Scary Websurfing Moment

[BarkingGhostar]

I have been on the Internet since around 1992. I got started using Lynx on a Unix platform, then NCSA Mosaic, and then Netscape, Internet Explorer and finally Firefox.

I like Firefox because of Flashblok--I simply cannot stand Flash-based advertising. Something Microsoft seems to hate (Flashblok, not Flash).

Anyway, I am surfing a usual site (Cinematical). Usually I will avoid its references for movies, actors, and directors/producers, which lead to Moviefone (AOL). Since I have Google toolbar installed, I simply highlight, right mouse click, and 'Search Google for ...'.

usually the first page of results by Google will have the Internet Movie DataBase reference and I select it. I've done this for more than a year, and from Cinematical's website. Yet this morning, I did it for a movie, and selecting the direct link from the Google results presented the following:

I go to what I believe is the IMDB website for the movie I am looking up. Within three to four seconds a Windows pop-up states I need to install yadda, yadda, yadda anti virus junk, and before i know it my Firefox window is expanded, a graphic of My Computer is shown with a installation progress bar moving rapidly, and there is me flipping the PC power off.

I was quick to flip that power button because I noticed the URL for this viral junk ended in .cn for the Republic of China. I do think the Google result was somehow poisoned and sent me directly to a Chinese location, if some sort of forced javascrip ad on the IMDB website auto-prompted this viral launch, but after the computer rebooted there was a entry in Firefox for a .cn site.

Without thinking, I cleared the browser cache for the past hour, powered up another PC on the network, and launched Norton Corporate and scanned the drives in this particular PC. All came out clean--but was is truly clean these days?

I tried to reproduce the same results by again going out to Cinematic, highlighting the movie reference, searching Google, and going to the IMDB direct link page. No success.

Could an advertisement on that directly-linked IMDB page have contained code to produce what I experienced? The Chinese are not doing anything to further their cause(s) by trying to hoodwink folks in this manner.

Bad Chinese, Bad! <insert graphic of rolled newspaper hitting dog on nose> :biggrin:

So, how was everyone else's Sunday morning thus far?

 

[irishScott]

You do realize that progress bar and antivirus stuff was just a flash animation right?

 

[olds]

Cool story, bra.

 

[rudeguy]

Cool story.

Do you like pie?

 

[JD50]

Your computer's fucked, the Chinese own it now, just destroy it and get a new one.

 

[Sea Moose]

Has anyone noticed the amount of chinese symbols in youtube and places lately?

 

[rudeguy]

Racist!!!

 

[lxskllr]

Almost everything from China sucks. They need to concentrate on being the best, instead of being the cheapest.

 

[shortylickens]

Almost everything from China sucks. They need to concentrate on being the best, instead of being the cheapest.

Their economy would tank.
They wouldnt be able to sell trillions of dollars worth of junk to America. The only reason we buy anything from them is the low, low prices and great selection.

 

[geno]

Brool Story Co.

 

[guitarslingerchris]

Yet another person that thinks they need Google Toolbar to do something inherent in Firefox.

 

[TheUnk]

Using the internet since 1992 and you still fail.

 

[olds]

 

[GrumpyMan]

The Chinese currently are the biggest creditor to the US. They own us already. If they were to call in all the loans at once that the US owes them, the economy would tank again for real.

 

[Leros]

Lol, that was just an animation. Nothing got installed on your computer.

 

[Kadarin]

Almost everything from China sucks. They need to concentrate on being the best, instead of being the cheapest.

Why would they do that, when all of us here in the US obsess about buying the cheapest, rather than buying quality?

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Using the internet since 1992 and you still fail.

Same thing I was thinking.

 

[Newbian]

All your base...

 

[mugs]

.cn is the People's Republic of China, which is quite different from the Republic of China.

 

[rbV5]

scary internet is scary

 

[nutxo]

The Chinese currently are the biggest creditor to the US. They own us already. If they were to call in all the loans at once that the US owes them, the economy would tank again for real.

I hear nukes erase debt.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Banners ads are serious business.