about: blank attack

[cisco the kid]

I discovered to my horror today that I had about:blank in the address bar of my 4 year old Powerbook 12" g4.

The DEll PC I had before becoming an Apple fan was stricken by this malware and I was not able to correct it even with the assistance of www.webroot.com

is there a way for a relatively unskilled user such as myself to rid my lap of this program?


Thank you very much

 

[BlueRevolution]

about:blank isn't malware, it's simply the browser's way of displaying a blank page. The problem you describe is an attack wherein that blank page is modified.

You have nothing to worry about.

 

[i.shaun]

on your old pc, try a program called "spybot search & destroy"

it finds spyware and other things and can remove them for you. Webpages that keep opening are likely "hijackers" which usually run when the browser is activated, and they can direct you to porn sites, scam sites, or wherever -- as well as changing your default home page to something else that may have a lot of popups itself.


That is quite annoying as everytime you open it, that page tries to load, which loads a lot of pop ups, and it doesn't stop unless you remove the hijacking program. Changing the homepage back to google will work on that run, but on the next run you'll be back to the other site




edit:

as for the mac, just change the default homepage in preferences to something else. "About: Blank" is as mentioned above: the browser displaying a blank page


On some browsers, there is another option called "about: plugins" that displays all plugins installed.

 

[surflordca]

on your old pc, try a program called "spybot search & destroy"

Good program but here is one better but it's not free. It has a 30 day free trial and than you have to buy it but for less than $30 a year well worth the price for Windows users. It's called "CounterSpy" by Sunbelt...

 

[cisco the kid]

Good program but here is one better but it's not free. It has a 30 day free trial and than you have to buy it but for less than $30 a year well worth the price for Windows users. It's called "CounterSpy" by Sunbelt...

The about:blank is on a 4 1/2 year old powerbook g4. I no longer own a PC. I only say that about: blank took over the Dell PC I owned before becoming a Mac fan. I just bought an air but not because of this issue.


I really would like to get rid of about:blank.

I think it destroys the integrity of my security on the g4.


Thanks to all for your replies.

 

[angelwatt]

I really would like to get rid of about:blank.

I think it destroys the integrity of my security on the g4.

You can't get rid of it, all browsers have it (mostly). It's simply the syntax for a blank page, nothing more. See here for more detail on the about syntax. Also, that CWS.About:blank spyware that was referred to only effects Windows, it's harmless on Mac

 

[r.j.s]

^^^ What he said.

If you really want to get rid of it, here's how:

Open up your Applications folder.

Drag Safari, Opera, Firefox, Camino, Flock, Webkit and any other browsers to the trash.

Empty trash.

That is the only way to rid yourself of about:blank.

 

[ravenvii]

^^^ What he said.

If you really want to get rid of it, here's how:

Open up your Applications folder.

Drag Safari, Opera, Firefox, Camino, Flock, Webkit and any other browsers to the trash.

Empty trash.

That is the only way to rid yourself of about:blank.

It'd be hilarious if he didn't reply because he actually followed your advice and now cannot get on the web.

 

[cisco the kid]

It'd be hilarious if he didn't reply because he actually followed your and now cannot get .

although i'm not so smart, i'm also not quite so hasty. LOL



this is the kind of stuff i'm getting now.

http://ads.right-ads.com/?pid=11&se...=0&etap=0&pop=1&sub_id=0&src_id=0&q=&cat_id=0



it takes away my confidence in the security i've felt in the past with my mac.

 

[i.shaun]

So what happens?

you open the web browser and it brings you to that ad page?



Did you go into browser preferences and change the home page yet?

 

[theLimit]

You don't even specify which browser you're having trouble with. Just set your homepage to google or some other harmless site.