WHY YOU SHOULD NOT LOG IN DIRECT FROM GOOGLE SEARCH

[tsell]

For the past few days I have had difficulty accessing this site. No other site I access is affected.
I log in normally, but a panel appears stating: CONTENT LOCKED. There is a statement referring to: Microsoft Dynamic HTML Editing control.
The square panel says: You are one step away from unlocking the content of this page.
To access this content you must complete an offer.
Click one of the links below.
WIN AN IPHONE
WIN AN IPAD2
WIN A PLAY STATION

Trying to exit is a problem as other panels come up. There is a SECURITY ALERT (red caps), which appears genuine, stating: Rating Dangerous - Verified Fraudulent - Page or threat source.
I eventually exit after pressing all sorts of keys, then try again, at which point I sail straight in. However if I turn off the computer, the next time I attempt to access this site, it happens again.
Perhaps someone can tell me what is going on as it is only this site which has the problem. The URL is: File2Store. info

Thanks

[happy daze john in oz]

I had a similar problem for some time last year. I cured it by downloading the MN desk top icon and by only going in that way I have no problems now.

[Tony Morcom]

The URL is: File2Store. info

Hi Taff
This is a known problem when you log in via Google search and it is something which we are unable to do anything about. It actually affect 100s if not 1000s of other sites.

To overcome the challenge either, as John says, put a link to our site on your desk top or in your favourites (bookmarks if using Firefox).

Failing that just type in our URL into your navigation bar. www.merchant-navy.net or www.merchant-navy.co.uk

File2Store. info is a rogue money making spam site which attaches itself to sites like ours and makes money everytime you click links using it. The site owner has reported it to Google but they seem unable to do anything about it?? It is a real pain in the a--e and only seems to attack when you are a regular user of a site. There is a technical name for it but I can't think of it at this time in the morning.

[Chris Allman]

There is a technical name for it but I can't think of it at this time in the morning.

I think the technical name you are looking for is ' **** ' - Tony

Chris.

[Tony Morcom]

Having done a little more research into this exploit it appears that it is the vBulletin/VBSEO part of the database that is affected. Therefore it affects other sites using the database and not just ours. Seems there is a security hole between Google and VBSEO but it is claimed it is not dangerous and will not affect users other than being a total pain. Hopefully it will be sorted one day but has been happening for 3 or 4 years as far as l can tell

[John Pruden]

thanks tony i was having the same with this store2 what ever i put MN old friends in favorites.jp

[tsell]

Thanks guys for the help. I will take your advice and set up an Icon.

[Jim Jamieson]

Warning: Dangerous Site



Whoa!

Are you sure you want to go there?

http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx may be risky to visit.
Why were you redirected to this page?

• When we visited this site, we found it exhibited one or more risky behaviors.

I got this today when I tried to go to the MN site. Seemingly I was redirected when trying to connect. As I'm not too conversant with the internet maybe one of you guys can throw some light on it.
After reading some posts saying that their MN and e mails were hacked it may be worth looking into.

[Tony Morcom]

Warning: Dangerous Site

Jim, don't panic mate. This subject has been aired in many threads on here and the answer remains the same. DO NOT LOG IN TO THE SITE VIA GOOGLE. As a memberyou should already have the forum either bookmarked or saved to you favourites, depending on which browser you use. There is also another solution: Send Brian a message via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of every page in the forum (inc this one) give him your site password and ask for a "Auto Log In File" This you can then place where ever you want and when you want to log into the site simply click the link and hey presto!

The challenge with log ons via Google is that you will get an auto direct page come up, which is a harmless, yet very annoying, redirect hack which commonly affects vBulletin forums like ours. Unfortunately Google, being the size they are, can't be bothered to do much about it. It does not seem to affect anyone who is just browsing normally, only those with cookies for the site already present on their PC. It is very clever for the perpetrator and generates them money every time someone clicks on the link.

Hopefully this will now put your mind at rest.

[Hugh]

Tony,

I have to agree somewhat with Jim's concerns #8. While I agree that no member should log in via a Google link. My understanding of that warning message means that this site was infected at one time in the past hence the re-direct to the filestore link. Anyone using that link on a less secure browser such as IE may unwittingly be infected by a malware or whatever the payload in that link is.

The problem would be more of a worry to non-members casually using a search engine term which uses an old infected link back to this site such as Jim has done.
By the way if I were you, I would remove that link in post #8: file2store as well in case someone is tempted to click it.

Regards
Hugh