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I tried to log on to xda this morning using chrome and received a Malware warning.
"www.xda-developers.com contains malware. Your computer might catch a virus if you visit this site."
Its not recived on the home page or the forums but only any page located above http://www.xda-developers.com/android/
my browser has no problem with
http://www.xda-developers.com/windows-mobile
Whats going on?
there was an attack on the site I think, at least I got redirected to a malware site once when I clicked page2 on the android news section, but afaik it's all gone now
check this link, should explain all: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=854561
me 2
Firefox 4.0 beta 7 also gives me a warning.
The main site, http://www.xda-developers.com/ is ok to view, but http://www.xda-developers.com/android/the-weekly-qa-week-16/ gets blocked right away.
WTF?
The site admins are aware, and steps are being taken to get the warnings removed, now the infection is gone.
Lately all my friends around me have been trending using virus scanners on their phones like that lookout app. I never had to use one and I'm more technical when it comes to my phone then they are. They aren't even rooted they don't have half the amount of apps that I do or use the phone as much as me. This thing is my life.
My question is for those who are more technical then me, should we use these antivirus'? Are we in danger when downloading apps from the market directly? I scan my apk's on my pc when downloading from the net or websites so I think I'm straight. But you never know. I just want a firm answer if these things work or just kill your battery and mickery.
HTC Vision S-OFF CM6.1 Stable Oc'd to 1.5ghz on Pershoots Kernel
I installed AVG Free from the Market.
is it necessary, not sure.. but it offers more benefits than just virus scans, and I trust AVG.
A virus scanner is a huge waste of battery. There are no viruses for your phone. As far as AVG goes..... I wouldn't wish that program on my worst enemy...
in my 20+ years a using a cell phone I have never come across a virus, I have used just about every format of phones, lately there have been some reports of a virus for Android, search and read where that was found and how you can get it, basically don't download crap from some suspect website, download apps from trusted places like the market and you will be fine, in my opinion right now virus scanners are nothing but a was of space on the phone memory that use up battery slow down the phone and do nothing as there no viruses.
my $0.02 cents
I got lookout on mine. It has an anti virus built in. I mostly use the app to find my phone after I misplace it some where in my apartment.
I agree there is no need for a antivirus. If you follow any of the major
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Android is a Linux derivative. Linux needs antivirus like a fish needs a bicycle.
Sent from a Western Union telegram.
Trojans have come out of china being injected into "unknown sources" android games (not from the market but 3rd party sources). They collect info from ur phone. Not sure if anti vrius apps pick them up now..but if u only install stuff from the market and not warez from like rapidshare or other places u should be fine
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
it is so "Windowsy" to install task killers and disease killers. I wouldnt knock the windows user --- they are a strong proud people!
Regardless where you get your apps from since it does detect malicious code in apps its worthwhile if you get apps from random locations...it (lookout) doesn't seem to slow anything down on my G2
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Sure it's "windowsy" if your pc is super slow/out dated. But the thing is I do get apps from other sources/markets not just the android marketplace. Even downloading apk's people post on these forums can sometimes be dangerous to our phones that's why I download everything to my pc, it always scans my downloads and doesn't let me pick up a virus.
HTC Vision S-OFF CM6.1 Stable Oc'd to 1.5ghz on Pershoots Kernel
I was being very sarcastic in that last post -- its necessary in windows (i love windows) but I notice the windows mentality - people assume it needs what windows needs - its almost a built-in trait. but I like that saying -- linux needs antivirus like fish need a bicycle -- ha ha!
elracing21 said:
Sure it's "windowsy" if your pc is super slow/out dated. But the thing is I do get apps from other sources/markets not just the android marketplace. Even downloading apk's people post on these forums can sometimes be dangerous to our phones that's why I download everything to my pc, it always scans my downloads and doesn't let me pick up a virus.
HTC Vision S-OFF CM6.1 Stable Oc'd to 1.5ghz on Pershoots Kernel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dumb question: If your PC is Windows and the phone is Linux... why would your Windows antivrus alert you to Linux viruses? I don't think .exe's work on Android.
Because an APK is just a renamed Zip file
OK I understand the APK is a renamed ZIP file, but if someone developed a virus for Android being Linux based would a Windows virus scanner recognize it ? Can windows virus scanners recognize Android virus code ? I don't think so but I am not a programmer or coder, so scanning APK's in a windows machine is useless as it will not recognize the virus code, but any ways again I have never heard or seen a virus for any cell phone make, to me right now it is useless to have one taking up processor power battery power etc
Isn't the real threat malicious apps anyways?
I say better safe than sorry, most people have more personal stuff in there phones then computers, easier access to facebook, gmail, twitter logins, contacts, pics, as technology grows on phones, so do does the threat. Phones are getting more like mini personal computers, most of people's lifes revolve around they phone, so every time I think I dont need it, I read about lookout finding possible viruses, so install it back on my phone, plus when I heard the Droid commercial mention it, it kinda convinced me I needed it
Sent from my super G'd up G2!
Bangin' dat Android Gang!
IPK all day!!! Throw dem A's up!
I downloaded lookout and the virus scanner was at the bottom of my list for reasons to dl. I just have it for when I lose it or it gets stolen.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
So, are you feeling lucky?
IMHO, an android phone is an at-risk platform. Probably moreso than your computer. Consider how much personal information you have on your phone. Then think of the havoc that a trojan could wreak on your personal life and family. If you don't think it could happen, consider what a malicious person could do with all your the phone numbers and email contacts. Perhaps not gain any money, but certainly the possibility to steal your on-line identity is there. Just think how your parents would like to get a "posthumous" goodby email...
There are people who get a kick from messing up another person's life, just for fun.
Isn't the real threat malicious apps anyways?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I was saying in my previous post...they just detect apps that might do things outside of set regulations. (Spam email steal contacts etc.)
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
I've been trawling through XDA now for some 5 years without any kind of problem.
In the past 5 days my computer has been hit twice with XP SECURITY 2011 Spyware for which I had to wipe my drive and re-install a backup(thank you Acronis )
I' ve also been hit FIVE times with "defender.exe" some kind of Trojan,which my anti-virus TREND dealt with.
Now,I did not click on anything like an advert ,they just appeared and took over ...
Just thought I would report this in case anything can be done about it and to warn others .
malybru said:
I've been trawling through XDA now for some 5 years without any kind of problem.
In the past 5 days my computer has been hit twice with XP SECURITY 2011 Spyware for which I had to wipe my drive and re-install a backup(thank you Acronis )
I' ve also been hit FIVE times with "defender.exe" some kind of Trojan,which my anti-virus TREND dealt with.
Now,I did not click on anything like an advert ,they just appeared and took over ...
Just thought I would report this in case anything can be done about it and to warn others .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This doesn't sound like an XDA issue, unless you are downloading files directly from the site (which you didn't mention.)
If your on firefox you can download an addon to block ads and also when I got the rogue anti virus thing I went into safe mode and malwarebytes ate it so you don't have to resort to that option to get that virus off.
waffle_ said:
This doesn't sound like an XDA issue, unless you are downloading files directly from the site (which you didn't mention.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not downloading anything.
I'm not clicking on anything.
I'm just reading through the pages.
i.e. it just happens...
Firefox with addons is the way to go!
Running IE 8 on XP with SP 3
malybru said:
Running IE 8 on XP with SP 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you 100% certain that you are fully patched, and not getting this from any other site?
I browse XDA on windows and linux. No attacks here. If any exe was attempting to load, linux would prompt a file download window...
Can you locate the file perhaps in connection or firewall logs?
Also, IE 8 isn't renowned for its high security. Might I suggest Chrome, as its sandboxing is pretty impressive.
If it (The problem) was on XDA, I am sure more people would have seen it, and it would be sorted by now...
pulser_g2 said:
Are you 100% certain that you are fully patched, and not getting this from any other site?
I browse XDA on windows and linux. No attacks here. If any exe was attempting to load, linux would prompt a file download window...
Can you locate the file perhaps in connection or firewall logs?
Also, IE 8 isn't renowned for its high security. Might I suggest Chrome, as its sandboxing is pretty impressive.
If it (The problem) was on XDA, I am sure more people would have seen it, and it would be sorted by now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
when the attacks occured,I was only browsing these pages.
My anti-virus caught five files which it called "TROJ_FAKEAV.SM10"
As for the spyware,I have no record because I had to wipe my system.It called itself "XP SECURITY 2011".That's the only information I could get ,because it locked me out of my system.
I was not trying to cause trouble by bringing this to people's attention.It was more of a warning,and to see if other people had suffered anything similar.
As for my own security,I bought Webroot Spy Sweeper,and I might just try Google Chrome(thanks for the tip )
malybru said:
Hi,
when the attacks occured,I was only browsing these pages.
My anti-virus caught five files which it called "TROJ_FAKEAV.SM10"
As for the spyware,I have no record because I had to wipe my system.It called itself "XP SECURITY 2011".That's the only information I could get ,because it locked me out of my system.
I was not trying to cause trouble by bringing this to people's attention.It was more of a warning,and to see if other people had suffered anything similar.
As for my own security,I bought Webroot Spy Sweeper,and I might just try Google Chrome(thanks for the tip )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has nothing to do with the XDA site. Switch to Google Chrome (amazing security and fast browsing), or Firefox. Google Chrome has EXTENSIONS that you can install for these certain things.
This can't be an XDA problem. Most likely, it is a IE8 problem and all the **** that comes with it. Switch browsers and then uninstall IE8.
WARNING: * Google Chrome is heavily dependent on IE settings. *
XP Security 2011 is just coming back on its on!!!
Like everyone else says, it's not XDA giving you this issue. The problem is, and will continue to be, you are running an already infected system. Wiping the system clean should get rid of it, but once you restore a backup from Acronis, you are more than likely restoring the infection! The best way to get rid of XP Security 2011 is to run Malwarebytes Antimalware in safe mode. Also run CCleaner while still in safe mode to remove all temporary internet files and TEMP files (which is where a lot of these types of spyware normally hang out). Then once its gone go back to normal mode and download a copy of SUPERAntiSpyware and allow it to give you real-time protection. The problem with XP Security 2011 (and it's previous annual variants) is that it is very resilient (upon reboots, it reinstalls itself if the entire infection is not removed). If all else fails, pay a pro to get rid of the actual infection, install some better protection than Webroot (which thoroughly sucks) and you should be good.
How about google chrome? would it do the job too??
imso said:
How about google chrome? would it do the job too??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should, but having a good (real-time) anti-spyware solution (like MS Security Essentials, AVG, SUPERAntispyware, SpyBot S&D or Malwarebytes) is the best way to HELP prevent spyware infections like that. Also keep a good Antivirus software up to date too (like Norton 360, AVG, Avast, Nod32, Kaspersky or MS Security Essentials). But nowadays over 90% of infections are spyware not viruses!
imso said:
How about google chrome? would it do the job too??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind Google Chrome still heavily relies on IE settings and config.
willflint said:
It should, but having a good (real-time) anti-spyware solution (like MS Security Essentials, AVG, SUPERAntispyware, SpyBot S&D or Malwarebytes) is the best way to HELP prevent spyware infections like that. Also keep a good Antivirus software up to date too (like Norton 360, AVG, Avast, Nod32, Kaspersky or MS Security Essentials). But nowadays over 90% of infections are spyware not viruses!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thanks for the advice.
Can I please ask what is your experience of the programs you mention,and on what basis you are making these suggestions.
I did some research on anti-spyware and webroot came highly recommended.What makes you say that it sucks?
Also I have installed Chrome and Firefox and am alternating between the two. Having said that Webroot has just quarantined a file called "keyloggr for chrome"
Having no luck recently...
malybru said:
Hi,
Thanks for the advice.
Can I please ask what is your experience of the programs you mention,and on what basis you are making these suggestions.
I did some research on anti-spyware and webroot came highly recommended.What makes you say that it sucks?
Also I have installed Chrome and Firefox and am alternating between the two. Having said that Webroot has just quarantined a file called "keyloggr for chrome"
Having no luck recently...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be sure not to install any extensions that aren't highly popular and have a bad review. Also, Webroot isn't exactly accurate and real time, I wouldn't use it.
Hi - My internet browser is Firefox, and I have been using NoScript for years.
There is only one website that causes me constant problems when browsing: XDA Developers.
I use NoScript constantly with a lot of stuff disabled by default: Everything Facebook is always disabled, along with doubleclick and a bunch of other tracking websites.
With NoScript on, the XDA screen is constantly jumping around, with various websites constantly trying to refresh about twice a second. It is so jumpy with embedded websites continuously refreshing, that I can't even control NoScript well enough to enable whatever disabled website(s) are causing the problem.
I wouldn't be frustrated if this happened to me all the time, but XDA is the only website I see this problem on. I would expect a high-tech developer website like XDA to have less problems instead of more problems.
Sigh. I wish somebody at XDA could fix this.
¿GJ?
NoScript has a whitelist feature. If you don't want to use it, you can't expect it to be "fixed" (actually, modified to fit your needs would be a better choice of words) anytime soon, as the forums (and many other forums, in general) rely rather heavily on scripts.
I personally have XDA added to my whitelist.
As for the refreshes, did you make sure it's not another add-on that's conflicting? Start FF in safe mode and check if the issue persists.
Don't know if this helps, but I just tested XDA with NoScript without any issues.
That being said, a lot of features rely on JavaScript, so no guarantee what would happen if you only turned on some of them.
Huh.. I use NS on FF, and have seen no issues. To be sure it is NS, have you told it to temporarily allow all, and see if that fixes it? It could certainly be another issue..
What he could be speaking of is the portal constant refreshing (not on the forum), which also occurs on my differents computers with NS (with xda on whitelist).
For me, everytime I scroll on the portal main page, it refresh itself.
It's weird - Something changed between yesterday and today. Yesterday, this page wouldn't sit still until I was able to do enough "Temporarily allow all this page" button presses (about 5 or 6) to get the page finally stabilized.
Now, everything was stable when I entered XDA with the same "allow" list I had yesterday.
I'm not a big fan of "White List"ing sites, since so many sites have Facebook embedded in them (amongst many other tracking sites I don't like). Ever since Facebook violated my privacy and sucked up my personal contact information without my explicit approval, I ... ...
... well, let's just say I won't "Like" Facebook.
I appreciate the feedback from y'all, and I wish I knew what changed.
Thanks!
¿GJ?
bitpushr said:
Don't know if this helps, but I just tested XDA with NoScript without any issues.
That being said, a lot of features rely on JavaScript, so no guarantee what would happen if you only turned on some of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Divine_Madcat said:
Huh.. I use NS on FF, and have seen no issues. To be sure it is NS, have you told it to temporarily allow all, and see if that fixes it? It could certainly be another issue..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some forum features won't work: dropdown menus (e.g. "Go to Page" next to the page numbers, "Quick Links", "Rate thread") search boxes not being cleared automatically when you click them, username/device completion in search boxes or using the new mention feature, share buttons (they won't show how many times X got shared), etc. The WIYIWYG editor obviously doesn't work as well.
The portal's layout is a bit messed up, too.
It's all fixed by adding xda-developers.com to the whitelist. I think you both already have it added (I removed it for testing), which is what you're supposed to do for websites you trust anyway.
---------- Post added at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 AM ----------
¿GotJazz? said:
It's weird - Something changed between yesterday and today. Yesterday, this page wouldn't sit still until I was able to do enough "Temporarily allow all this page" button presses (about 5 or 6) to get the page finally stabilized.
Now, everything was stable when I entered XDA with the same "allow" list I had yesterday.
I'm not a big fan of "White List"ing sites, since so many sites have Facebook embedded in them (amongst many other tracking sites I don't like). Ever since Facebook violated my privacy and sucked up my personal contact information without my explicit approval, I ... ...
... well, let's just say I won't "Like" Facebook.
I appreciate the feedback from y'all, and I wish I knew what changed.
Thanks!
¿GJ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest using something that will block them on all websites, then. You can probably do it using NoScript's advanced filtering options, but I personally already use AdBlock Plus, and there's a neat list you can subscribe to that will block all those buttons. Get the "Annoyance Block List" from here.
¿GotJazz? said:
It's weird - Something changed between yesterday and today. Yesterday, this page wouldn't sit still until I was able to do enough "Temporarily allow all this page" button presses (about 5 or 6) to get the page finally stabilized.
Now, everything was stable when I entered XDA with the same "allow" list I had yesterday.
I'm not a big fan of "White List"ing sites, since so many sites have Facebook embedded in them (amongst many other tracking sites I don't like). Ever since Facebook violated my privacy and sucked up my personal contact information without my explicit approval, I ... ...
... well, let's just say I won't "Like" Facebook.
I appreciate the feedback from y'all, and I wish I knew what changed.
Thanks!
¿GJ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the opposite problem it seems, in that if I white-list the site then quite often one of the scripts goes haywire
and refreshes the page repeatedly for several refreshes or until the server complains with an error message about being overloaded.
It has been suggested to me that this may be a 2013 theme problem, so I'm trying the 2010 one for a few days to see if that fixes it.
Nameless One said:
I have the opposite problem it seems, in that if I white-list the site then quite often one of the scripts goes haywire
and refreshes the page repeatedly for several refreshes or until the server complains with an error message about being overloaded.
It has been suggested to me that this may be a 2013 theme problem, so I'm trying the 2010 one for a few days to see if that fixes it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Nameless One: Yes, I've been seeing the "Server Overloaded" error message as well. I wasn't sure if it was NoScript related, though I was beginning to suspect it. I would open the same XDA pages in IE or Chrome without any problem, but see the "Overloaded" error only with Firefox. Usually (but, not always), temporarily enabling all sites fixed that problem for me.
¿GJ?
I have the same constant refresh problem.
The site only works if I set noscript to allow everything globally or if I use IE (ouch).
It feels to me this site is overburdened with ad/tracking scripts and blocking them forces the site to break (admins anti block?).
I will try the 2010 theme idea and report back, also I do have the main domain whitelisted.
--edit--
2010 theme fixes it, so I guess a 2013 theme issue.
Yep - Dumped the 2013 Theme and went back to 2010 Theme.
Everything's groovy now.
¿GJ?
¿GotJazz? said:
Yep - Dumped the 2013 Theme and went back to 2010 Theme.
Everything's groovy now.
¿GJ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2013 relies heavily on javascript so I imagine that is why you are having some issues. 2010 uses it much less but you may still see some issues relating to Javascript being blocked, such as menus not working and that sort of thing.
I am finding that ads are stealing the focus from the textarea, like the one I am typing into now, so that every few seconds what I type goes into oblivion and I need to click back into the textarea.
Having said that, I've not noticed it on this one, so perhaps it is specific to one forum, or ads that are placed on that forum. The post this most recently happened on is:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-30-pro/accessories/screen-protectors-t4013837#post81412545
It would be excellent if this behaviour could be prevented.
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