pop up said there is a virus on your computer click here to remove.

[LANdpLAN]

I put the latest Bookworm pup on a usb and added grclone with my dropbox account and setup claws.mail with my gmail accounts and logged into firefox with my gmail and as I was working in claws mail this popup in the top right appeared. I instinctively clicked it before taking a screen shot and it dissapeared. Anyone seen this before? Have any advice?

[Wiz57]

Haven't seen it myself, but for years it has been known that miscreants spread their malware via fake popup alerts. NEVER CLICK ON THOSE ALERTS!
Although the typical payload is directed toward MS Windows or sometimes MacOS, smartphone OSes have also been targeted. There may have been
attempts to infect Linux systems, but if they did they have not been very successful. These popup alerts with the "click here" button only act as a
downloader for malware, which you may have downloaded! However, because Puppy is based on Linux, you may have been protected...THIS TIME!
Many years (decades) ago, I would ONLY browse the web with JavaScript turned off due to the number of advertisements, and then these malicious
actors spreading their crap. Your best course of action is to call up your operating systems task manager, and use that to close the fake alert.
Wiz

[rockedge]

Most likely targeting Windows 10 or 11. But as written in the previous post it's a good idea to close the message window.

There is an outside chance it may be going towards Apple operating systems but those being based on a customized Linux kernel are not that easy to crack.

[darksun]

Like others have also alluded we do not know what alert was and what it could possibly have happened to your station.

Here I would bring in the concept of threat model. Just some scenarios:

if with your machine you do not do sensitive stuff I would not worry too much.

if with your machine you login to services like your google accounts, social media accounts and so on and have MFA enabled on those, then you should be relatively protected from a bad actor to overtake those accounts (just an example here of you having installed a keylogger within your web browser when you clicked on that popup). I still would strongly consider a new fresh OS re installation, if that's an easy option to you.

if your threat model is high or if you use that machine to log in to sensitive stuff (eg home banking) , If I was you, I would be over too cautious and would start over from a fresh new installation; Puppy linux makes it very easy; this alert could be very likely nothing or could be something , it depends on your threat model and on how much you are paranoid on your security model, so it is up to you.

Those above are just briefly described scenario, it is more likely that nothing has happened to your machine, but understanding your threat model is important.

A general rule would be not to click on any popup banners or alerts unless you are 100% confident it is something related to your actions (eg some website asks you to open up a pop up to show you some related content).

[LANdpLAN]

I got a photo of the Pop up. I think its related to firefox because it comes when firefox is open. So far I only clicked the x top right of window. If I do nothing theyndissapesr on their own after a few seconds.

[LANdpLAN]

I'm thinking of uninstall firefox and then reinstall instead of starting Bookworm pull from. Scratch.

[wizard]

@LANdpLAN
Also clear all the history/cache and install a adblocker like Ublock Origin.

wizard

[rockedge]

@LANdpLAN try with deleting the Firefox profiles directory -> /root/.mozzilla

Delete the entire directory, a new one will be created automatically

[mikeslr]

Recommended firefox addons, also for midori:

firefox-addons-071124.png (82.24 KiB) Viewed 995 times

This is an old screenshot. I now add Clear Browsing Data which enables you to clear all recent activity.

Multi-Account Containers is required by Cookie AutoDelete.

Both firefox and midori have builtin "addons" to "Show History" and "Forget". When clicked on "Show History" offers the choice of Clearing Recent History.

Most of the addons are 'set and forget'. But clear cache, Clear Browsing Data, Show History and Forget are on my task-bar. Clearing the records of you browsing frequently not only makes using the web safer but more responsive.

[mikewalsh]

TBH, the only 'security' item I ever install is AdGuard. I visit all kinds of sites, and I don't go out of my way to be "careful", either. In over a decade with Puppy, not once have I ever had any kind of issue with 'nasties'.

Perhaps I'm getting overconfident.....

Mike.

[sonny]

Browser Extensions are a Privacy Nightmare

https://www.howtogeek.com/188346/why-br ... -yourself/

browserext.png (130.24 KiB) Viewed 946 times

[mikeslr]

Almost all of the browser extensions I use have been recommended by Mozilla, which means they are being monitored by the Mozilla Community. The couple which haven't (a) received good ratings from a lot of users; (b) there aren't recommended alternatives which offer the same function and (c) I don't authorize their use under 'Private Browsing".

Adguard and Privacy Badger have identical functions. Although it happened several years ago, there were issues with Adguard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdGuard#Incidents. There never have been with Privacy Badger.

[LANdpLAN]

@LANdpLAN try with deleting the Firefox profiles directory -> /root/.mozzilla

Delete the entire directory, a new one will be created automatically

I'd did this an so far no more pop ups. Thanks again

[LANdpLAN]

@LANdpLAN try with deleting the Firefox profiles directory -> /root/.mozzilla

Delete the entire directory, a new one will be created automatically

I'd did this an so far no more pop ups. Thanks again

There back...

[LANdpLAN]

Almost all of the browser extensions I use have been recommended by Mozilla, which means they are being monitored by the Mozilla Community. The couple which haven't (a) received good ratings from a lot of users; (b) there aren't recommended alternatives which offer the same function and (c) I don't authorize their use under 'Private Browsing".

Adguard and Privacy Badger have identical functions. Although it happened several years ago, there were issues with Adguard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdGuard#Incidents. There never have been with Privacy Badger.

I removed AddBlock Plus and Easy Youtube Video Downloader and Added Privacy Badger. So far so good...

[mikewalsh]

In all honesty, it DOES kinda "beg the question", doesn't it; how the hell does an anonymous, random pop-up KNOW that your system is "infected".....unless IT has something to do with it in the first place?

Simple common sense will tell you that (and this one is glaringly obvious to anyone with half a brain).

Mike.

[wizard]

@LANdpLAN

wizard's rule #5 "Sometimes 're-install' is the right answer"

Or in the case of Pup, restore a backup or boot with no save file/folder and start over.

wizard

[Burunduk]

The popup window looks exactly like a firefox push notification. You've probably allowed them inadvertently.

There is a mozilla article that describes the feature and shows how to disable it.

Basically, you need to open the firefox settings page and then go to Privacy & Security -> Permissions -> Notifications -> Settings... A dialog window should appear showing a list of websites. If the list is not empty, click Remove All Websites and Save Changes. It's also possible to Block new requests asking to allow notifications.

[darksun]

Recommended firefox addons, also for midori:

firefox-addons-071124.png

This is an old screenshot. I now add Clear Browsing Data which enables you to clear all recent activity.

Multi-Account Containers is required by Cookie AutoDelete.

Both firefox and midori have builtin "addons" to "Show History" and "Forget". When clicked on "Show History" offers the choice of Clearing Recent History.

Most of the addons are 'set and forget'. But clear cache, Clear Browsing Data, Show History and Forget are on my task-bar. Clearing the records of you browsing frequently not only makes using the web safer but more responsive.

I would argue that the only needed add-on is ublock origin. This is a topic of much discordance , yet:

- the more installed add-ons the more is the likely-hood of bugs, vulnerabilities and privacy concerns;
- the more installed add-ons the more finger-printable you are;
- ClearUrls is obsolete as within ublock origin there is the "adguard url tracking protection" filter that replaces it;
- privacy badger is not necessary and redundant if you use ublock origin;
- to download multimedia objects from websites there is yt-dlp and its various front-ends;
- smart HTTPS (and https everywhere) are now obsolete with latest web browser versions, eg in Firefox > Settings > Privacy & Security > HTTPS-only mode;
- debating the usefulness and downsides of the other add-ons you listed would open a debate I would not want to go into.