sudden links ?

[phil25]

Afternoon: I am seeing certain words highlighted in the message board titles and posted comments, that are opening a link to "match buddy.com/for sale sites, etc depending on which word is highlighted.
Even the word message on the "post a message" here is highlighted,and takes you to E harmony if you hover the mouse over it, was wondering if something has attached itself on your side or just mine?
This was not here 6 hours ago, when i last checked the sites.?
tks
 

[YTSupport]

It's not the site, I studied this a couple of weeks ago for someone else. It's a browser hijacking on your PC. It's getting pretty common on Windows machines regardless of which browser you use. There are some sites on how to clean it up without having to resort to security software of some sort. It's not usually virus so virus checkers won't catch it. I'm not sure if any of the spyware checkers will either because it's actually an extension in your browser. I suppose an Adware checker might catch it, but that goes beyond my research.

The one I read about is fixed by going into your settings for the browser, selecting the extensions and either turning them off or at least turning off the one that is doing it (You would only know which one by your browser having an extension that you had never heard of). The latter is a little tougher because these hijack extensions go by many different names. It sounds like turning off the extension stops it from doing it's thing, but to fully remove it, you have to go to Add/Remove programs (or what it's called on Windows now) and remove the application that drives it.

The one I read about is called "Text Enhance" and it's just a adware program but there are some that not only change some pages you visit, but also can monitor what you type in to collect personal information. You might do a search on browser hijacking and figure out what to look for.

I leave off extensions on my browsers so that sort of thing can't be installed. I'm guessing some windows browsers have extensions turned on by default.

Thanks,
Chris
 

[Noah W]

I posted this on another forum that several members were having the same trouble. It was well received. Hope I ain't steppin' on anybody's toes with this. Just delete if I am.

Everybody that uses the Internet will get infected at some time or another. Prevention is the best method. One of the best freeware anti-virus anti-spyware programs to come out comes from Microsoft. It ranks up there with some of the paid stuff. It has "Real-Time" protection for both virii and spyware-malware. Install, set up to your liking, and forget it. It will work equally well on all browsers on Windows based computers.

Microsoft Security Essentials

If you do get infected here are some anti-spyware programs to go along with any anti-virus program you may have. All are freeware. Easy to install and run. In combination they will catch and remove nearly all spyware[and more importantly, Hijackers(Trojans)], there is because each one will catch something one of the others may have missed. I usually run each of them once a week when I will not be using the 'puter for several hours or more. I have them set up for manual updates so I always update them before running them. Since only one of them has "Real-Time"(Spybot S&D) protection in the Free version, there is no need to have them run at Startup, so they are not using a lot of resources except when running. I have been using them for 7-8 years or more and have never had a serious problem. They have saved me a trip to the Computer Pro and a bundle of money more than once.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

SuperAntiSpyware

Spybot Search& Destroy

The following, SpywareBlaster, runs in the background and helps blocks Active-X based attacks.

All downloads are from a well-known and respected site.

Set up a schedule and run them regularly. It takes a little time to keep a clean 'puter, but it is worth it.

Hope this will help those who have a little trouble now and then.

Noah W