18/08/2024
So recently I have been getting pop-ups on my Linux desktop machine that are saying things like "virus found, click to scan and remove" and claiming to be from Norton antivirus.
1. Norton I don't think makes antivirus for Linux.
2. I know I have a different antivirus on my Linux installation
3. I've run the real antivirus, and it quarantined a couple of files, but these are still showing up.
4. The website listed in the pop-up notifications looks skitchy as hell.
5. I don't want to be the virus by clicking on that skitchy sheeiit.
I googled it a bit, and this website must have been embedded in an ad on a legit website, which I think was TikiPod Radio's website, because this started right after I visited there. (Now, don't blame them, the Tikipod is a legit station I listen to a lot) Probably one of the ads there.
The help forum was talking about how to block websites from sending notifications in Chrome settings. When I got into that part of the settings, Chrome was telling me about a website that had sent a lot of notifications very recently - and when I checked, sure enough, it was this skitchy @$$ site that I have definitely never visited, but was showing at the bottom of each pop-up. I blocked them beaches in Chrome notifications settings, as you can see at the top of the list here.
Bottome line, the machine wasn't infected, but if I had fell for it and clocked one of those, it could've been, and on a Windows machine, even more likely so - but they need you the user to do the first click so they can get janky with your hardware, and NOT in a way that's fun for you.
Be careful out there. Keep your antivirus up to date, scan the machine often, and check these Chrome notifications if you start seeing BS virus warnings pop up - don't click on that weasel p**p.
