StopBadware.org

[NetworkGuy]

Looks like someone has found the posts regarding under-13s using FaceBook and decided to report

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1109156

to the StopBadware.org service. Although the idea is not a bad one, the service is used by Google to 'alert' (like 'scare the hell') people that a site may infect their PC, and does its utmost to stop the user from visiting.

Happened also to a client of mine (photographer with his own site) and lost him some visitors and potential work.

[NetworkGuy]

Unfortunately the developers at Firefox have included this check via Google to see if a site is reported as carrying Malware and gives an alert too.

It means I will probably reduce my use of Firefox now, because StopBadware seems easy to use to con people into not visiting sites, just by making a malicious report!

With a dynamic IP and a hundred 'throwaway' mail addresses I could report many competitors to my business and cause them quite a lot of hassle - eg report them midday on Christmas Eve and many will have no IT staff in for 10 days to even start to sort out them being blocked by Google/Firefox.

Hmmmmm, what an idea...

[NetworkGuy]

Incidentally it does seem limited to that individual page, as other threads I am on do not get the Firefox / StopBadware blocking message.

[FlightoftheCrimbleTree]

Oh is that what's happened? That sounds Ok then. Some of us thought it was malicious.

[FlightoftheCrimbleTree]

Oh so it could well have been malicious? Sorry, not reading properly.

[SilveryMoon]

i'm getting a message up telling me this site will infect my computer, but only on certain threads.
are you ssaying i'm safe?

apologies for lack of capital letters, poorly toddler on my lap

[NetworkGuy]

Just the reporting (to StopBadware) was malicious (by some 12yo swearing, female, Facebook fans, perhaps) but the page itself is built with elements (headers, adverts, links, text) just like any other page in Talk, from the same code as shows the rest of the threads, so if there was anything malicious being downloaded on that page (and I don't believe it for a second) it would affect every other page in Talk too.

[PlentyOfParsnips]

So can we probably safely click on 'ignore this message'? This is happening with multiple pages all over the site for me.

[gorionine]

NetworkGuy, It is a lot of threads that are "contaminated" Pretty much all AIBU, some in Relationships or Behaviour/developpement. Is it safe to ignore the warning? I do not dare at the moment.

[gorionine]

sorry x posted with Plenty!

[NetworkGuy]

If you have other threads, then need to give links to each conversation as they may have all been reported maliciously...

The big problem with users reporting a site is that in so many automated systems, the report marks it 'bad' before any human checks whether there is any danger.

I cannot guarantee the website is 100% free of any hack attempts, malware or virus, but I would say I feel 99.9999999999999999999% confident because of add-ons which will warn me if I am expected to download something... (and not getting any suspicious attempt to push malware onto my PCs here).

[FlightoftheCrimbleTree]

not getting any warnings at all here NG - I'm on IE, not chrome or firefox etc.

[HowToLookGoodGlaikit]

about 75% of the threads I have tried to view today have been blocked. Too many to list here.

[gorionine]

I think I might wait for more HQ advice.

[NetworkGuy]

OK, gorionine - had not known so many topic areas had problems. I checked a few of the threads where I had been posting (Christmas RadioAddicts MumsnetCampaigns and only in Other have I found another thread 'blocked')

As I said - the pages are all created from the same code being used with just a different database entry... this site_stuff page has exactly the same elements as one on Relationships, AIBU, etc, as the web link is just an entry point for the first post and all the rest of the thread get displayed below.

So there's no implicit difference between a page in Site_Stuff and AIBU, just the contents of the posts.

[EauRudolph]

Thanks for explaining, NetworkGuy, I wondered what the hell was going on!

[NetworkGuy]

Understood Flight... it comes down to malicious reports on StopBadware as far as I can see and I will switch to MSIE for the morning.

I don't believe anyone has any need to 'fear' a page in AIBU but can post and view in Site_Stuff, and as the browser is blocking it, switch browser for a while...

[PlentyOfParsnips]

I had already been on the FB thread this morning before it was blocked but after the warning showed on other pages. Does this mean somebody is making these reports right now ???

[NetworkGuy]

Out of interest, is everyone getting blocked pages using Firefox ? I had Chrome already open and that is not blocking AFAICS

[PlentyOfParsnips]

yep, firefox here.

[SilveryMoon]

I'm on chrome and am getting blocked pages

[nickytwotimes]

i am getting it on firefox, but chrome and ie working.

[BlathIceSkate]

I'm on Firefox and have been getting blocked pages. Most recent is a baby names thread called "We have names"

[monstermissy]

firefox here with lots of pages i cannot view.

[NetworkGuy]

Depends, Plenty of Parsnips - someone could manually copy links, or (perhaps more likely) give an index to threads and the server at StopBadware would go 'spidering' - ie find each link and add it to their database. With hundreds of pages of INDEX there are thousands of threads so it would (a) bump up traffic on the MN servers if it loads every thread in AIBU and (b) may take a while to log each one as a 'threat'

[BlathIceSkate]

Mine seems to be Google blocking it. I get a "Google Safe Browsing diagnostic page" if I click on the "Why was this page blocked?" button.