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Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari

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  Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari patty1@sonic.net (Patty Winter) - 2014-03-04 00:21 +0000
    Re: Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-03-04 02:30 +0000
      Re: Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari Patty Winter <patty1@wintertime.com> - 2014-03-04 18:17 +0000
        Re: Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-03-04 22:01 +0000
        Re: Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-03-04 22:28 +0000
    Re: Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari Stephen <gratefuldead@xs4all.nl> - 2014-03-04 14:22 +0100

#21316 — Weird pop-up "ad" in Safari

A friend was visiting for the weekend and used my old MacBook in
my living room this morning to try to check her Earthlink webmail.
She logged in via Safari and got to her inbox, but then a pop-up
window appeared that said:

http://www.winupdatevideos.com
ERROR. Windows has detected that you must update Java immediately.

She set the computer down and waited for me to get up so I could
decide what to do next.

What was weird about this window was that it had an active "OK" 
button. That is, I couldn't do anything else in Safari; I had
to force quit it. 

I rarely use Safari, so I don't have pop-up blockers installed
as I do with Firebox, but what kind of pop-up can actually 
become the active window in Safari and not let you proceed
until you click OK? (Or force-quit the program as I did.)


Patty

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#21320

On 2014-03-04, Patty Winter <patty1@sonic.net> wrote:
> A friend was visiting for the weekend and used my old MacBook in
> my living room this morning to try to check her Earthlink webmail.
> She logged in via Safari and got to her inbox, but then a pop-up
> window appeared that said:
>
> http://www.winupdatevideos.com
> ERROR. Windows has detected that you must update Java immediately.
>
> She set the computer down and waited for me to get up so I could
> decide what to do next.
>
> What was weird about this window was that it had an active "OK" 
> button. That is, I couldn't do anything else in Safari; I had
> to force quit it. 
>
> I rarely use Safari, so I don't have pop-up blockers installed
> as I do with Firebox, but what kind of pop-up can actually 
> become the active window in Safari and not let you proceed
> until you click OK? (Or force-quit the program as I did.)

It was probably a JavaScript dialog, and probably came from an ad server
that the web-based email host she was using displayed on their page.
AdBlock for Safari probably would have blocked it.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#21328

In article <bnks64Fsd20U2@mid.individual.net>,
Jolly Roger  <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>It was probably a JavaScript dialog, and probably came from an ad server
>that the web-based email host she was using displayed on their page.

In other words, Earthlink allows their adserver company to run
Javascript dialogs that stop users in their tracks until they
click "OK" or force-quit the browser? Wonderful.


>AdBlock for Safari probably would have blocked it.

Thanks, I figured it probably would. Clearly this wasn't actual
malware (I don't run Windows on my MacBook), but this was the
first time I had seen a pop-up that didn't have OS X control
buttons (close, minimize, maximize), just that darn "OK" button.
That was a bit scary.


Patty

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#21329

In article <531618bb$0$52763$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>, Patty Winter
<patty1@wintertime.com> wrote:

> In article <bnks64Fsd20U2@mid.individual.net>,
> Jolly Roger  <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
> >
> >It was probably a JavaScript dialog, and probably came from an ad server
> >that the web-based email host she was using displayed on their page.
> 
> In other words, Earthlink allows their adserver company to run
> Javascript dialogs that stop users in their tracks until they
> click "OK" or force-quit the browser? Wonderful.
> 
> >AdBlock for Safari probably would have blocked it.
> 
> Thanks, I figured it probably would. Clearly this wasn't actual
> malware (I don't run Windows on my MacBook), but this was the
> first time I had seen a pop-up that didn't have OS X control
> buttons (close, minimize, maximize), just that darn "OK" button.
> That was a bit scary.

This could happen in any JavaScript in any website you choose to visit,
if the author of that site included an alert, as in:

alert ("This'll slow the user down!");

-- 
Tim

"That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted"  --  Bill of Rights 1689

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#21335

On 2014-03-04, Patty Winter <patty1@wintertime.com> wrote:
>
> In article <bnks64Fsd20U2@mid.individual.net>,
> Jolly Roger  <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>>
>>It was probably a JavaScript dialog, and probably came from an ad server
>>that the web-based email host she was using displayed on their page.
>
> In other words, Earthlink allows their adserver company to run
> Javascript dialogs that stop users in their tracks until they
> click "OK" or force-quit the browser? Wonderful.

It wouldn't surprise me. It's happened many times before with various web
providers/sites.

>>AdBlock for Safari probably would have blocked it.
>
> Thanks, I figured it probably would. Clearly this wasn't actual
> malware (I don't run Windows on my MacBook), but this was the
> first time I had seen a pop-up that didn't have OS X control
> buttons (close, minimize, maximize), just that darn "OK" button.
> That was a bit scary.

If you're ever really worried about it, you can just force-quit th web
browser so that no clicks are required.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#21324

In article <53151c78$0$52743$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>,
 patty1@sonic.net (Patty Winter) wrote:

> A friend was visiting for the weekend and used my old MacBook in
> my living room this morning to try to check her Earthlink webmail.
> She logged in via Safari and got to her inbox, but then a pop-up
> window appeared that said:
> 
> http://www.winupdatevideos.com
> ERROR. Windows has detected that you must update Java immediately.
> 
> She set the computer down and waited for me to get up so I could
> decide what to do next.
> 
> What was weird about this window was that it had an active "OK" 
> button. That is, I couldn't do anything else in Safari; I had
> to force quit it. 
> 
> I rarely use Safari, so I don't have pop-up blockers installed
> as I do with Firebox, but what kind of pop-up can actually 
> become the active window in Safari and not let you proceed
> until you click OK? (Or force-quit the program as I did.)
> 
> 
> Patty

Virus, malware, phishing. Whatever, no experience with that, but a quick 
search reveals:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/j
ava-error-messages/98358574-5102-44d0-9b67-74219595ce94

-- 
Stephen

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