Malware?

[P&L]

Had problems with my Mac and getting lot of pop ups and such. I contacted Apple thinking it was my system and we loaded in FireFox in addition to my Safari web search engine.

Per Apple, this site has some Malware. I couldn't use the "contact us" venue as the pop ups were numerous and I was prevented from contacting the admins. Am I the only one?

If it isn't this site, I apologize, but I do believe the issue is with this site.

Thanks in advance,

Lorna

[gbaglo]

I'm using a Mac and Firefox. I don't have problems.
But I'm using an ad block program, which means I don't have to put up with ads, but also means that the forum doesn't get ad revenue that it needs to support it. I feel guilty, but not guilty enough.

[Brian B-P]

I'm using Windows 10 and Chrome. I don't have problems either, but I'm also using Adblock Plus. It means that the ads are kept down to a level which keeps the forum usable. I don't feel in the slightest bit guilty about the lack of ad revenue, because the ads had become unreasonable - particularly the video content which is a problem on my mobile connection.

Those ads could contain something which is flagged as undesirable. I suggest installing Adblock Plus for Safari (or for Firefox if available on Mac OS) to see if the problems go away.

[rbryan4]

Lorna, it's difficult to isolate which sites have links containing malware, because once your system is affected, clicking on otherwise safe links can cause URL redirection to bad ones. The issue is likely that your computer has been infected, not the forum site.

Being an IT Security professional, I have several resources which I use to scan websites and web servers for signs of malware or other issues. Escapeforum.org shows clean. I just ran several scans to confirm it. Whoever it was at Apple that told you the site contains malware was flat wrong. Having said that, I can't speak for any of the sites linked in ads on the site.

Ad blocking software can help, but in the case of the Escape forum, it's more to reduce the annoyance of ads, rather than preventing anything malicious.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Whoever it was at Apple that told you the site contains malware was flat wrong.

What, a "genius" was wrong?
(For those who don't get this, Apple calls their quasi-technical staff in stores Geniuses, and the rest of the world ridicules them for this.)

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Ad blocking software can help, but in the case of the Escape forum, it's more to reduce the annoyance of ads, rather than preventing anything malicious.

That's certainly why I use it - given that by "annoying" I mean "unusable" - and I agree that it is not a security solution. This is, on the other hand, an excellent excuse to make web site use more pleasant in the name of eliminating possible malware sources.

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by P&L

Had problems with my Mac and getting lot of pop ups and such. I contacted Apple thinking it was my system and we loaded in FireFox in addition to my Safari web search engine.

Per Apple, this site has some Malware. I couldn't use the "contact us" venue as the pop ups were numerous and I was prevented from contacting the admins. Am I the only one?

If it isn't this site, I apologize, but I do believe the issue is with this site.

Thanks in advance,

Lorna

I'm sorry that you are having trouble but believe that these issues are not emanating from this site. I'd like to suggest that you consider downloading and running a scan with malwarebytes (for mac). It's free and will remove many malicious things. I think it's likely that you have some adware installed that is the culprit here. Here's a link to their site: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

[P&L]

Originally Posted by Janet H

I'm sorry that you are having trouble but believe that these issues are not emanating from this site. I'd like to suggest that you consider downloading and running a scan with malwarebytes (for mac). It's free and will remove many malicious things. I think it's likely that you have some adware installed that is the culprit here. Here's a link to their site: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/mac/

I have been using MalwareBytes for some time, and I just loaded in the Ad blocker. Thanks all for your help. I will keep pursuing my issues.

I don't give up and I'll get to the bottom of this. Thank you all for your help as I navigate this dilemma.

Lorna

[Mary F]

For what it's worth, I'm NOT using an ad blocker and have no problems using Escape Forum or FiberglassRV.com from my Mac or iPad. My browser on the Mac is Firefox. On the iPad I use the Safari browser app. YMMV

[gocamp]

https://blog.malwarebytes.org/101/20...ac-antimalware

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Mary F

For what it's worth, I'm NOT using an ad blocker and have no problems using Escape Forum or FiberglassRV.com from my Mac or iPad. My browser on the Mac is Firefox. On the iPad I use the Safari browser app. YMMV

2X, including using Safari on a MacBookPro. As to ad blockers, I don't use them because it would be a bit hypocritical since I have ads on my LakeshoreImages site that pay for keeping it alive. It would be nice if it was a money maker, but I'll live with it being self supporting...