My anti-virus (Avast) reported malware when I opened a thread

See Screenshot:

I'm guessing this is just a false positive, but Avast has never reported malware on ATS before. I've been using it for a long time, and I've never seen this. What gives? Anyone else using Avast Anti-virus ever get this on ATS?

reply to post by ZeroReady


Funny you should say that. Our Corporate virus detector here in the office did exactly that last week, three times infact. As ours is installed as a part of a military defence contract, it could be over sensitive. However, three times in succession is a bit high.

If the MODs can throw any light on the matter?

It was the advert in the frame at the top of the page. ATS say they have no control over adverts, and that any way they run them all through some beack office system (Whcih I have forgotten the details of) so that viruses can't get through to the live pages, but they sometimes manage to, it seems.

This just happened to me for the fist time the other day. There is a thread on BTS about it as well.

And another thread that's been going for several days here www.abovetopsecret.com...

They say to send a "complaint" but that never gets a reply or action either - not so far at least.

reply to post by ZeroReady


Any free Anti-virus is to tracking your computer activities and controlling your system it's free for a reason. if it's a free one.

Even when you buy a popular anti-virus they will still be monitoring your activities.

reply to post by knowneedtoknow

Source?

reply to post by ZeroReady

This pretty much tells the story on avast (which I use, but I opt out.)

news.cnet.com...

The data that CommunityIQ gathers includes "safe" programs as well as malicious ones, Kubec said, and provides Avast with a broad base of data in exchange for securing your computer. While the "Little Brother" implications may worry some, it's clearly a trade people are willing to make. "About 60 [percent] to 80 percent [of active users] opt in to the community reporting, said Steckler, who added that CommunityIQ is an opt-out choice when you install Avast. That means that during the install, users must actively choose to remove themselves from CommunityIQ, although doing so does not decrease the level of protection that Avast provides.

So if you're worried about the "little brother" as they call it, then just opt out. Most people don't.

My Virus Software has just done it again, about 30 seconds ago.

When I opened ATS today, a .png file appeared as an icon on my desktop. I scanned it and then opened it. It was a graphic saying "Deny Ignorance".

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Why is your dog giving my the evil eye?