Viruses?

[hbelkins]

I pimped the forum in the "Freewayjim" Facebook group, and the following was posted:

Scott Gaster ^ Be VERY CAREFUL when treading on AA Roads. Certain parts of it are prone to computer viruses. That's why I avoid the whole site.

What in the world is he talking about?

[Alex]

Beats me? Rather than say "oh AARoads is a virus producer!" Why not alert me to it so I can deal with it or get some assistance on it otherwise. Getting hacked is just part of hosting a web site these days, it happens from time to time.

Usually when there is a server hack or a threat, I generally get an email from my hosting company, or from one of the members here alerting me to the issue. I did cursory review of the server and found one file that changed yesterday with the forum s/w. Will run it by James to see if may be the problem. Otherwise I have found nothing out of the ordinary thus far.

[J N Winkler]

Could he have been talking about years ago when hosting expenses were paid for partly through advertising, and some of the ads had viruses in them?  (Personally, I never worried since I use an ad-blocking HOSTS file and have AdBlock Plus.)

[rickmastfan67]

Scott Gaster ^ Be VERY CAREFUL when treading on AA Roads. Certain parts of it are prone to computer viruses. That's why I avoid the whole site.

I once remember when the main site was giving out viruses via ads, but the forum wasn't since it doesn't have ads (anymore).  That might be what he's talking about.

[Alex]

The forum has been the target of hacks the last two times. The ads should be clean, but bad code has happened with them before. Again if I have details on where it happened, I can better remedy the issue and take it up with an advertiser if need be.

[hbelkins]

Maybe it would be a good idea for one of the forum admins to join the Freewayjim group and address the issue in the post there, so you can engage Mr. Gaster in a discussion about where he's encountering virii. My only interaction with him is in that group.

[hotdogPi]

How recent was this post?

[sammi]

virii.

*viruses. Or viri.

[agentsteel53]

radius -> radii
virus -> viri
Prius -> Prii
penis -> penii
Vesuvius -> Pompeii

[hotdogPi]

radius -> radii
virus -> viri
Prius -> Prii
penis -> penii
Vesuvius -> Pompeii

3dus -> 3di

[vdeane]

Ironically, I think the forum just got hacked since this thread was made!  Every single time I try to load a page, it hangs, and ping responses come from this onlinehome.us.  The only way I can get in is to connect via Tor.

[Zeffy]

Ironically, I think the forum just got hacked since this thread was made!  Every single time I try to load a page, it hangs, and ping responses come from this onlinehome.us.  The only way I can get in is to connect via Tor.

Mine hasn't been doing that at all... both IE and Firefox are working like it should. Microsoft Security Essentials hasn't alerted me about any types of malware, spyware, viruses, etc.

[hbelkins]

How recent was this post?

If you mean Mr. Gaster's post, it was within the last 24 hours.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

radius -> radii
virus -> viri
Prius -> Prii
penis -> penii
Vesuvius -> Pompeii

octopus -> octopi octopodes

3dus -> 3di

Nice one . Also the Vesuvius -> Pompeii.

[FLRoads]

Maybe it would be a good idea for one of the forum admins to join the Freewayjim group and address the issue in the post there, so you can engage Mr. Gaster in a discussion about where he's encountering virii. My only interaction with him is in that group.

I just sent a request to join the group. Once (and if) I get approved I will address the issue to see exactly where he is going on the site to get a virus. I am more inclined to think though that he was definitely referring to a past event rather than something current. If he's going to make an arbitrary post like that, he needs to back it up or say specifically where he went on the site to get a virus.

[froggie]

Could he have been talking about years ago when hosting expenses were paid for partly through advertising, and some of the ads had viruses in them? 

I've come across this same problem in the past (a couple times within the lifespan of this forum).  Notified Alex about it the times it happened.  It's the risk they run with using ads on the main site, though the point that James made about the forum being ad-free is very valid.

[FLRoads]

It's the risk they run with using ads on the main site, though the point that James made about the forum being ad-free is very valid.

Well most websites today are generally ad-based, so the risk of viruses exist on any of those sites visited, not just here (AARoads). It's the nature of the beast.

[hotdogPi]

It's the risk they run with using ads on the main site, though the point that James made about the forum being ad-free is very valid.

Well most websites today are generally ad-based, so the risk of viruses exist on any of those sites visited, not just here (AARoads). It's the nature of the beast.

The only viruses I have seen are the ones telling you that your flash player needs to be updated (this was not at AAroads), and those are long gone.

[SignBridge]

My Internet Explorer browser was "hijacked" by a virus twice in the last couple of weeks. (Feb. 27th and March 3rd) This forum is one possible source (I had been very active here recently)  as are several other forums that I regularly participate on. I'll be checking those other forums for this type of info in the next few days looking for the possible source of the virus.

It took many hours and several sessions on the phone with my computer manufacturer's tech support to clear the infections and then get the machine up and running again as it crashed at the end of one session. Initially I thought the problem was with my ISP (Verizon) but they confirmed their service was operating normally and said it must be my computer. So I called the manufacturer when maybe I should have called Microsoft. Who knew? 

[DaBigE]

Once or twice when I was reading the forums, I got a pop-up from my antivirus stating that it had blocked a potentially harmful link. I chalked it up to something going on in one of my other open tabs. This was several weeks ago (month?). Hasn't happened since.

[Duke87]

I haven't seen anything amiss.

But then, I'm running NoScript, so any Javascript coming from a domain which I haven't whitelisted wouldn't be allowed to execute. It is possible that this nabbed whatever foul stuff there may have been.