# This website has been reported as unsafe



## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

My anti virus software just came up with this warning.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Mine also, several times, what`s up with that? > Thanks Marc


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

It's not. One of the Google 'spiders', I believe it is, that is 'crawling' this site is being detected as 'unsafe' - like some cookies do, mainly because, while Google's stuff IS safe, it exhibits behavior that is similar to that of some spyware.

In other words, yes, it's safe. Chuck and others can give more information, but that's the basic deal.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

In other words it is a False Positive. Don't worry about it. LOL


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

Ignore that man behind the curtain.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

arabian knight said:


> In other words it is a False Positive. Don't worry about it. LOL


I don't know for sure that it's a false positive, but I'm as sure as I can be that it's from a banner ad from Google. That's why you see it sometimes but not others. The banner ad may indeed contain a payload of malware, but any good antivirus shield will block it.

If you see it again, take note of which banner is being displayed at the top of the page. Chuck can report the ad to Google and request that it not be displayed in the future. That's about the best we can do.


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

well, i musta not had a good antivirus sheild cause it did a number on my puter. i was logged in 4/25 'round midnight if not later (my time) and my puter got infected. i've never been infected before and cost me $130 to have the registry cleaned and AVAST installed. (i tried to fix myself but i'm just smart enough to get into real trouble so i took it in.) puter tech said it was purty nasty but i didn't loose any files (that's a blessing and a BIG smack on my head, to get smarter). i learned a valuable lesson and i'm taking all my important/personal files and putting them on an external drive. 

what happened to me was....
- told me i was infected, so i ran norton quick scan. no alerts. but it wouldn't let me leave without downloading and paying for 'their' fix-it software. if chuck needs to know what the (.com) trolling piece of crap was, he can pm me. i'm not comfortable putting it here.

KEEP safe out there in cyber-land. it's not cheap and it's time consuming to move files.

BTW...i've been 'putering for over 20 yrs and NEVER been infected. and to get a virus from this forum really peeves me off!!! (not blaming the forum, {just the idiots that find a way to do this....SCREAMING!!!})


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Well, you seem to have confirmed that it isn't a false positive anyway. Sorry to hear about your problems though. All I can say is that AVAST! seemed to detect & block it nicely for me. That's not to say that it might not let other malware through, but it took care of this one.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

Well, with all due respect, I'd almost need EXACT details on what was removed, what the tech did, etc. Chikita *IS* known as a false positive because it is an ad-related revenue thing, and not spyware/adware. Googling it will prove what I say.

I'm betting on what Nevada said - that Avast blocked Chikita, but somehow let other stuff through.


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

Nevada said:


> Well, you seem to have confirmed that it isn't a false positive anyway. Sorry to hear about your problems though. All I can say is that AVAST! seemed to detect & block it nicely for me. That's not to say that it might not let other malware through, but it took care of this one.


yep...i feel happy all come out good. from talking to the tech guy, seems likes this stuff runs amuck and i feel blessed that it wasn't bad. thinking it's probably my fault. had norton (apparently the most used and most invaded??). all i know is that i love this forum and i don't wanna ever have to NOT BE here.


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

Kung said:


> Well, with all due respect, I'd almost need EXACT details on what was removed, what the tech did, etc. Chikita *IS* known as a false positive because it is an ad-related revenue thing, and not spyware/adware. Googling it will prove what I say.
> 
> I'm betting on what Nevada said - that Avast blocked Chikita, but somehow let other stuff through.



thanks Kung, PM me if you need.. i can only share what i saw (on my screen), what i TRIED to do, what my invoice states, and what the tech told me. i'd be more than happy to help anyway i can. still thinking it was my fault, NOT the forum's. doesn't seem like anyone else has had a problem (therefore, my lack of protection = MY FAULT!!!) :kiss: for caring.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

FYI, Mooselover - wasn't trying to imply that you did anything wrong. It might simply be, as I said, that you did everything right, but for some reason Avast didn't catch something. Is it possible that Chikita had a hand in it? Possible; but normally when this stuff happens it is ALL OVER the freaking internet.  

Actually....I just read that you said you couldn't delete the program without paying for their fix-it software. Now I'm CONVINCED that it had nothing to do with Chitika. I say this because THAT particular virus (the 'Security Tool', or 'Antivirus Pro' or 'WinAntivirus Pro' trojan) struck almost my entire family recently - my father in law, wife's laptop, and 2 of my buddies here at my Army school. Not a one of them goes to ANY remotely-questionable site.

I WOULD like to know what the exact name was, if you can PM me with it; but based on what you posted, I think it just happened to strike you at the wrong time. I also have to wonder if it would have required $130 - I fixed the same problem on all of their computers by

- downloading the 'rkill' tool and running it (which stops the Security Tool program),
- deleting the program that rkill says it stopped from running (it tells you where it is), and
- using CCleaner, Malwarebytes and other readily available programs to then do a complete spyware scan on your PC.

I don't think $130 is WAY too much; but what I described only took about an hour at most and did the trick.

Next time if you can, let us know first; we can probably walk you through getting it fixed. FYI, when a bug takes over your PC like that, rebooting and starting up in Safe Mode with Networking will usually let you on long enough to ask for help.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I just got an alarm for this banner.










I didn't note the exact virus/malware that Avast caught.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

JFI Advast is terrible at false positives and missing the real stuff. I got rid of it once I researched and found out why I would get hit with stuff every once in awhile.
IMO, the free stuff isnt worth free. 

I dont have any issues with anything on HT and I have Internet security 2010.

Also fire firewalls are junk. Get a good one its your first line of defense.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

RiverPines said:


> JFI Advast is terrible at false positives and missing the real stuff. I got rid of it once I researched and found out why I would get hit with stuff every once in awhile.
> IMO, the free stuff isnt worth free.
> 
> I dont have any issues with anything on HT and I have Internet security 2010.
> ...


Well, in this case Avast! successfully blocked it for me, but Norton let it through to Mooselover and trashed his system. Go figure...


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

I'd disagree. Norton in general (Norton Antivirus) is easily better than Avast. That is one thing that I had noticed in the past; Avast gave me more false positives than other programs such as AVG.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

I will agree with that as I just scanned my whole system last night and not one thing is there and I have just Norton Antivirus.
I also am not getting any of these pop ups, pop unders whatever you want to call them.


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

just to clarify...avast was installed AFTER i took in the puter and had all that ick removed. and...i'm not sure i've really had much protection prior.


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

Kung said:


> FYI, Mooselover - wasn't trying to imply that you did anything wrong. It might simply be, as I said, that you did everything right, but for some reason Avast didn't catch something. Is it possible that Chikita had a hand in it? Possible; but normally when this stuff happens it is ALL OVER the freaking internet.
> 
> Actually....I just read that you said you couldn't delete the program without paying for their fix-it software. Now I'm CONVINCED that it had nothing to do with Chitika. I say this because THAT particular virus (the 'Security Tool', or 'Antivirus Pro' or 'WinAntivirus Pro' trojan) struck almost my entire family recently - my father in law, wife's laptop, and 2 of my buddies here at my Army school. Not a one of them goes to ANY remotely-questionable site.
> 
> ...


moosehugs/slobber/drool...i will Pm you. i'm just smart enough to be dangerous so at that point it was just better to take it in. AND...i considered safe-mode but couldn't remember how to get there. maybe you could help me with that?


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## Mooselover (May 4, 2009)

i'll be paying more attention to the banners. i had no idea and i'm learning a lot. moose-slobber to all!!


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