White Pages web site warning -- unsafe site

[packrat]

I went to the Official White Pages web site a few minutes ago to check out an address. My computer slowed down noticably and the site for some reason tried to load my Adobe reader. My virus/spyware program then kicked in and informed me it was an unsafe web site, and blocked the site from trying to upload personal information.

I don't know if anyone else uses this site, but please be careful if you do.

[dfreely]

It's probably not the site itself, but the ads. It isn't uncommon that an ad network accidentally lets a malicious ad (loading virus/malware via Flash,iframe,etc) sneak through. As such, any site that uses the same ad provider could also be a risk.

I just visited the site with an ad blocker, and it's just fine.

[packrat]

Now that you mention it, Photobucket had the same problem recently. It probably is the ad. I never heard of an ad blocker before. So now I have to find an ad blocker and download it?

[dfreely]

It really isn't necessary since it generally isn't a common occurrence, but it does help at times.

If you use either Firefox or Chrome, there's a plugin called "AdBlock Plus" that works really well.

[chriscollector]

It's good that your anti virus warned you, since it picks up that kind of threat you shouldn't need an ad blocker. My anti virus picks them up all the time and blocks them.

I guess it can't hurt tohave one but I am always ify on downloading those programs as many times they have a virus. I wouldn't worry about it. White pages is a solid site, don't worry about it.

[dfreely]

I am always ify on downloading those programs as many times they have a virus.

That's why you only download legit programs, from legit sites.

[chriscollector]

I am always ify on downloading those programs as many times they have a virus.

That's why you only download legit programs, from legit sites.

You have to understand I'm far from tech savvy. I don't know a "legit site" from a virus site. Obviously if you are in the know it's easy to get great software with no problems; unfortunately for me I'm not up on this stuff so I am always forced into buying the stuff.

I have basically my life on my computer and lost it twice, the second time I still don't know how; so I never download free stuff anymore.

[packrat]

I'm not tech savvy either. I used to be somewhat knowledgible, back around the time of Windows 3.1 (yeah, ages ago!) but not anymore.

Actually, now that I've had a good night's rest, I don't think it's a malicious ad. I think it's the site itself that is infected, and I'm pretty sure that's what my virus-checking software told me. I was looking for a former minor league baseball player and everything started out okay. After entering the name and city fields I was taken to a page that listed three possibilities. I then clicked on the name that matched the best and that's where the trouble started. That's not the first time it happened, but it's the first time I was warned by my software that it was an unsafe site. Both times my Adobe Reader software tried to start for some reason and wouldn't come up right.

By the way, I ran the virus checker this morning and my 'puter is okay. Nothing was found.

[dfreely]

If it really was infected, there would've at least been some buzz about it.. a website as big as the White Pages just doesn't get compromised without people noticing. Depending on what antivirus software you're using and how the virus was being loaded, it could've told you what file (page) was infected rather than the direct element (ad). Adobe Reader started up because the virus was probably using it as a backdoor, or loading via a PDF file.

[packrat]

You know, I was wondering why there was nothing online about the site being infected. Then and again, when a similar problem occured with Photobucket there was no buzz about it either. I'm sure they don't want that kind of publicity. I also find it odd that no one else from this site reported a problem. I can't be the only one on this site that actually researches addresses before sending...