconvenienced by looking at ads.
As for your popups, it's unlikely that the site itself is the cause. All the ads on here are Google Ads, and if Google Ads are suddenly causing malware issues, the whole Internet is in serious trouble. I see Brian has already responded that he'll look into it, but I doubt there's anything wrong with the site.
If your virus/malware detectors aren't turning up anything, there's another possibility: bloatware bundled with installers for other programs that you unintentionally installed by not unchecking the "include blah blah" checkbox. These are getting really super common, and since technically they're just regularly installed programs, they don't show as viruses or malware. Go into Control Panel > Programs and Features, sort by install date, and start going through them for anything you don't recognize. Uninstall from there.
October 16th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
I started using it after I got malware from this site that nearly destroyed my work pc. I can't afford that risk.
October 16th, 2014 at 3:07 PM ^
All of our ads are either Google (doubleclick) or networks or direct sales, and none of those should be running popups. We have ton of system security (having survived direct attacks) that Brian can speak to. From an ads standpoint though, I've never sold nor been paid for anything that pops up or does anything but sit in its ad spot.
October 16th, 2014 at 5:08 PM ^
There's a large-scale attack going on right now using infected ads from otherwise legit ad aggregators. You can do everything right but if the place you've signed up with to serve ads doesn't vet them properly, your site will be serving malware.
October 16th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
Google doesn't give half a cold turd about what they are serving: Their own Google Play store for Android is chock full of malware. That's part of the Google model: Let people do whatever they want. They just keep track of it ALL so they can tell advertisers how well they can target ads.
October 16th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
October 16th, 2014 at 5:07 PM ^
MVPS Hosts file and not running as an admin nearly eliminates that stuff.
Also, if you're infected, the popups and other crap will appear just because you have the browser open, hell, they'll even open a hidden instance for you so they can instantiate their crap.
MBAM
AdwCleaner
ComboFix
If you get them here they won't be carrying a payload:
www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/windows/
www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/
Happy hunting.
October 16th, 2014 at 6:39 PM ^