Solved
Infected & Webroot can't find the problem
So on 12/22 my laptop got infected with some sort of adware/malware. I made sure webroot was up to date and ran a deep scan and it finds nothing. I'm running Mozilla Firefox & Windows Vista. I've deleted all of my cookies and tried restoring my computer. Sites that I have never had an issue with in years are now producing popups, ads, & redirects. I've tried running the free versions of ESET, AVG, Malwarebytes, & Ad aware with no success. Where do I go from here?
Best answer by shorTcircuiT
Hello Portsider86 and welcome to the Webroot Comminity!
What you are describing sounds more like adware/annoyware which many AV's do not pick up as it is not truly malware. We call these PUA's by the way. The first place to look will be in your broswer add-ons/extensions. Look for toolbars (not Webroot's) that you did not install or do not know what it is. There is a pretty good chance you may find something there.
What you are describing sounds more like adware/annoyware which many AV's do not pick up as it is not truly malware. We call these PUA's by the way. The first place to look will be in your broswer add-ons/extensions. Look for toolbars (not Webroot's) that you did not install or do not know what it is. There is a pretty good chance you may find something there.
Hello Portsider86 and welcome to the Webroot Comminity!
What you are describing sounds more like adware/annoyware which many AV's do not pick up as it is not truly malware. We call these PUA's by the way. The first place to look will be in your broswer add-ons/extensions. Look for toolbars (not Webroot's) that you did not install or do not know what it is. There is a pretty good chance you may find something there.
What you are describing sounds more like adware/annoyware which many AV's do not pick up as it is not truly malware. We call these PUA's by the way. The first place to look will be in your broswer add-ons/extensions. Look for toolbars (not Webroot's) that you did not install or do not know what it is. There is a pretty good chance you may find something there.
I looked in my addons and the only thing that had been updated on the day the problems started was an adobe thing. I deleted that and all of the ads and redirects stopped. Everything seems to be back to normal now. Thanks gents.
Yeah... Regarding that Adobe thing: Adobe software itself is not generally known for pop ups, BUT it HAS become known for adding additional 'free trial' software on the downloads/installs of Adobe software. In other words, those PUA's referred to above often piggy back with an Adobe software download these days and you should be carefull to remove the checks and opt out of any and all of them. :)@ wrote:
I looked in my addons and the only thing that had been updated on the day the problems started was an adobe thing. I deleted that and all of the ads and redirects stopped. Everything seems to be back to normal now. Thanks gents.
Glad things are back to normal!
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