I just got hijacked!

Posted by calworkz on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 10:51Recycle Bin

I've been using Firefox for well over a year and love it to bits, but something distressing happened this morning when I was Stumbling.

I was reading some tech blog, and got hijacked by something called Error Scan & Fix. I had to shut FF down several times as it kept popping back up - finally I had to use Task Manager to kill the FF process!

This was like the bad old days of IE, and the first problem of its kind I've had with FF.

It was definitely a hijack rather than something that was already on my machine. 

This won't stop me using the best browser on the market, but it's made me wary of StumbleUpon and has made it clear that using FF doesn't necessarily mean I'm bulletproof online.

Has any one else been hijacked?
 


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Error Scan & Fix, from Clean PC Software, is a crapware.
Submitted by Pierre aka Terdef on Wed, 05/02/2007 - 14:05.

Hello,
Error Scan & Fix is a tool from Clean PC Software. This company is known for, at least, four crapware ("Free Spyware Adware Scanner and Remover", "The Ultimate Spyware Adware Remover", "Registry Fix It" and "Online Privacy Pro").
I will add this one to the "Crapthèque" and all products from Clean PC Software.
Use a Startup List tool to remove, at Windows Startup, the launching of the install.
Use HijackThis or, perhaps, Spybot Search & Destroy.
Sincerely

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Half a year back, there was
Submitted by Arancaytar on Wed, 04/25/2007 - 08:51.

Half a year back, there was a weakness in Invision Power Board that allowed hackers to change the skin templates and place hidden Javascript.

The ones who exploited it placed some weird download which completely fried FF. Definitely a first for me. As soon as the page loaded, CPU usage jumped to 100% and the page file rocketed from 200 MB to its limit of 1200 MB within seconds. I barely managed to kill the process with the task manager, as slow as the computer was becoming.

 But that's really been the only time I've seen a serious exploit work in Firefox.

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Hmm...
Submitted by Ken Saunders on Sun, 04/22/2007 - 02:57.

I had to look back at the month that I started using Firefox and the version that was out. Apparently I’ve been using it since 1.0. Since that time, I’ve never had a problem such as the one that you are describing. The number of crashes that I’ve had is under 20, and that was due to extensions. I currently run 7 different profiles with versions ranging from 2.0.0.3 to 3.0a4pre. I’ve simply had very few problems.

The reason why I’m saying all of this is while nothing is impossible, it’s highly improbable that Firefox was the cause of your problem.
What was the site or blog that you were on?
Maybe it was something you downloaded ?
What are you using for anti-virus software and for a Firewall?
Error Scan & Fix is quite popular and it’s on download.com so it’s probably not the problem.

In any event, I’m glad that you’ve stuck through it all and stayed with Firefox.



Ken

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Hijacking is hijacking
Submitted by calworkz on Sun, 04/22/2007 - 14:16.

FF was not the cause of the problem, the cause of the problem was a web page that exploited a vulnerability in FF. I know everybody thinks that it's impossible for things like this to happen with FF, but that simply isn't true - all browsers are vulnerable. FF is best because it gets patched so quickly - the patches are needed for a reason: vulnerabilities.

I fail to see the point in listing the numerous security programs that I use (corporate quality firewall, anti virus, anti spyware, anti malware, anti rootkit, anti everything), because it's just a fact of life that as long as we're online then we are susceptible to annoyances like hijacks regardless of what browser we use.

Nothing is infallible - all we can do is use the best products on the market. FF is best because the vulnerabilities (yes, it has them) tend to get fixed super-quick.

I also use a Mac, and it goes without saying that I've never had a problem of any kind - ever. I prefer PC's though, and FF remains my favourite method of getting around. I mean, this sort of thing used to happen every day with IE. 

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It's all the same,
Submitted by The_BitMaster on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 17:47.

all thos stupid spyware/malware web ads like "WinFixer" and "FreePCScan" and all that rubbish.

Just don't click them. If they just run anway, it can't be the browser's fault. Just a fact of life really.

No I've never been hijacked in such a manner, but I have been subject to a multiple hack attack.

Regards,
-Mike

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Hijacked in FF?
Submitted by broker77 on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 12:08.

I've never been hijacked using ff. Imho it's impossible :)

 

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Pozycjonowanie stron

Króliki 

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Nothing is impossible
Submitted by sonickydon on Sat, 04/21/2007 - 10:50.

mozilla never claimed that it is impossible to hijack Firefox. Actually there's no software that can claim something like that. The truth is that Firefox is more safe than every other browser out there and that's it. I suspect that your problem came from some kind of script on a page you visited so i strongly recomend to use the NoScript extension. It takes up Firefox's safety into an entirely new level and if you keep both Firefox and Noscript updated you wont face such problems again in the future

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Thanks for the advice
Submitted by calworkz on Sat, 04/21/2007 - 22:54.

Yes - the fact is that all s/ware, no matter how good is by definition always subject to vulnerabilities. We all know that FF is among the least vulnerable, however I'll always exercise caution online.

It was a surprise to have this incident happen, but that in itself speaks volumes for the satisfactory overall experience with FF - hijacks were just a fact of life with IE. 

Thanks for the advice regarding NoScript - I'll get it right away.

Cheers 

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Not quite impossible
Submitted by calworkz on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 19:52.

Not quite impossible unfortunately.

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Funny. I did a search just
Submitted by Ohio Transplant on Tue, 05/01/2007 - 16:34.

Funny. I did a search just now for the possibility that FF could be hijacked. Reason. I have for the past couple of days experienced the exact thing as the OP.  First experience of its type with FF.

   
 

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