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Old 06-08-2022, 11:03 PM   #1
magster
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Possible virus ?


This evening I received a pop up window saying I had won. " you've made the 5-billionth search " on firefox.
It looked fishy. It wanted me to select a prize or something.
I did not click on anything and closed the tab.

Is my getting this scam pop up an indication of a virus on my linux?
If so, what do I do about it ?

Is there any safe for linux virus detection or prevention program{s}?

Thanks.

Maggie
 
Old 06-08-2022, 11:48 PM   #2
ondoho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by magster View Post
This evening I received a pop up window saying I had won. " you've made the 5-billionth search " on firefox.
It looked fishy. It wanted me to select a prize or something.
I did not click on anything and closed the tab.

Is my getting this scam pop up an indication of a virus on my linux?
If so, what do I do about it ?

Is there any safe for linux virus detection or prevention program{s}?
Could be just something some fishy websites popped up.
Try confirming by visiting the site you visited just prior.
If you keep getting the same every time you open Firefox, regardless of the website you visit, then it probably has messed up your profile; try starting with a fresh one.
 
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Old 06-09-2022, 12:46 AM   #3
magster
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ondoho.

I replicated the offer from a site I went to in order to find a particular movie online.Does that mean it was that site that produced the popup, and since I did not click on anything on that page, no problem was caused ?
Hope so.

Do you know if there is any "safe for linux" virus detection or prevention program{s}?

Thanks,

Maggie
 
Old 06-09-2022, 05:08 AM   #4
yancek
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I've seen similar pop ups several times on different sites and don't believe it would be a virus. You could clear cookies and site data on firefox by clicking the 3 horizontal bar icon in the upper right, select Settings from the drop down and go to Privacy and Security on the left of the new window and scroll down to the option Cookies and Site Data. You will have several options there. I'm not sure this will resolve the problem but I would not worry about a virus because of that.

Last edited by yancek; 06-09-2022 at 05:09 AM.
 
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Old 06-09-2022, 07:26 AM   #5
SlowCoder
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^^^ what yancek said

Plus, I recommend an ad blocker, such as the uBlock Origin Firefox extension.
 
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Old 06-09-2022, 08:16 AM   #6
rkelsen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by magster View Post
Is my getting this scam pop up an indication of a virus on my linux?
No.
 
Old 06-09-2022, 08:21 AM   #7
smallpond
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To answer your question about scanning for malware, see:

https://geekflare.com/linux-security-scanner/
 
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Old 06-10-2022, 01:47 PM   #8
ondoho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by magster View Post
I replicated the offer from a site I went to in order to find a particular movie online.Does that mean it was that site that produced the popup
Likely.
Quote:
and since I did not click on anything on that page, no problem was caused ?
Who knows. Simply allowing javascript on bad sites is ... well, bad. But usually these sites are in some database that FF accesses before it opens it. Usually...

The definition of virus is fluent... As I said, if it happens whenever you start your browser prior to actually loading any sites it could be called a browser virus.
Otherwise, just bad browsing habits...
 
Old 06-10-2022, 08:19 PM   #9
magster
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yancek and SlowCoder,

Thanks for your replies. I cleared cookies and site data, as well as added uBlock origin. I already had adblock plus, but hopefully adding uBlock will help even more.
No further problems so hopefully you are correct there is no virus involved.

Maggie
 
Old 06-10-2022, 08:28 PM   #10
magster
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ondoho,

I am unclear as to what you mean by " just bad browsing habits ". How does anyone avoid having that happen? I am open to improving my browsing habits, but I need to know specifically how I would do that.

"Simply allowing javascript on bad sites is ... well, bad"..... How does one avoid those sites ?

Thanks

Maggie
 
Old 06-16-2022, 12:33 AM   #11
chrism01
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Actually, uBlock Origin is a replacement for AdBlock Plus, because the latter started letting companies buy their way past the filters

So uBlock Orign was forked from ABP...

I also run NoScript, Ghostery & Privacy Badger. The first in particular is well worth having, although it does involve a bit of training of the SW.

Last edited by chrism01; 06-16-2022 at 01:32 AM. Reason: Typo
 
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Old 06-16-2022, 08:30 AM   #12
boughtonp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chrism01 View Post
Actually, uBlock Origin is a replacement for AdBlock Plus, because the latter started letting companies buy their way past the filters

So uBlock Orign was forked from ABP...
Whilst uBlock Origin should definitely be considered a replacement for Adblock Plus (and AdBlock, and all the various copycats), it was not forked from it.

(uBlock Origin does support the filter lists/syntax which were originally created for AdBlock, and later used by Adblock Plus, but the extension itself is different.)


Quote:
I also run NoScript, Ghostery & Privacy Badger.
The companies behind Ghostery have also done dubious things; I put Ghostery in the same category as AdBlock and Adblock Plus as an extension to avoid.

I do second the recommendation of EFF's Privacy Badger - no/minimal config needed.

 
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Old 06-16-2022, 08:46 AM   #13
dugan
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Check which Firefox extensions you have installed. It’s possible you *did* get a virus in the form of a bad extension.
 
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Old 06-16-2022, 11:25 AM   #14
ondoho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chrism01 View Post
Actually, uBlock Origin is a replacement for AdBlock Plus, because the latter started letting companies buy their way past the filters
I seem to remember that one of its main "selling points" was also that it runs much lighter than ABP.

Quote:
Originally Posted by boughtonp View Post
The companies behind Ghostery have also done dubious things; I put Ghostery in the same category as AdBlock and Adblock Plus as an extension to avoid.
Absolutely.
 
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Old 06-16-2022, 10:07 PM   #15
magster
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dugan,

I just removed Adblock plus. That leaves privacy badger, HTTPS everywhere, uBlock origin, and Duck duck go privacy essentials.
Are those extensions all okay ?

" It’s possible you *did* get a virus in the form of a bad extension."

So is the problem gone once the bad extension is removed?

Maggie
 
  


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