Re: Google Search Agent cookie ?
Maybe this is what I've been experiencing ?? http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/beware-of-search-engine-poisoning-20111004-1l6go.html Though since deleting that Google Search Agent cookie, I haven't had a repeat of the problem. Begin forwarded message: From: Steven Knowles emai...@knowles.net.au Subject: Re: Google Search Agent cookie ? Date: 24 September 2011 12:03:00 PM AEST To: wamug@wamug.org.au When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? I'll check next time it happens, but it only happens now and again, an then you can't duplicate it. It's gotta have something to do with this googlesearchagent cookie, because when it does happen, I notice the phrase Google Search Agent flash up somewhere or other, all happens a bit quick, probably the status bar is where I've seen it as the URL redirects. I deleted the cookie again, and it hasn't yet come back. I tried to log out of Google and back in again, to see if they would make the cooke reappear. The only discovery there is that either Safari or Google doesn't let me log out. All I get is Please wait ... - and at the end of that I'm still logged in. More trickery no doubt. On 24/09/2011, at 11:23 AM, Ronda Brown wrote: On 24/09/2011, at 7:35 AM, Steven Knowles wrote: Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Hi Steven, When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? If you’re seeing suspicious pop-ups, unwanted toolbars, redirects, strange Google search results, or other unexpected behaviour on your computer, you may have been tricked into installing malicious software (also known as ‘malware’) on your computer. Apparently MacScan can remove the most common malware on your computer. http://macscan.securemac.com/ A Mac is not immune to everything, but assuming it is not the Mac you might have hit upon an infected server or an intentional malware link. It’s very unlikely that you have a trojan. The only known DNS Changer trojan is one of the three that the current version of Mac OS X protects you against, making it difficult to download and open without knowing what you’re doing. Mac Virus guide: http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus for more information. It is possible that your ISP’s DNS servers have been compromised, so switching DNS servers may do the trick. If it does, you should contact your ISP to let them know about the problem, if they aren’t aware of it already. Enter known good DNS numbers in either/both your mac System Preferences-Network-Advanced-DNS and router setup. Open DNS is ok - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 Cheers, Ronni 17 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
Re: Google Search Agent cookie ?
Sorry ... mine may be something different . I think it is simply a change in the way Google displays when searching. It seems to pre-empt what you are searching for which I find quite annoying. I am running a complete scan with Virus Barrier X6 anway ! On 24/09/2011, at 9:23 AM, Ronda Brown wrote: On 24/09/2011, at 7:35 AM, Steven Knowles wrote: Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Hi Steven, When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? If you’re seeing suspicious pop-ups, unwanted toolbars, redirects, strange Google search results, or other unexpected behaviour on your computer, you may have been tricked into installing malicious software (also known as ‘malware’) on your computer. Apparently MacScan can remove the most common malware on your computer. http://macscan.securemac.com/ A Mac is not immune to everything, but assuming it is not the Mac you might have hit upon an infected server or an intentional malware link. It’s very unlikely that you have a trojan. The only known DNS Changer trojan is one of the three that the current version of Mac OS X protects you against, making it difficult to download and open without knowing what you’re doing. Mac Virus guide: http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus for more information. It is possible that your ISP’s DNS servers have been compromised, so switching DNS servers may do the trick. If it does, you should contact your ISP to let them know about the problem, if they aren’t aware of it already. Enter known good DNS numbers in either/both your mac System Preferences-Network-Advanced-DNS and router setup. Open DNS is ok - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 Cheers, Ronni 17 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug Regards, Stephen Chape -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
Google Search Agent cookie ?
Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Cheers, Steven -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
Re: Google Search Agent cookie ?
Yes it's been happening to me lately ? I also would welcome any ideas to overcome this annoying intrusion !!! On 24/09/2011, at 7:35 AM, Steven Knowles wrote: Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Cheers, Steven -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug Regards, Stephen Chape -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
Re: Google Search Agent cookie ?
On 24/09/2011, at 7:35 AM, Steven Knowles wrote: Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Hi Steven, When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? If you’re seeing suspicious pop-ups, unwanted toolbars, redirects, strange Google search results, or other unexpected behaviour on your computer, you may have been tricked into installing malicious software (also known as ‘malware’) on your computer. Apparently MacScan can remove the most common malware on your computer. http://macscan.securemac.com/ A Mac is not immune to everything, but assuming it is not the Mac you might have hit upon an infected server or an intentional malware link. It’s very unlikely that you have a trojan. The only known DNS Changer trojan is one of the three that the current version of Mac OS X protects you against, making it difficult to download and open without knowing what you’re doing. Mac Virus guide: http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus for more information. It is possible that your ISP’s DNS servers have been compromised, so switching DNS servers may do the trick. If it does, you should contact your ISP to let them know about the problem, if they aren’t aware of it already. Enter known good DNS numbers in either/both your mac System Preferences-Network-Advanced-DNS and router setup. Open DNS is ok - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 Cheers, Ronni 17 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
Re: Google Search Agent cookie ?
When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? I'll check next time it happens, but it only happens now and again, an then you can't duplicate it. It's gotta have something to do with this googlesearchagent cookie, because when it does happen, I notice the phrase Google Search Agent flash up somewhere or other, all happens a bit quick, probably the status bar is where I've seen it as the URL redirects. I deleted the cookie again, and it hasn't yet come back. I tried to log out of Google and back in again, to see if they would make the cooke reappear. The only discovery there is that either Safari or Google doesn't let me log out. All I get is Please wait ... - and at the end of that I'm still logged in. More trickery no doubt. On 24/09/2011, at 11:23 AM, Ronda Brown wrote: On 24/09/2011, at 7:35 AM, Steven Knowles wrote: Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Hi Steven, When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? If you’re seeing suspicious pop-ups, unwanted toolbars, redirects, strange Google search results, or other unexpected behaviour on your computer, you may have been tricked into installing malicious software (also known as ‘malware’) on your computer. Apparently MacScan can remove the most common malware on your computer. http://macscan.securemac.com/ A Mac is not immune to everything, but assuming it is not the Mac you might have hit upon an infected server or an intentional malware link. It’s very unlikely that you have a trojan. The only known DNS Changer trojan is one of the three that the current version of Mac OS X protects you against, making it difficult to download and open without knowing what you’re doing. Mac Virus guide: http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus for more information. It is possible that your ISP’s DNS servers have been compromised, so switching DNS servers may do the trick. If it does, you should contact your ISP to let them know about the problem, if they aren’t aware of it already. Enter known good DNS numbers in either/both your mac System Preferences-Network-Advanced-DNS and router setup. Open DNS is ok - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 Cheers, Ronni 17 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
Re: Google Search Agent cookie ?
I'm using Ghostery to help avoid some malware while browsing. Http://www.ghostery.com Ken, from my iPhone On 2011-09-23, at 19:23, Ronda Brown ro...@mac.com wrote: On 24/09/2011, at 7:35 AM, Steven Knowles wrote: Has anybody noticed, when clicking on a Google search result to go the relevant web page, that a 'Google search agent' seems to hijack things and take you off to a totally unrelated website? I then back track to my original search results, try again, and then it's fine. It only happens occasionally. I'm using Safari 5.1. The latest example, a moment ago, is that I clicked on a search result, only to be directed to a totally unrelated Virgin Australia page. This is after having earlier had a look at the Cookie list within Safari, found a googlesearchagent.com Cookie, and deleted it. Now it's back again. Is this Google up to no good? Anybody know how this works? I have Cookie settings to block from 3rd parties and advertisers, but that's obviously not stoping this Cookie from returning, maybe because I'm logged in as a Google user? Hi Steven, When you hover over the link [the bad one that looks good] doesn't it reveal the actual URL? If you’re seeing suspicious pop-ups, unwanted toolbars, redirects, strange Google search results, or other unexpected behaviour on your computer, you may have been tricked into installing malicious software (also known as ‘malware’) on your computer. Apparently MacScan can remove the most common malware on your computer. http://macscan.securemac.com/ A Mac is not immune to everything, but assuming it is not the Mac you might have hit upon an infected server or an intentional malware link. It’s very unlikely that you have a trojan. The only known DNS Changer trojan is one of the three that the current version of Mac OS X protects you against, making it difficult to download and open without knowing what you’re doing. Mac Virus guide: http://www.reedcorner.net/thomas/guides/macvirus for more information. It is possible that your ISP’s DNS servers have been compromised, so switching DNS servers may do the trick. If it does, you should contact your ISP to let them know about the problem, if they aren’t aware of it already. Enter known good DNS numbers in either/both your mac System Preferences-Network-Advanced-DNS and router setup. Open DNS is ok - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 Cheers, Ronni 17 MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Settings Unsubscribe - http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug
