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yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2002
1,316
847
Western Spiral
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.
 

junkw

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2010
545
458
Haifa, Israel
what is the symptom?
the main page you load redirects or it's a standalone separate window that pops and redirects or other thing?
 

LizKat

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2004
6,769
36,279
Catskill Mountains
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 haven't experienced that but I remember awhile back here posting some link to The Economist, just a news story, in the PRSI subforum, and another member chided me for posting "a link that redirects" to some unspecified but apparently unsavory site. I run a fairly buttoned down ship so figured maybe the other member's issue was from some script I wasn't letting run, either here or at the news magazine. I suggested contacting the webmaster. LOL is there actually someone wearing that hat any more on websites? I haven't reached out to one for at least ten years.
 

yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2002
1,316
847
Western Spiral
what is the symptom?
the main page you load redirects or it's a standalone separate window that pops and redirects or other thing?

Actually just happened to me again on IGN. Was watching a video and after about 3 minutes it just jumped to some Flash-scam site (not a new window). Have lots of other windows open and it's not happening elsewhere today.

Edit: And again at about 27 minutes in.
 
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AppleSmack

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
336
116
Actually just happened to me again on IGN. Was watching a video and after about 3 minutes it just jumped to some Flash-scam site (not a new window). Have lots of other windows open and it's not happening elsewhere today.

Edit: And again at about 27 minutes in.
Have you tried using an adblocker?
 
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Erehy Dobon

Suspended
Feb 16, 2018
2,161
2,017
No service
I use ad blocking software primarily for security reasons not to block ads. I've been doing this for a looooong time.

This position is unassailable.

Until the Internet figures out a way to get rid of malware, I will be using ad blocking software for the foreseeable future.

Safety first.
 
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iluvmacs99

macrumors 6502a
Apr 9, 2019
920
672
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.
 
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yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2002
1,316
847
Western Spiral
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!

I do reset my router to factory settings once in a blue moon, but it's been a while, so I will get on that. Great suggestion!

Hadn't thought about the possibility of it being the ads that were infected, as opposed to the page itself. My VPN offers ad blocking and I will that on and see how it affects things.

Appreciate everybody's feedback!
 

Ruggy

macrumors 65816
Jan 11, 2017
1,005
659
Start by clearing out browsing memory and particularly cookies.
If you haven't done that for a while that might be enough.
It might be worth checking your DNS setting: sometimes they can be hijacked and you don't notice.
 
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yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 13, 2002
1,316
847
Western Spiral
I turned on ad blocking via my VPN and the redirects went away immediately. I hadn't thought of ad blocking as a security measure (thanks Erehy Dobon!) but it seems to be working.

It's also relieving to think that my router is likely not the culprit, although I will definitely wipe it soon for good form. Thanks everyone for you feedback!
 

alexanderwudlig

macrumors newbie
Dec 26, 2019
1
0
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.

Most likely is you might be having a website hijacker. This kind of malware usually redirects the website and sometimes in changes your search engine. In most cases, you will be getting this from fishy websites or might have accidentally clicked on it.

Most common methods to prevent this is to make sure that your Mac is up to date and as well as your browser, check the settings manually if there are any extensions added without you knowing.

You could also try using Antivirus One by trend micro, it has a feature called ad cleaner where it scans your computer for any known ads automatically.
 
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