I saw something show up in the site ads that is concerning.  At the top center are two small adds, one for emailloginnow.com and the other for emailaccessonline.com  I took the time to google both domains and they are both treated as virus/trojan installers.  I realize we need the advertising to help pay for the site, but I hope we don't need to support malware like this.  Here is a picture of the ads displaying... I have highlighted them with a red rectangle area:

Information on emailaccessonline: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/214495-removal-instructions-for-email-access-online/

Information on emailloginnow: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-email-login-now-extension/

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by WarpD

Soon enough the nefarious types will notice half of the flight sim populous Run as Admin - their target audience.

'Noisy' malware that is usually noticed when affected as it annoys and messes with things in an obvious way. That's called taking the eye off the ball.

'Silent' malware is waiting for the unsuspecting to make their next mistake.

 

It is because of questionable ads such as those above that I utilize an ad blocker.  I don't run it here at AVSIM because until now I have never seen anything to be concerned with.

...Don't reach for the properties and settings just yet. I'm not saying we *will* get infected because we are Running as Admin. But we look a more likely audience to let the bad guys in. If we are sticking to mainstream stuff, have a malware scanner and using our heads we usually are OK.

Of interest in this is targeted advertising, Google would seem to have different ones running for all users, we had one " Concern " last month where a member had a dating site listed . We have set up a set of accepted types of adds to run and these settings would appear to be overwritten . We will look further into how this works , thanks for bringing it to our attention Ed. Best CJ

9 hours ago, SteveW said:

...Don't reach for the properties and settings just yet. I'm not saying we *will* get infected because we are Running as Admin. But we look a more likely audience to let the bad guys in. If we are sticking to mainstream stuff, have a malware scanner and using our heads we usually are OK.

Steve and I have a background in IT security, and we've had several terrific chats on the subject.  He's absolutely correct!

Steve... I'm involved in too many flight sim projects and haven't had the time to do this yet, but Simbol from Flight Sim Technologies (he works computer security as well) and I will be publishing a Computer Security Guide for Flight Simmers (because as you know we have some unique situations from typical home users), and I'd like for you to join us in producing the Guide.

If interested, would you PM me your contact info?  I had it, but wasted my Outlook during a Microsoft Tech Support session (they did it) and I have reasons not to go back to my cloned drive.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

 wasted my Outlook during a Microsoft Tech Support session (they did it)

Not them!

Dave, Great to hear from you. Yes I know S. You asked me to help before and I had to decline. I am a little busy just now to get involved properly. I'm extremely grateful you are asking me again, but looks like a strong team so far.

11 hours ago, WarpD said:

I saw something show up in the site ads that is concerning.  At the top center are two small adds, one for emailloginnow.com and the other for emailaccessonline.com  I took the time to google both domains and they are both treated as virus/trojan installers.  I realize we need the advertising to help pay for the site, but I hope we don't need to support malware like this.  Here is a picture of the ads displaying... I have highlighted them with a red rectangle area:

 

Geez Warp, what does that say about you? I’m getting Dodge Ram pickup ads. :-)

Edited April 12, 20188 yr by FunknNasty

Since these ads have been added, the user experience on smartphones is worse. On a narrow screen (phone), the ads are wider than the content and not centered which causes the content to move from side to side in and out of the viewport as the user scrolls down.

6 minutes ago, turnandbank said:

Since these ads have been added, the user experience on smartphones is worse. On a narrow screen (phone), the ads are wider than the content and not centered which causes the content to move from side to side in and out of the viewport as the user scrolls down.

+1

Interesting, I'd take the two ads as something on the level of junk ads or virus ware of some sort.. ignore them before it hurts your virus chest

6 hours ago, FunknNasty said:

Geez Warp, what does that say about you? I’m getting Dodge Ram pickup ads. :-)

Targeted Google ads, I'm getting "Wollongong Art Auction", They must think I have some money hidden away or that I have taste, both assumptions would be wrong.

21 hours ago, DaveCT2003 said:

Simbol from Flight Sim Technologies (he works computer security as well) and I will be publishing a Computer Security Guide for Flight Simmers

Dave, This will be a great document for the flight sim community as I believe most of the problems posted on these forums are due to computer setup, security issues, and permissions/privileges. I thank you in advance for talking this on and look forward to it.

Ted

I avoid using Google as much as possible and don`t see as much targeted adds, some time ago some techs did a test on android smart phones and spoke to each other about some products and sure enough targeted adds started popping up on the product`s,

proof that free software sometimes comes with unwanted side effects. I read about year ago on tomshardware to be careful when downloading CC cleaner use a trusted web site as you may get more than just CC cleaner.  

i have seen a very popular motorcycle site that I have used for years go with this type of advertising, the membership were not listened to, the result? a year down the line no-one uses the site anymore