Posted on 06/14/2011 6:25:11 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
When I started Firefox tonight I got a Windows message saying that Firefox wanted to update from the Internet. I allowed it, and right away I started getting incredibly annoying audio advertisements and a popup that said "GetIt" whenever I tried to click on anything.
I rolled it back to a restore point and got rid of it, but whatever it is, it is so blatantly annoying that I don't know what they think they are accomplishing.
I restarted FF and didn’t get the message.
Thanks for the heads-up!
I’ll keep my eye open for a similar event...
Do you have a virus protection software on your computer? If so, which one, if you don’t mind saying?
A couple of great and free anti-malware pieces of software are
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Maleware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/
and
Super Anti-Spyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/
Download them, update them, and run them. It’ll get rid of them very easily.
Which version of FF are you running?
Those programs are really great. Buy them both.
Perhaps attempting to drive traffic to another browser?
FF gave me such fits I finally switched to google chrome.
I know, i know i’m in league with soros, the chi-coms and the bilderburgers now ....
;o)
Sounds like you got hooked by some malware masquerading as Firefox or Windows. Firefox automatically updates within the program, it doesn’t use any Windows notifications.
This isn't a virus. It's an application. Security Essentials warned me that Firefox wanted to make an exception on the firewall, and I allowed it. It was my fault. I have never seen a browser application ask to breach the firewall. I should have known better. It will never happen again.
Restore points are fabulous.
I had a lot of trouble with any version of FF higher than 3.15 running on Linux; video freeze-ups and at-random crashes, mainly. Turned out I had some bad RAM and the later (larger) versions of FF were accessing those addresses, where the earlier one wasn't. If Chrome irritates you enough (and I expect it will, the human engineering is terrible), try new RAM and FF4.
What version of Firefox are you running. (To find out click “Help” then “About Mozilla Firefox”).
I’m running v. 3.6.17 but it wants me to download v. 4.0.1. I’m resisting because some of my useful add-ons are always disabled when I upgrade versions so probably will stay with what I have until they stop issuing security updates.
Sounds like you got spoofed by something pretending to be FireFox. You should get and run an anti-virus program. Microsoft Security Essentials is not nearly enough.
Often, your ISP will provide one for you to download, like McAfee or Symantec. If not, a halfway decent free one can be had here:
http://free.avg.com/us-en/download-free-antivirus
I am using Microsoft Security Essentials.
This isn't a virus. It's an application. Security Essentials warned me that Firefox wanted to make an exception on the firewall, and I allowed it. It was my fault. I have never seen a browser application ask to breach the firewall. I should have known better. It will never happen again.
This isn't a virus. It's an application. Security Essentials warned me that Firefox wanted to make an exception on the firewall, and I allowed it. It was my fault. I have never seen a browser application ask to breach the firewall. I should have known better. It will never happen again.
Malwarebytes ROCKS! I just used it the other day to get that nasty bogus ‘MS Security Update 2012’ off my wife’s machine.
I could be mistaken, but on my machines, Microsoft Security Essentials provides a firewall and some mal-ware detection, but it is not a replacement for an antivirus program.
McAfee, Symantec, and AVG all run fine with Micrsoft Security Essentials.
I have used AVG and Avast. I like Avast a little better. I will try it. I am pretty sure you can’t do it. I got error messages when I tried.
I’ve also recently updated a couple machines to FireFox 4.01.
Neither needed nor requested any firewall updates. Microsoft Security Essentials didn’t make a peep about it on either system. It seems to me that you were very likely installing an infected or corrupted copy, or that another virus was already on your system, just waiting for the chance to change your firewall settings...
Yeah, I have to agree with you there. It gets rid of things that no other software can.
I can’t speak for Avast. AVG runs without complaint for me on a fully updated XP box, with Microsoft Security Essentials on it, as of last week.
I’ve had AVG and Avast. I’m far happier with Microsoft Security Essentials. Avast was good but the constant announcements of updates was annoying.
I agree. However, I had a little problem ( as have others ) with the Avast 6.0 update. If you are running Vista, in some cases, it causes Windows to say that your license is invalid and you have to go to the Microsoft site to validate it, but the validation process doesn't work. You can still use Windows, but you get an annoying popup every 15 minutes saying your license is invalid. So I uninstalled Avast and went back to AVG and everything is back to normal.
I gotta hand it to the maker of that virus because they knew it, too. So they designed part of the virus program to prevent Malwarebytes from running. I had to restart the machine in Safe Mode with the DOS prompt, navigate to the directory with the mbam.exe file, and run it from there. It worked like a charm.
I tried FF 4 but I’m getting annoying page freezes. I have to move the mouse while I using the down button to scroll. I’ll probably go back to 3 something...
Yep - that bogus “Security Update” is EVIL.
Restore points are, indeed, fabulous, but I didn’t think they get rid of malware. Do they?
I’ve been hit twice lately, immediately restarted in Safe Mode, and ran appropriate scans to remove the nasty stuff. So far, so good.
You can set those to silent, and no pop-up. Mine is silent, and I just set it on a small 2 second pop-up notice.
Run Malwarebytes in the Safe Mode, then download CCleaner and run it. Another of my favorites is MRU-Blaster.
Same with me. I had used FF for about 10 years but in 2010 it started having too many problems. For instance it would not allow access to the comments posted on Mish Shedlock's site. I switched to chrome. Chrome won't allow you to right-click on a web-page to email a link, and right-clicking on an image does not immediately show the source URL, but other than those 2 things it's acceptable. FF seems not to have recovered to what it was before 2010.
Windows is a virus. Eliminate it!
I am still with the 3.6 Firefox and am about ready to dump it.
FF has always been and continues to be a memory hog.
I also find that many of the newer flash and video websites will not play in FF but will play in Chrome.
I just hate to learn a bunch of new extensions/add-ons, and Chrome doesn’t have some that I use with FF.
Thanks. Most virus software warn of this kind of event. I use Firefox, so I will be on guard.
Sounds like some lesbo program to me.
Say what? I've been hearing for some time now, that Microsoft Security Essentials is a full virus/malware protection tool.
I've been using it for months with no infections showing up.
Bookmarking.
Just noticed that someone added some nasty keywords to your thread.
Look at the bright side, at least you weren’t ‘Rick Rolled’.
Thanks for the heads up. That's a serious deal-breaker for me.
Yep, I always have two AV programs running. For the past couple of years they are Norton and Webroot Spy Sweeper with AV. Plus, I regularly use Webroot’s Window Washer. This antique keeps humming along just fine.
Yup, you made me take a closer look. That must be the “Windows Defender” portion of the Microsoft Security Essentials. News to me. I wonder how long it’s been there... ;-)
It seems to be turned off on my home machines, since these get to use Symantec for free, courtesy of my ISP.
I won’t hazard a guess about how good Microsoft is at AV security.
Thanks for posting this.
bookmark
I was just starting to use Chrome after being an early adopter of Firefox and loving it. However, the Google ads that ran recently about “It Gets Better” have made me find alternatives in lots of places.
I am not one to tell everyone to boycott this and protest that, so to each their own. However, that ad was so in my face as a decent, Jesus-loving Christian that I am actively modifying my behaviors in this case.
your reply
I could be mistaken, but on my machines, Microsoft Security Essentials provides a firewall and some mal-ware detection, but it is not a replacement for an antivirus program.
McAfee, Symantec, and AVG all run fine with Micrsoft Security Essentials.
Your mistaken MS security essentials is in fact a very good antivirus program and can not be run with another AV program.
The original poster however, in my opinion probably has a prexisting infection.
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