Drive-by downloads

sactogal916:

I would not assume the site is safe: even trusted websites can be hacked. Are other employees/parents reporting any problems or warnings on their PC after visiting the website?

It is also possible that your Norton is in error, or its security settings are set too high. If you want to send me a private message with the website's address  just click on the Contact link at the bottom of my post, then on Start a conversation with joe53, I could check it out for you, and see what my security reports.

Don't post the web address link publicly here.

I did send the links under "start a conversation" did you get it or should I send it in the email part?

I justed wanted to clarify what I was doing. If starting a conversation means 'chatting" then I will have to do it later. I am on my way to work. If I typed something on the message screen under 'start a conversation' I was wondering if my message would be there whenever he logged on or not.

sactogal,

please give Joe a chance to respond.   be advised that he... and virtually everyone else here... are "merely" computer users like yourself... that do their best to help out people in our free time.   we do not work for dell --- meaning we're not "on the clock".   Joe's a great guy, and I'm sure will get back to you at his earliest convenience.

if you typed-in a message to Joe in the "start a conversation" window.... and then pressed the "start a conversation" button, it should have been sent to Joe, and will be there whenever he "arrives".

you should be able to confirm you sent it:   on this page, right hand side, toward the top, you should see a list of your private conversations.   (if the arrow there is pointing toward the right, click on it to expand the list)

Sorry for the delay. I worked last night, and have been catching up on other communications. Private messages are not as quick as chat forums, but I did get your message.

Anyway, I visited your links, and found no flags or warnings about either. I'm sure my defenses are highly unlikely to miss any malicious drive-by downloads.

Which leads me to think your security settings are set too high. I don't use Norton, and can't advise you how to lower them. If you provide the exact Norton program/suite version you are using, perhaps someone can help.

I think you are safe to ignore these warning in the meantime.

Most driveby downloads these days come via 3rd party programs such as Adobe Reader and Flashplayer. Make sure you have the latest versions. A quick scan by Secunia's Online Scanner will alert you if you have older vulnerable versions: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/online/

Good luck!

You  do need them.

Older versions of Adobe Reader and Flashplayer (and some others) contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious websites to download malware to your PC.

You should always keep up-to-date by using the latest versions, and making sure older versions are uninstalled.

That Secunia Online Scanner will alert you to the presence of older vulnerable versions on your PC, and provide links to the vendors websites where you can download the latest, safest versions, for installation offline from your desktop.

Edit: I should clarify that Adobe Reader, Flashplayer, and other 3rd party (ie non-Microsoft) programs are never strictly speaking necessary to have, but they are useful and common programs that enable internet content, and thus are often targeted by malware. If you have them, you should keep them updated.

Thank you and thanks to ky331. I will work on this tomorrow.  Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Hi sactogal916,

Here are some links for future use you may find handy. Simply enter the URL in the required box to scan the webpage in real-time for any exploits.

LinkScanner® Online

Finjan URL Analysis

Dr.Web

OnlineLinkScan

Unmask Parasites

vURL Online

AVG Online Web Page Scanner

:emotion-1:

Ok I did need to install updates. I had a choice of run or save folder. I chose to run. Did I do that right?  I am hoping that I did end up downloading Adobe, Adobe Flash ( Active X ) and Macromedia. I do not have any icons, I am thinking because I didn't save the folder but it still should have downloaded right?

I went back on the site I am trying to get on and I still have the threats. I did not unintall my  older versions.  Should I send to you in your email a copy of the 3 threats I am getting?

I just happen to be online, here's what I am getting:

 Threat Report:

   Total threats found: 3  Hello

Drive-By Downloads (what's this?) Threats found: 3 Here is a complete list: Threat Name: MSIE ADODB.Stream Object File Installation Weakness Location: http://schools.scusd.edu/lutherburbank/synhorst/writingresources.htm Threat Name: MSIE ADODB.Stream Object File Installation Weakness Location: http://schools.scusd.edu/lutherburbank/Synhorst/WL1&2.htm Threat Name: Direct link to MSIE ADODB.Stream Object File Installation Weakness Location: http://schools.scusd.edu/lutherburbank/Synhorst/IB.html

sactogal916:

I may have mislead you that updating to the latest Adobe, Flashplayer, or other 3rd party programs would solve your problems accessing your specified website. That is a separate issue, possibly related to your Norton Security settings being set too high.

But do feel free to post the exact text of any threats messages you are getting, here on the forum. It would help.

Norton is correct.

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=schools.scusd.edu

Scanning that site with the links below also confirms an active exploit.

http://online.us.drweb.com/?url=1

http://www.finjan.com/Content.aspx?id=574

http://www.unmaskparasites.com/

Thanks Red Dawn. Please tell me what to do now? What is my next step? I could always go to the public library to use the computer but I am just so curiuos why that bug is on my computer. I receive a lot of downloads from my job...