Imagevenue Malware downloads

[javaguy39]

I am recieving many threat notifications from Norton Antivirus when browseing images hosted on imagevenue and want to see if others are seeing the same thing. Sometimes its a download attempt, other times its a pop-up that was not able to be blocked and had no opt out and the only remedy is to force quit my browser. I have contacted Imagevenue and they are investigating.

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by javaguy39

I am recieving many threat notifications from Norton Antivirus when browseing images hosted on imagevenue and want to see if others are seeing the same thing. Sometimes its a download attempt, other times its a pop-up that was not able to be blocked and had no opt out and the only remedy is to force quit my browser. I have contacted Imagevenue and they are investigating.

Occasionally I get warnings on Avast A/V. This now seems able to cope with the problems you are having.

If you get a popup, probably with a yes-no box that won't go away (BTW don't ever click on the box, it's probably an invite to take malware), you rightly shut down the browser. In my case, if I went back on to Firefox (my current browser), the popup would re-appear, so it's necessary to use something like CCleaner to clean all the temporary junk from your system. The Internet should be okay after that, but Imagevenue is not the only site to carry very similar nasty stuff from time to time. Most of my problems were with 1fichier.

[Buschi]

If u use firefox it is always a good choice to use Addons like noscript and adblock to avoid such things. I use imagevenue with this combination for years without problems.

[Moon Raker]

Yes I have seen similar threats, most noticeably in the last few weeks, using IE9. Neither MS Security Essentials nor Malwarebytes PRO seems to block out these at the moment, the threat manifests itself as a pop-up page falsely stating that your PC has malware and displays a US phone number to call to 'sort it out'. It also has an audio track featuring the voice of an American woman telling you the same thing. As others have stated the only way to clear this is to force close the browser via Task Manager/Applications. Certainly do NOT click on anything on the pop-up window. The good news is that doing this leaves no trace of any possible malware components which I have proved by running a full scan using MWB PRO afterwards with the 'scan for rootkits' option ticked. I have informed MWB of the problem to see if they can create a definitions update to block it.

[CARLTON BROWN]

Originally Posted by Buschi

If u use firefox it is always a good choice to use Addons like noscript and adblock to avoid such things. I use imagevenue with this combination for years without problems.

I'm sorry to say that Adblock made absolutely no difference when I was having similar problems.

Perhaps it depends on the version of Firefox in use when this malicious stuff is in circulation? I would just add that Firefox version 36 has a few problems, especially with downloading videos and at this precise moment I'm using Pale Moon, which is a generally more reliable version of Firefox, with fewer bells and whistles.

[highwayman274]

Not sure if my recent experience is of any value; my malware problem seemed to come out of nowhere last weekend, while surfing non-porn websites.

Using Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 8.1, I began to see "banners" appear in the body of normal webpages, telling me that I needed to update components like Windows Media Player. This was followed by pop-up pages that warned me of system problems, and directed me to phone a 1-800 number.

My McAfee security suite then kicked in with a black banner across the top of the screen, telling me that it was blocking content from malicious websites.

I, too, ran MalwareBytes and succeeded in clearing out a number of nasty items. However the problem persisted whenever I opened the IE browser.

I noticed that one of the pop-ups was from "bestwebnutfunblack.net" and did a Google search using the Chrome web-browser. To my surprise, I did not have any problems with malware re-direct screens when using Chrome. And my search led me to a series of links indicating that bestwebnutfunblack "may be a type of website that will engage visitors into downloading a program purporting to be a patch or upgrade for Java . Files downloaded from this site may install potentially unwanted programs that may greatly affect the operation of compromised computer."

I subsequently went back into IE and tried to disable the Java add-in, but could not do it because the "Disable" button was grayed out. However I could see that 2 new Java related scripts had been downloaded onto my computer that morning, and I was able to find their location in my computer's Program Files directory.

So . . . . I uninstalled Java, and then erased the Java directory from my hard drive, together with the program files for the 2 rogue scripts. After a reboot, I have had no further problems (now 5 days past).

I continue to use IE without the Java add-in, and have not had any problems accessing websites. This has been a bit of a surprise, as I always understood that Java was one of the "must-have" add-ins.

It is interesting to note that Java has been updated 11 times in the last year, as Oracle Corp attempts to fix "exploits" in the program. Makes you wonder if it is worth having it on your computer if it has become such a vector for the distribution of malware.

[Moon Raker]

Originally Posted by highwayman274

I continue to use IE without the Java add-in, and have not had any problems accessing websites. This has been a bit of a surprise, as I always understood that Java was one of the "must-have" add-ins. It is interesting to note that Java has been updated 11 times in the last year, as Oracle Corp attempts to fix "exploits" in the program.

Java is notorious for being open to exploitation by malware but certain parts of some sites will not run without it so total removal is not, in practical terms, an option. The same comment applies to some products from Adobe. These multi-billion dollar corporations need to start taking security seriously, perhaps they could fund that by using some of the Corporation Tax they avoid (using legal but morally dubious schemes) in US and UK?

[Leprechaun]

Originally Posted by Buschi

If u use firefox it is always a good choice to use Addons like noscript and adblock to avoid such things. I use imagevenue with this combination for years without problems.

Better use Adblock Edge. The original Adblock isn't trustworthy anymore.

http://phandroid.com/2015/02/02/goog...ock-their-ads/

[Buschi]

Originally Posted by Leprechaun

Better use Adblock Edge. The original Adblock isn't trustworthy anymore.

http://phandroid.com/2015/02/02/goog...ock-their-ads/

Correct. I am using Adblock Edge too but i wrote "Adblock" because even the use of the normal Adblock is better than using no Adblock at all.

[buttsie]

Originally Posted by Moon Raker

Java is notorious for being open to exploitation by malware but certain parts of some sites will not run without it so total removal is not, in practical terms, an option. The same comment applies to some products from Adobe. These multi-billion dollar corporations need to start taking security seriously, perhaps they could fund that by using some of the Corporation Tax they avoid (using legal but morally dubious schemes) in US and UK?

Good article here from 2013 which goes into detail that any layman
should be able to understand....covers windows / macs

How to disable it in browsers

Apple have removed Java completely leaving business customer users up in arms

Java: should you remove it?

Note that Java (JRE) by oracle has nothing to do with JavaScript , which is another language used to develop websites and apps.

Living without Java is much less of a challenge than living without Adobe Flash.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...ack-technology

Windows / mac / linux removal - all / older vulnerable versions / disable

https://www.java.com/en/download/hel...stall_java.xml
https://www.java.com/en/download/hel...stall_java.xml
https://www.java.com/en/download/hel..._uninstall.xml



I removed java 2 years and have had to re-install just once for a log in



The author above makes a smart point - if you really need it
Use different browsers

Only install Java in a single web browser, and use this browser only for Java sites. For example, if you normally browse the web with IE or Chrome, install the Java plug-in in Firefox or Opera, or vice versa. Java is being attacked, and restricting it to one browser minimises the "attack surface".