Discussions

MALWARE ISSUE SOLVED

Posted by TonyB • 3/12/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogcatalog

We have identified the problem. One of the advertisers in our ad network was serving ads that triggered this. We have removed them from the site.

Some pages might have warnings BlogCatalog has resolve the issue.

User Comments

3/12/09

Friday13

Yay! Thank you for letting us know.

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3/12/09

Stillthinking

Whew, that's a relief.

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3/12/09

Shuttercraft

Thank you!

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3/12/09

timethief

@TonyB
It's good to hear that the problem has been corrected. Yay! for Daniel et al.

You say: Some pages might have warnings BlogCatalog has resolve the issue.

If we run into this, then do you want us to post the page urls we get warnings on into this thread?

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1. 3/12/09
  
  TonyB
  
  The warning is communicated from google's search result to your browser. Until google respiders the pages the warnings will remain although the offending ad has been removed.
2. 3/12/09
  
  timethief
  
  I thought so. Thanks for the clarity
3/12/09

Anok

*Stands up and claps*

Hooray!

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3/12/09

Shiley

Yay!

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3/12/09

dosox

wrong spot

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3/12/09

dosox

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3/12/09

SweetViolet

YAYAYAY!

I hope it was one of those horrible flashing ads and it is now gone. I can't quit a page fast enough when those things come up. Did you know they can give susceptible individuals epileptic seizures? I strongly recommend against accepting those kinds of ads.

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3/12/09

Jules66

Thank you Tony

Did it cause anything nasty to happen, apart from all the warnings?

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3/12/09

rainforestrobin

Yeah!! And thank you very much Tony and crew. It's appreciated.

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3/12/09

TheBigRuski

Thanks! Two thumbs up!

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3/12/09

legbamel

Huzzah! [throws confetti]

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3/12/09

melindaville

I never had any problems at all--but that is a benefit for supporting the community--you don't have to see the annoying ads!

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1. 3/12/09
  
  TonyB
  
  Funny but true!
2. 3/12/09
  
  timethief
  
  No business like this one that allows bloggers to become members free of charge and have access to all the features that we have here at BC can operate without advertising income. It's not expensive to become a community supporter. It amounts to donating the value of one fancy coffee from Starbucks per month. www.blogcatalog.com/account/donate
3. 3/13/09
  
  Gadgeteer
  
  So your saying what? free users should be subjected to that ? whats funny ? I don't see anything funny about any of this.
4. 3/13/09
  
  timethief
  
  Heck no! Unlike mytler77 I still had the same problems as everyone else had during the malware interlude. And, I'm also saying that I'm proud to be a community supporter.
5. 3/13/09
  
  Gadgeteer
  
  timethief I visited your blog on Tips and Tutorials on How to Become a Better Blogger. I enjoyed reading it and learned a lot. That is: "One Cool Site". And you have every right to be proud to be a community supporter, BlogCatalog Rocks! I just do not have a lot of time so will remain a free member for now.
6. 3/14/09
  
  timethief
  
  Thanks for the compliment on onecoolsite - y'all come back now, y'hear?
3/12/09

antivirusconnection

I think we need to backtrack him and exploit him in return.

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3/12/09

hypnotips

Yes, some pages still giving warnings.

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3/12/09

foodsafetysmart

Thank you!

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3/12/09

FatX

I was hoping it would be fixed. Great job on the speed of it.

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3/12/09

Chrislag

Not all are resolved on my computer --

www.blogcatalog.com/user/DocNicole

still has the warning.

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3/12/09

princesshai

Thank you

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3/12/09

stephenams

Wow! that was fast! Kudos to the admins!

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3/12/09

Norski

Kudos - on fixing the problem - and telling us about it.

Not everybody's quite that open. This is a big reason why I like BlogCatalog.

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3/13/09

riverstyxxx

This is why I don't believe in running ads on sites..It all stems back to selling out for a buck.

[reply]
1. 3/13/09
  
  timethief
  
  How would financing a directory and social network like this one at BC be achieved without advertising?
3/13/09

elainemandrona

I just joined blogcatalog and suddenly I was getting these huge warnings. That's a relief. I thought I had made a big mistake by signing up.

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3/13/09

Gadgeteer

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3/13/09

SaintSeanzy

GG

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3/13/09

kden

Ah, that's why I couldn't click through from my email notifying me of a friend add. Had to go the long way around.

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3/13/09

trimandtrendy

fixed? it just happened now when i tried to check my profile.

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3/13/09

jan4insight

I'm so glad the admin crew was on top of this - thanks again for the good work

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3/13/09

sudam08

No regrettably the problem is yet to be over as just before 10 minutes i got the same warning though i did not pay any attention and entered. I was browsing my own profile. Google is still issuing the warning. I don't know how Tony says.

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3/13/09

busylizzy

...so it wasn't the kitty with the detonator???

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3/13/09

eltahelawimoney

comment removed by the community.

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3/13/09

Rebecca7

Cool! I thought it was just my profile with a problem. I thought I was special. LOLOLOL

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3/13/09

MrPuffy

Ah. I wondered where I picked that up. May I recommend Malwarebytes (free software on the net) which cleaned my computer.

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3/13/09

TravelDeals

Use www.robtex.com to get to the source - the DNSs ae listed therein and when Googled show up as Limeware - a nasty malware prog.

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3/13/09

TravelDeals

I am getting those horrible flashing ads on my travel deal blogs---> how can I get rid of them!

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3/13/09

dgnitzky

Thanks for the info God BLESS to all BC members

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3/13/09

BikiniHotline

Thank you, thank you. Great to be back without all the interuptions.

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3/14/09

HelloAnnie

I just tried seconds ago. There are still problems apparently.

safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?client=Firefox&hl=e...

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3/14/09

askcherlock

Thanks so much for the fix. I had a corporate-strength anti-virus software added to my computer. All it takes is one to be a spoiler. It looks like Google removed the site warning about BC. Thanks for your efforts!

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3/14/09

blackthoughtsjb

Cool, thanks! Damn warning message was really annoying.

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3/14/09

LadySwan

Thank You Thank You Thank You...I was starting to think it was something wrong with my PC, turned out to be you:)

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3/14/09

polybore

This mutual back slapping is all very well but BC's response to this situation has been and continues to be inadequate.

It is all very well to say the situation has been resolved but where is the really useful information like:

1. When was the malware distributing ad first hosted by BC?
2. Advice to BC members that if they visited BC between the time the ad was first put on BC and when it was removed they MUST scan their computer for Virus and Spyware.
3. General advice that users must keep their Flash plugin up to date to avoid these flash based attacks.
4. If anyone needs thanking it is Google for spotting that a BC ad was associated with malware but how long did it take for Google to spot the problem.
5. Some of these flash based malware attacks do NOT require the user to click on the ad. Was this one of them?

The situation may be resolved as far as BC is concerned but is not necessarily over for members who may have had the security of their computer compromised.

Polybore has been blogging this and has had over 1000 hits just for this topic Yesterday and Today.

[reply]
1. 3/14/09
  
  timethief
  
  @polybore
  I'm thinking that the better way to initiate discussion with BC Admin on this would be through direct contact.
  www.blogcatalog.com/contact/
2. 3/14/09
  
  polybore
  
  Ok TT will give it a go. Oops broke another sticky post, why does that keep happening?