Fake Virus Alerts, Browser Hijacking (Firefox and IE11) Using Windows 7

Wow! Thanks for this, Carol. I wonder if this was it. I wasn't in on the initial problem/resolution with that computer, but was told about it some weeks later when we started running into all the pop ups and redirects.

Thanks for keeping me in the loop!

Chris

Chris, I had to show you this. It was put up the 2nd.

Chinese Company Behind Adware That Infected Over 250 Million Computers

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chinese-company-behind-adware-that-infected-over-250-million-computers/

Below are the headings in the write-up. IF it installed a backdoor on that PC, it's good thing you did a clean install. I suggest changing all passwords, just to be sure. 

Fireball adware family is on a rampage****

Fireball adware has backdoor trojan-level capabilities

Fireball's fake search engines rank in Alexa Top 10K

Rob, I completely forgot to go back and read that article you linked to. I apologize for that. I was so sure IE was still tightly integrated into Windows until Win10. Yes, I understand why IE was separated. I know all to well about ActiveX issues from Win 9x days. That's mainly what made IE so insecure, it supported ActiveX. Rob, I didn't misunderstand why IE was included in Win10. I just found it interesting it was under accessories, a non-issue. 

Of course, security and privacy are two different things. Privacy has nothing to do with the security of an OS. It does have to do with MY security. IK I got off topic. I guess I wanted people to be aware of it. Thanks for that link to Ed Bott's article.  If Ed says it isn't so, re Keylogger on 10, I believe it! I don't know that it's so much gullibility, as users believing the worst about MS. It sounds as though the initial reason for those privacy settings was mainly for the Insider program.

FWIW, you seem to think I don't understand a number of things. I do, but I understand on a different level than you do. I may not be able to explain things in highly technical terms, which is understandable since I'm not a highly trained professional. However, I spent nearly ten yrs. as one of the top regular contributors on Annoyances.org forums, before they took them down several yrs. ago. My main focus was on security issues, including malware removal. I helped countless users clean malware off their systems, step by step. That's been several yrs. ago, since Vista days.

Carol

"What I was talking about is the direct integration of Internet Explorer into the operating system itself as a portion of the Windows Shell and other critical system components.  This is how earlier versions including Windows XP with IE6 were designed, which led to technical issues.."

Rob, actually I was referring to integration into Windows. It's never occurred to me that "being part of Windows" could mean included, or bundled, with it. Interesting point! Not to drag this out, but I'm pretty sure it was still integrated until 10. I recall reading tidbits about this exciting new OS Microsoft was developing and reading the great news.. at last they were de-integrating ? it from Windows. I have 7 on my desktop and 10 on my notebook. I'm sure you've probably noticed, on Win10 start menu IE is now listed under Windows Accessories?

I realize XP is history. I was using it as an example that the original installation hasn't always been the most secure. Thing is, the average user isn't going to bother to configure it to make it more secure. Win 7 and 10 are a great improvement, for sure.

I do consider privacy as a type of security. I believe MS sold out our privacy to the Federal government. What reason would they have for snooping in our emails, personal folders, basically everything? DYK they also included a keylogger in 10? Hmmm..... Google doesn't do all that. Apple refused to create a backdoor for the feds, if I recall, or whatever it was. I realize it's a trade-off, but they could have found a way to make it opt-in rather than opt-out. When user goes to use Cortana's features, they could have put up a message... in order to use this feature, you must first.. such and such, by going into Privacy settings and turning on these features. Yes, that could be complicated for some average user but so are a lot of things they should be aware of.

Carol,

Read the article I provided in the post where I made the comment you quoted, that covers the reasons why Internet Explorer's core components were separated from those used by Windows when that browser was released in some detail.  Internet Explorer hasn't been integrated with Windows since IE7 was released and so it's simply been bundled with the operating system since then.

What you misunderstood about the change with Windows 10 is that Internet Explorer has only been included there for legacy application support, primarily in business where it may be depended upon for support of ActiveX or other similar components which the Edge browser no longer supports.  This makes Edge much more secure by removing the potential risk that items like ActiveX can present by launching Internet delivered applications through the browser, which is why Microsoft has stated that they only included IE11 with Win10 for backward compatibility, primarily for legacy support of business applications as the following URL excerpt covers.

Lifecycle FAQ—Internet Explorer

What is the Lifecycle Policy for Internet Explorer?

*Windows 10 features Microsoft Edge, a faster, more productive way to browse the web. Microsoft recommends using Microsoft Edge as your default browser, and supports Internet Explorer 11 for backward compatibility.

The issues of privacy and security are separate concepts, which is why these are typically so confusing to consumers who have no training or true knowledge of either the technical or policy implications involved.  All of the technology companies have had various types of issues with privacy in their past, both bad and supposedly "good" where they've attempted to block what they believed was government overreach when customer data was requested for various reasons most typically relating to supposed terrorism or foreign attacks.

In the past, Microsoft was generally one of the least likely to use their collected data for monetary purposes, while Google has been doing this from the beginning.  Apple has a relatively good reputation for trying to keep data stored on their customers devices (i.e. iPhone, iPad) out of government hands, but had also been caught in the more distant past collecting data without customers permission or knowledge.

As I mentioned, Google is infamous to those in the industry for the additional software that's installed and the data collection it performs.  I tried this recently with my Google phone, which when I added a Gmail account installed all sorts of partially hidden software that was clearly collecting things I'd specifically told it not to.  Needless to say I uninstalled all of this, removed everything I could and then flushed and deleted the Gmail account as well.  The only reason I didn't reset the phone to factory is I intend to replace it in a few months.

Microsoft used to avoid using data for anything other then its core purpose, but since everyone else is using it now for advertising purposes, they've begun that as well.  That's what's got everyone up in arms, but they've still been known for refusing to provide customer information to the government, which all 3 have done at one time or another.

The reality is that unless Microsoft is successful in monetizing some of this information in a way that protects the PC owner himself, they won't remain in business for long since everyone expects everything today to be cheap or free.  The only way this can work is if money can be made by using the data, but at the same time avoiding giving any of that private data directly to anyone, which is a difficult balance to attain.

Apple as I mentioned has probably the best reputation recently, since its design attempts to keep most private data on the person's local device rather than in a cloud as with Google or Microsoft, but this is difficult since performing the analysis required for advertising requires computing power and significant storage.  That's why the great concern about securing the device, since when the government wants to gain access it's nearly always the Apple device to which they need access.

As with security, the issues behind all of this are difficult and often highly technical, while at the same time involved in the even more confusing realm of personal privacy and so the laws relating to this as they apply to US citizens or the citizens of other countries.  This is why these disagreements are often very involved and require the involvement of the courts to decide.

It's the lack of knowledge by consumers and the press though that results in articles about things like keyloggers.  As this ZDNet article states; Does Windows 10 really include a keylogger? (Spoiler: No)  But that doesn't stop others with even less knowledge from repeating such an outlandish claim or the gullible US public from believing them, since of course any article that repeats the same thing must be "real news", right?

To me, I'd rather either stay with Microsoft, since I know how they handle my data or possibly Apple if for some reason I can't, staying away from Google at all costs due to their checkered history with personal data privacy.

Rob