Spyware, Adware, Bloatware ?

[O_Relly]

Hi,

I am noticing that I am being bomarded with ads and spam pop ups when accessing immigrationboards.com from my home PC, to the extent it is unusable and am having to kill the browser instance from the TaskManager.

Initially I thought it is just my home laptop that was infected, but turns out my licensed McAfee anti-virus software reports all is clean. I have no issues accessing other websites. It is only with IB.com and happens on IE, Chrome and Firefox.

I don't have the same problem when accessing IB.com from work or on my phone or tablet.

Is this something anyone else has observed ?

Cheers,
OR.

[CR001]

We (moderators) unfortunately have no control over ads etc. I would suggest you install the link below. I did this sometime ago on Ambers' advice and never had a problem since.

https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/adblock ... ?l=en&mt=8
https://adblockplus.org/en/android-install

[O_Relly]

Thanks CR001. Yes, I missed mentioning this in my earlier comment, that this is happening in-spite of having ABP installed.

When I type in immigrationboards.com in my address bar and click enter, I can see the count in ABP increment upto 12 or 15 in quick succession after which I start seeing pop ups and audio messages start to play until a point where the browser hangs and I have to use TaskManager.

It is perhaps something strange and unique only to me, as it appears to be OK for yourself and others as no one else seem to have complained. I have been having this issue for over 2 days now.

[CR001]

On my home computer I have disabled pops up. Will check later if I activate it if I have the same problem and let you know.

Which browser are you using at home on your computer?

[noajthan]

Not an issue for me - using IE and Firefox on both Windows and Linux desktops.
Must be a local anomaly for some reason.

[O_Relly]

I have pop-up's blocked too. This is something that is over-riding the setting.

The behavior is the same with IE (actually Edge as OS in home PC is Win10), Chrome and FireFox. My primary browser is Chrome.

[O_Relly]

Must be a local anomaly for some reason.

I suspect the same too. Thanks for letting me know noajthan and CR001, let me investigate further as to what is going on.

What is suspicious is, I seem to have this problem only with immigrationboards.com and not on any other websites that I seem to access on a regular basis.

[CR001]

I only ever use Mozilla Firefox browser. No issue with pops when I reactivate pops in my settings.

[O_Relly]

Thanks cr001. I have tried this on a VM environment running Ubuntu and Firefox and the issue still happens there as well.

I am now convinced that it is my PC that is infected with the malware.

After I reset the browser settings to factory defaults, I seem to have got rid of the problem for some time and then it was back again. However it is interesting that my paid McAfee AV software is not picking anything up.

Interesting problem. I will post an update soon as I get to the bottom of this.

[O_Relly]

Update: Turns out my PC is infected with serious malware. It seems malware is different from a virus, and hence my anti-virus software did not pick this up.

I installed 3 different anti-malware softwares which found and quarantined 1000's of malware. However my PC is still not squeaky clean. I am going to go for a full format later this weekend.

Cheers.

[Casa]

Thanks for letting us know. I had a similar problem some years ago.

[CR001]

Gulp Sorry to hear that

[O_Relly]

Thanks Casa and CR001. It is quite painful, the hard work of data backup is already complete. Now only the re-imaging is pending.

[noajthan]

Thanks Casa and CR001. It is quite painful, the hard work of data backup is already complete. Now only the re-imaging is pending.

Why not shoot for dual boot and add a Linux boot option?
No malware with Linux!

E.g. Bodhi Linux (http://www.bodhilinux.com)


You could start with a bootable image on a USB stick to give it a whirl:
http://www.bodhilinux.com/w/installation-instructions

[O_Relly]

Thanks Casa and CR001. It is quite painful, the hard work of data backup is already complete. Now only the re-imaging is pending.

Why not shoot for dual boot and add a Linux boot option?
No malware with Linux!

E.g. Bodhi Linux (http://www.bodhilinux.com)


You could start with a bootable image on a USB stick to give it a whirl:
http://www.bodhilinux.com/w/installation-instructions

Thanks noajthan for the recommendation. I have always used a VM environment to satisfy my Linux needs. But yes, now is a good time to just bite the bullet and try out the Linux distro with a dual boot.

[CR001]

You guys have lost me now with the tech stuff LOL

[Casa]

You guys have lost me now with the tech stuff LOL

I find two shoes work quite well. (sIze 6)

[CR001]

You guys have lost me now with the tech stuff LOL

I find two shoes work quite well. (sIze 6)

Any chance you have two size 8's in your collection to get me back on track? Mine are a bit worn out so that might be why I am lost

[Casa]

Last season's Char...that's the problem.

[CR001]

Last season's Char...that's the problem.

Really need to get to louboutin or Prada soon to get 'with the times'

[Amber]

Waiting for the time when we all upload our brains to the hyperdrive...... Two left feet for sure