Norton now considers Megaupload unsafe

[Senior Idol]

Yesterday and today I got hundreds of "Unsafe Site" warnings from my Norton Security Suite when I tried to download files from Megaupload. I kept ignoring the windows and downloading anyway, but a few minutes ago Megaupload windows for one specific file started flashing all over my screen, two or three a second, on top of one another, until I had to shut down the computer. I could not even shut down Internet Explorer without shutting down the whole system. I was downloading from Winodano's Karma/Red thread in JAV Fetish Downloads. Before this problem occurred I had never had a single virus warning or trouble of any kind with Megaupload, on any video posted by Winodano or anybody else, on this forum or anywhere else.

Has anyone else had this problem within the last day or two?

Thanks for your help.

Senior Idol

 

[Ceewan]

I stopped using Norton some time ago, like many antivirus programs they are too integrated with your system and I find them a little snoopy. Norton always did have many good features but this may be a feature you wish to disable, if Norton allows that. It really is nobodys business where you surf and you don't need a program to tell where you can and can't surf or to give you warnings....it is way too much like parental control settings. What you want from an Antivirus and Firewall is to stop virus and hackers and maleware. That is my opinion on the subject anyway.

 

[elgringo14]

I don't want to force you, but I'd try another antivirus, Avast! is very convenient to me so far. And it's FREE.
This in combination with "Comodo Firewall Pro" (and Firefox+noscript) seems to be a pretty good alternative to "expensive" software.

 

[Sakunyuusha]

To be honest, what you described sounds less like Norton misbehaving on its own and more like you having a virus on the computer which is causing Norton to flip out, as many viruses do.

Megaupload is an unsafe site in the grand scheme of things, and porn is probably the single most unsafe data entity you can ever download to a computer. I'm not saying that all porn has viruses hiding inside of it! (lol) What I am saying, though, is that you're much more likely to download a virus hidden inside of a porn video than you are to download a virus hidden inside of anything else.

From the perspective of a man or woman searching for porn, the problem with sites like RapidShare and Megaupload is that they are too well-known. Four years ago, barely anybody knew of or used Rapidshare outside of the porn and hentai communities. Two years ago, people were using it for anything mainstream otaku. Today, people are using it for anything mainstream period. One to two weeks ago, even, I saw a middle-aged man who is computer incompetent going on Rapidshare to download some academic files he had uploaded to it earlier in the week. When a file-sharing service has that level of publicity, it's bad news for everybody. Big publicity means bigger incentive to upload an infected file on that server and infect a greater number of computers before the file is taken down. If a virus is attached to this forum, five to ten people might get infected before the attachment would be deleted. But how long does it take for Megaupload to take down an infected file? and in that time window, how many people do you think download it?

I know I'm preaching on somewhat of an off-topic, but I really do think that you should be less concerned with which of the top five anti-virus softwares you're running and be more concerned with your websurfacing practices. Look at it this way: if a guy buys the best condom on the market, he's still at more risk for getting an STD than the guy who buys the average condom if the first guy is having sex down at the pier with every hooker he can find whereas the second guy is having monogamous sex with his girlfriend. Where you go on the Internet and what you download from it plays a much bigger role in security compromisation than the flavor of your anti-virus software.

 

[Ceewan]

I would have thought it would be the Javascript executables or tracking cookies or perhaps third party cookies allowed at the site, (this last is most likely). But lets see if we can find out.

http://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=megaupload.com

yeah, spyware it would seem.

 

[Rollyco]

That's the toolbar, which is downloaded and installed manually. Uploading and downloading to the website in a browser poses no risk.

 

[Ceewan]

True.

But Norton seems to have a problem with a site that hosts trackware, (if nothing else it is bad form). This is common for these sites to try to make an extra Euro or two when they can, everyone is in it for the buck. So selling user info is a common side scheme for many sites but I have downloaded from megaupload before and I just clean up all traceware and cookies as soon as I am done and have never had a problem with the site myself.

 

[winodano]

Yep, me too buddy!

Yesterday and today I got hundreds of "Unsafe Site" warnings from my Norton Security Suite when I tried to download files from Megaupload. I kept ignoring the windows and downloading anyway, but a few minutes ago Megaupload windows for one specific file started flashing all over my screen, two or three a second, on top of one another, until I had to shut down the computer. I could not even shut down Internet Explorer without shutting down the whole system. I was downloading from Winodano's Karma/Red thread in JAV Fetish Downloads. Before this problem occurred I had never had a single virus warning or trouble of any kind with Megaupload, on any video posted by Winodano or anybody else, on this forum or anywhere else.

Has anyone else had this problem within the last day or two?

Thanks for your help.

Senior Idol

MOD's,

Has anybody else mentioned this yet? You click on a link & then at first you hear music & then your computer slows down. So far it doesn't seem dangerous, but it does slow down my computer to the point that I've had to manually shut down my computer even with McAfee, Google, Windows "Pop-up" blocker on & Windows Defender (which I think is pretty useless anyhow), AND it still happens.

I've sent them an email about this matter; so, I'm hoping they will respond to this complaint this time. MU isn't very good at responding to complaints.

Maybe... we all should start using Media Fire instead; it's free & the DL are the same speeds as RS or MU without a membership fee!

winodano

 

[xeffects]

My previous Windows XP installation was over 4 years old, not 1 single reformat, it was always stable and guess what. I never had an Anti-Virus on it, lol. You just have to be really carefull with what you download, what sites you visit, etc. Firefox can detect lots of bad sites and thats what usually protected me at times but mostly, I never downloaded anything in .exe format unless I could verify the publisher, then I would execute it.

4 years and my PC never had annoying pop ups or windows or strange things going on. It was simply power button, boot up, use the comp and thats it. Not saying you shouldn't have an anti-virus, its very important to have. I don't have one right now with this new Windows 7 so for now, I'm just being carefully with what I download until I can get one.

 

[Ceewan]

My previous Windows XP installation was over 4 years old, not 1 single reformat, it was always stable and guess what. I never had an Anti-Virus on it, lol. You just have to be really carefull with what you download, what sites you visit, etc. Firefox can detect lots of bad sites and thats what usually protected me at times but mostly, I never downloaded anything in .exe format unless I could verify the publisher, then I would execute it.

4 years and my PC never had annoying pop ups or windows or strange things going on. It was simply power button, boot up, use the comp and thats it. Not saying you shouldn't have an anti-virus, its very important to have. I don't have one right now with this new Windows 7 so for now, I'm just being carefully with what I download until I can get one.

Not all viruses crash your computer or give you pop-ups, Trojans are very popular. If you download via P2P I can practically guarantee you have had intrusions, (unauthorized people entering your computer, snooping around and perhaps leaving undesirable gifts). Chances are if you run an anti-virus program you will find unwanted files. Do you have a firewall, (besides Windows firewall which is useful but not powerful)? Do you have antispyware? Many of these unwanted programs can come from trusted sources and slow your computer down by taking up resources and reporting on your web surfing activities to companies and/or individuals without your expressed permission. This does not mean that your computer will not seem to operate normally, it only means that activities may be going on you are unaware of. Hackers and snoopers gain very little by announcing their activities.

I would suggest some free software but I don't know what you may be looking for except an antivirus program.

Avira AntiVir might be worth a try, it seems powerful and less intrusive than most.
http://www.free-av.com/

If you do not have it I strongly recommend Spybot, (which is free).
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/

and a simple Firewall that should be more efficient than windows is Zonealarm.
http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm

If you download via torrents or other P2P methods I strongly suggest Peerblock as well, (also free and works well with Zonealarm free edition).
http://www.peerblock.com/

free blocklists can be obtained for Peerblock at http://iblocklist.com/ but use discretion when choosing blocklists.

 

[cattz]

Did I land back in 1995? Script kiddies and people that post trojans/keyloggers are still "hackers" and "hackers" can do anything you can imagine eh..

Sure..

:sigh:

 

[gyoza ramen & a beer]

I've mentioned this in several other threads on this board, so won't repeat my previous rants but need to make clear: EVEN IF YOUR ANTI-VIRUS AND SPYWARE PROGRAMS ARE UP-TO-DATE, THAT IS NO ASSURANCE YOU ARE PROTECTED.

My evidence is that in September 2008 my computer was infected by the WindowsXPAntivirus2008 malware. Neither of my up-to-date Norton nor Webroot programs caught it.

In the course of dealing with Norton tech support, one of their reps said that the WindowsXPAntivirus2008 malware was accounting for 70% of their daily call volume.

Imagine: the largest internet security company in the world dealing with a worldwide security outbreak that was accounting for nearly three-quarters of their daily calls and against which their vaunted software OFFERED NO PROTECTION.

(Sorry about the caps but this was, for me, off-the-scale incompetence. It wasn't like the program hadn't been around for awhile at that point, either. Infections were being reported on MyBarackObama.com and the ITunes site. How much more mainstream could you get?)

 

[Ceewan]

Actually gyoza, ramen & a beer you just mentioned the best reason for running security software on your computer. The reason for the constant updates for these security programs is because they are constantly being thwarted by new security threats. Hackers and such wouldn't need to come up with these new maleware if the older maleware was effective. It is a game of tag where the security software people must always be one step behind. The whole idea of security software is to limit your vulnerabilities as much as possible. The only way to make your system impregnable from hackers, viruses and intrusions is to unplug your internet connection. Yet a computer running with security software is without a doubt safer than one than runs none at all and different software combinations can be used to give you a wider and more diverse range of protection.

 

[gyoza ramen & a beer]

you just mentioned the best reason for running security software on your computer.

Agree completely with everything you said, Ceewan.

I'm just still smarting that every conversation I had with Norton reps began with their saying, "this is why it's so important that you keep your software updated." When that is exactly what I had been doing.

Seems like maybe they were the ones that weren't keeping up their software up-to-date. And this was nearly two months after the first breakout of that particular virus/malware.

 

[Ceewan]

That would piss me off too but it sounds like big corporation runaround talk they were giving you at the time. That is what happens when companies are so big they can't seem to get anything done. A majority of Nortons advances have come from mergers and acquisitions which is one of the places they truly excel. It turns out they are excellent businessmen even if they no longer turn out the best cutting edge software. You might actually be surprised at how much of their technology they didn't come up with themselves, they just go out and buy out someone who is good at what area they want to advance in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Symantec

Myself I take a chance at diversity when it comes to security software. The downside to that is it is harder to find programs that work well together and compliment each others strengths and weaknesses. I prefer it immensely however to running a security suite software package that is tailor made to work together because these packages are less likely to compliment each others weaknesses, (a security hole in one program is likely to be found in all programs).

 

[Rollyco]

I get by just fine with just an ingress firewall. How are you folks getting infected with malware? Browsing the web with Internet Explorer? Opening suspicious e-mails in Outlook?

 

[Ceewan]

I get by just fine with just an ingress firewall. How are you folks getting infected with malware? Browsing the web with Internet Explorer? Opening suspicious e-mails in Outlook?

A simple Ingress firewall would most likely just be the Windows XP Firewall. Not much of a firewall actually but better than nothing certainly. Personally I think you would enjoy Comodo Firewall Pro better as it would be a good fit for your general computer expertise, it can be a bit tricky to learn to set up correctly but I would imagine you would have fun with it. Even the basic Comodo free firewall,(if they still offer it), you might find interesting and more of a challenge, not to mention with Comodo you have many more options than many of the default settings you are stuck with in Windows Firewall XP.

As far as not having an Antivirus, Anti-spyware or Anti-adware software installed....well you can't really tell if you have any infected or unwanted files that they would find if you don't give them a try.

As far as what malware I have picked up,(damn I was spelling that maleware before, oops), it is usually from downloading programs or files off the web. A lot of people browse the net with IE but not I so that isn't the case nor have I had a problem with emails in many a long year. Usually Trojans or Trojan generators is what I come across nowadays.

I was just trying to give what I felt to be sound advice on a subject I knew a little about. That is if you don't mind taking or hearing advice from a God fearing Christian on security at Akiba-Online. No conversion of faith is required and non-believers are welcome.

 

[gyoza ramen & a beer]

How are you folks getting infected with malware? Browsing the web with Internet Explorer?

Guilty as charged.

For some time, I accessed the 'net with java turned off and never had any problem. A few sites wouldn't display fully but so what? But over the last several years it seems the java-off option isn't workable any longer. So, Firefox is definitely in order as Rollyco has recommended.

Thanks again to all.

 

[Rollyco]

Right, well, try to wean yourself off of IE onto something safer like Opera or FireFox. Avoid all software that has ActiveX (that includes Outlook and IE clones like Maxthon.) Be proactive, not reactive.

• Never run an executable or install a browser add-on or toolbar unless you know where it came from, you've read that it's safe, and you initiated the download yourself.
• Avoid executable e-mail attachments like the plague, even from friends and family.
• Always keep your OS and all software up-to-date.
• If you don't have a router, keep a firewall running at all times.
• Be suspicious of warez DDL/torrent sites by default. Even if the owners are legit, the content uploaders might be malicious or ignorant.
• If you need to run an executable from an untrustworthy source, scan it first with an Antivirus. Preferably something with multi-engine capabilities like http://virustotal.com/
• Use Adblock Plus and Noscript (FireFox) or similar to keep your browser away from advertising sites.

 

[Ceewan]

Those are all good suggestions.

A note on routers and firewalls when using P2P downloading methods like bittorrent:

To use bittorrent you have to open a port using port forwarding or port triggering methods in your router, this effectively eliminates many of your routers firewall capabilities and leaves your computer open to attack through the now wide open port. Port triggering is safer than port forwarding but not only doesn't it work well,(if at all), with many P2P software but the security benefits are somewhat questionable.

As long as a bittorrent client is running a firewall will allow incoming and outgoing connections if you have it setup correctly to do so. This hinders the ability of a firewall to protect your computer against intrusion. Although many firewalls may offer varying degrees of additional protection if configured correctly the fact is by allowing the constant incoming and outgoing connections needed to share files with others,(and let them share files with you), any firewall will only offer a shadow of its' original protection.

This is one of the reasons I suggest an additional firewall program such as Peerblock. It can be set to deny http connections and be used as an IP filter for known intrusive and possibly malevolent IPs. This is still basically ineffective protection because an IP filter is only as good as the IP blocklists it uses and blind to those IPs not included in the blocklist. However added protection is still always a good idea.

I don't download a lot of software but some games and applications are just too tempting for one such as myself. Even from a trusted source these programs can cause problems. Not only have I learned to scan these programs before I install them but it is a good idea,(though time consuming), to run a full antivirus and antispyware sweep after installing. Often this is when I will catch little snakes in the grass that were missed on the initial scan because the malware was hidden or compressed in a fashion that fooled the antivirus originally. Additionally if you downloaded hacked software to begin with you are likely to come up with a false positive on your initial scan. However to ensure it is a false positive is tricky and I wouldn't suggest you trust that it is a false positive unless you have a lot of faith in where and who you got the program from.