Is anyone else noticing more malicious redirects on various websites in the past few days? It happened to me a couple of times on IGN today and on MacRumors a few days ago.
I am running under the assumption that the problem isn't on my machine, as I run a pretty tight ship. Haven't installed anything lately and run a malware checks periodically for peace of mind.
I now run a tighter ship than usual as I had some re-routes via MacRumors just before Christmas. I traced that to my router which was compromised by Malware! Now replaced with a router that comes with online Malware scanning protection which I can turn on or off. I also now run a VPN to mask my geolocation as well, which is part of the router's function.
The problem with any Malware protection program is that, it protects only your computer but not your internet router or any infected internet devices like your phone, Google Mini, Amazon Echodot etc... If your router is infected, the classic symptom is that it can re-route DNS requests to another site even if you are watching an original site. The majority of routers you buy today at Best Buy are pretty much useless against the onslaught of internet attacks due to the fact that most routers don't get updated firmware (like security patches) on a monthly basis except Synology and Asus and occasionally Netgear. Even Netgear has firmware that are 3-4 years old. How could your router defend against malicious attacks and infection if the firmware is dated?
After since I gotten a new security router, I realized this site's advertisements has a tendency to re-direct to different sites and some of those sites had been reported by my security router as being malicious. In a span of only 1 month, I had a report of about 11 intrusion attempts and Malware Bytes didn't even detect them. My router did, so even if you run a tight ship, what use is Malware Bytes if it didn't detect those intrusions meant perhaps for your router, not your Mac?
I highly suggest rebooting the router and do a complete reset in order to remove the malware. I did that to my older router and it worked, but I decided to get a modern modern updated router to keep up with the security updates on the router itself.
Here's a site
http://www.routersecurity.org that explains an infection route that few people would consider possible.
And yes, I tested those sites you have issues with and I don't see any re-directs on my end.
Hope this helps.
