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ajqtrz
Chef - loquacious Old Dog
If you are getting various warnings about this or that has infected your computer, the culprit is probably something you loaded a long time ago from something that was "free." Free stuff ain't. The number of truly "gratis" web sites is actually so small you'd be surprised. What usually happens is that you unknowingly install that free "anti-malware," "driver updater," "system speed up," or whatever program that runs just fine, and don't read the fine print, which often says they can deliver "targeted" advertising to you. There are legit programs of these types, but they are not "free." Nor are the less legitimate ones. The nefarious ones are just opening a door you would expect to be shut by the very program you installed. And once that's open the program watches. An ad-blocker program then takes over, blocking whatever ads you didn't want in the first place, but, again, if the ad-blocker is free.......it ain't.
Now if a company like Inno includes pop up advertising (or advertising from a site recognized as a site hosting ads), that free program can intercept it and redirect it to one of the companies paying it to get access to your eyeballs. You see, Inno uses, no doubt, the right procedure to bring advertising, but it gets hijacked and redirected. And then something pops up and says, "Everything is going to hell in a hand-basket, click here!" just enough people do so for the company offering the "free" antivirus, antispyware, antimalware, fix you life totally in your spare time software, to make some money.
Now, this is the simplified version. There are a lot of variations but one of them is not for a reputable company like Inno, to infect or allow your system to be infected by anything they have done. I'd bet on that. On the other hand, you are playing a "free to play" game and thus, have signaled, at least to me, you like free stuff. And, well, "free stuff, ain't" alway free.
Here's my list of tips.
1) If you can't tell how a web site is making any money, don't worry, they know where your wallet is, directly or not. Stay away from free stuff, especially if the stuff itself is often at the edge of legitimate, like files, music, and so on.
2) When get a pop up you didn't expect telling you the world in ending, don't click on anything...reach over and push the "Off" button of your computer. If you are on a phone, tablet, or laptop, do the same. Better to lose a few words of an email, or page of a novel your writing than push that 'red x" which can be programmed to do anything, including telling somebody someplace you are a real live human being and can be considered a future target for more nefarious stuff.
3) Turn off anything not absolutely needed. Too many "anti" programs clutters things up and may result in false positives. Run 1 good AV/Malware/Internet protection program and read up their reputations before you install them, especially if they are free.
4) Turn off all those "feature" programs you have attached to your browser. Like "PDF" reader programs and converters, and so on. It's not that they are bad, so much as they are an opportunity. Slim and trim should be what a tech would say of your online footprint.
5) If you continue to get those nasty pop-ups and you have a good AV and a good Ad blocker, get your system cleaned. Don't just run your AV/antiMalware program and think it will catch everything. A nefarious piece of code in memory can hide in memory. If your system is not booted from a clearn USB or DVD/CD and then scanned, it's not 100% clean. (Which is how you can tell if a technician actually knows what he/she is doing. Not competent tech would use your internal software to scan your own system nor would they install their own on your running system. External scans are the only way to insure a clean system).
So, here's the final word (well, my final word, as I'm sure others will have something to say about this, and they may be right :>)): nefarious things eventually happen when you consistently try to get lot of things for nothing. Limit the number of "free" things you do to large well-known products and websites and you'll have fewer problems.
AJ
Now if a company like Inno includes pop up advertising (or advertising from a site recognized as a site hosting ads), that free program can intercept it and redirect it to one of the companies paying it to get access to your eyeballs. You see, Inno uses, no doubt, the right procedure to bring advertising, but it gets hijacked and redirected. And then something pops up and says, "Everything is going to hell in a hand-basket, click here!" just enough people do so for the company offering the "free" antivirus, antispyware, antimalware, fix you life totally in your spare time software, to make some money.
Now, this is the simplified version. There are a lot of variations but one of them is not for a reputable company like Inno, to infect or allow your system to be infected by anything they have done. I'd bet on that. On the other hand, you are playing a "free to play" game and thus, have signaled, at least to me, you like free stuff. And, well, "free stuff, ain't" alway free.
Here's my list of tips.
1) If you can't tell how a web site is making any money, don't worry, they know where your wallet is, directly or not. Stay away from free stuff, especially if the stuff itself is often at the edge of legitimate, like files, music, and so on.
2) When get a pop up you didn't expect telling you the world in ending, don't click on anything...reach over and push the "Off" button of your computer. If you are on a phone, tablet, or laptop, do the same. Better to lose a few words of an email, or page of a novel your writing than push that 'red x" which can be programmed to do anything, including telling somebody someplace you are a real live human being and can be considered a future target for more nefarious stuff.
3) Turn off anything not absolutely needed. Too many "anti" programs clutters things up and may result in false positives. Run 1 good AV/Malware/Internet protection program and read up their reputations before you install them, especially if they are free.
4) Turn off all those "feature" programs you have attached to your browser. Like "PDF" reader programs and converters, and so on. It's not that they are bad, so much as they are an opportunity. Slim and trim should be what a tech would say of your online footprint.
5) If you continue to get those nasty pop-ups and you have a good AV and a good Ad blocker, get your system cleaned. Don't just run your AV/antiMalware program and think it will catch everything. A nefarious piece of code in memory can hide in memory. If your system is not booted from a clearn USB or DVD/CD and then scanned, it's not 100% clean. (Which is how you can tell if a technician actually knows what he/she is doing. Not competent tech would use your internal software to scan your own system nor would they install their own on your running system. External scans are the only way to insure a clean system).
So, here's the final word (well, my final word, as I'm sure others will have something to say about this, and they may be right :>)): nefarious things eventually happen when you consistently try to get lot of things for nothing. Limit the number of "free" things you do to large well-known products and websites and you'll have fewer problems.
AJ
