Red Malware Google Page

[kingdummkopf]

tried to login into facebook and one of those google page "this site could harm your computer" etc. appeared. i clicked the back button. could that damage my computer? does it have a virus??? :/

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by kingdummkopf

tried to login into facebook and one of those google page "this site could harm your computer" etc. appeared. i clicked the back button. could that damage my computer? does it have a virus??? :/

There are no viruses in the wild that can affect Mac OS X, and only a few trojans. If you didn't continue through to the site, you have nothing to worry about. Even if you did, it's extremely likely it would only affect Windows users.

Read the What security steps should I take? section of the Mac Virus/Malware FAQ for tips on practicing safe computing.

[xShane]

Originally Posted by kingdummkopf

tried to login into facebook and one of those google page "this site could harm your computer" etc. appeared. i clicked the back button. could that damage my computer? does it have a virus??? :/

Sounds like a phishing attempt. If you entered any credentials when trying to login I would change your password immediately.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by xShane

Sounds like a phishing attempt. If you entered any credentials when trying to login I would change your password immediately.

No, it's not a phishing attempt, as it doesn't ask for any information. It's a standard Google warning issued when Google flags a site as potentially unsafe. The sites in question may be perfectly fine, as Google mistakenly flags safe sites from time to time. As the OP did not enter the page, there is no need to change any passwords.

[Xgm541]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

No, it's not a phishing attempt, as it doesn't ask for any information. It's a standard Google warning issued when Google flags a site as potentially unsafe. The sites in question may be perfectly fine, as Google mistakenly flags safe sites from time to time. As the OP did not enter the page, there is no need to change any passwords.

OP tried to go to facebook and its not blocked for me. Probably a phishing attempt, make sure the URL still says facebook when you try to go to it.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Xgm541

OP tried to go to facebook and its not blocked for me. Probably a phishing attempt, make sure the URL still says facebook when you try to go to it.

Read my earlier posts. It's not a phishing attempt. It's simply a warning. There is nothing in the warning that asks for personal information, as a phishing attempt would. It's likely that the page was perfectly legitimate, but was mis-flagged by Google. This is a common occurrence. It has happened frequently when people are clicking on links in Google search results. While the site in question might have been a phishing site, the OP never visited it, instead clicking the back button. The only thing the OP saw was Google's warning page.

[Nermal]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

Read my earlier posts. It's not a phishing attempt. It's simply a warning. There is nothing in the warning that asks for personal information, as a phishing attempt would. It's likely that the page was perfectly legitimate, but was mis-flagged by Google. This is a common occurrence. It has happened frequently when people are clicking on links in Google search results.

It actually may be a phishing attempt. If you go to a site that looks like Facebook but isn't, then you can get the red Google warning. The warning itself obviously isn't a phishing attempt but it could be attempting to block one.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Nermal

The warning itself obviously isn't a phishing attempt but it could be attempting to block one.

That's the point I'm making, since the OP never visited the questionable site.

[Xgm541]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

That's the point I'm making, since the OP never visited the questionable site.

You are correct. Its just a matter of semantics at this point.

[Asuriyan]

I get this rather frequently on Chrome on my iPhone when the phone is in the process of connecting to WiFi from 3g/LTE. Going back and then returning to the page seems to solve the issue.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Xgm541

You are correct. Its just a matter of semantics at this point.

It's not just semantics. Different courses of action are called for based on whether the OP only saw the warning page and went back, or proceeded past that to the blocked page and entered personal information.

[Xgm541]

Originally Posted by GGJstudios

It's not just semantics. Different courses of action are called for based on whether the OP only saw the warning page and went back, or proceeded past that to the blocked page and entered personal information.

Well if you really want to continue this then here is the wikipedia definition of phishing:

Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords...

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing

As per google's article about what the warning OP got indicates:

...when you visit these sites, and can include programs that delete data on your computer, steal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers, or alter your search results.

source: http://support.google.com/websearch/...n&answer=45449

It looks like OP tried to visit facebook which was probably hijacked and redirected to a phishing site that tricks users into logging into facebook, but just steals their information. This isn't hard to do if OP already has malware or via a proxy/vpn, or altered DNS entry.

Yes it is a phishing attempt. And yes it is semantics.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by Xgm541

It looks like OP tried to visit facebook which was probably hijacked and redirected to a phishing site that tricks users into logging into facebook, but just steals their information.

I know exactly what phishing is. There are more reasons for that Google warning to appear beyond just phishing sites. You're making an assumption with no facts to back it up. All that is known is the OP encountered the Google warning, which could be blocking a phishing site, a site with other malware, or a perfectly safe site. Since the OP never went past the warning to discover what was on the site, there is no way you can accurately claim that it was a phishing site.

[kingdummkopf]

Okay, so it happened again.

It happens when I'm on my university network. Before I can go online on my Mac I need to login with my student credentials to access their wifi. I enter my details into

"https://securelogin.arubanetworks.com/cgi-bin/login"

Then after so much time it logs out and I have to login again.

So today, whilst I was on Facebook, I was browsing and the red Google page appeared telling me to be careful before I carried on with the site. It said I was trying to access Facebook and it I was being re-directed towards the link I posted above.

I came off and tried to access Google and it asked me to login to the universities network again.

So I'm guessing I'm safe and my Facebook account isn't compromised? It was just Google getting confused by the fact I needed to re-login?

Or should I change my password, just in case?

Thanks!

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by kingdummkopf

So I'm guessing I'm safe and my Facebook account isn't compromised? It was just Google getting confused by the fact I needed to re-login?

It sounds like it. You won't hurt anything by changing your password (it's not a bad idea to periodically change them), but I doubt your account has been compromised.