How did the PUP.Optional.Bandoo.Appfish FireFox Toolbar get installed?
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware program detected and fixed this for me. But how and why did it get installed?
Also, I never installed the Wildvines or Google PlugIn that was associated with the Redirector.GVT1.com spyware on my computer. Both of these were copying my downloaded files to another https server without my consent.
All Replies (3)
Hi
Malware can come from a variety of sites and situations:
- You installed something you did not mean to, from an untrustworthy source. Often these include screensavers, toolbars, or torrents that you didn’t scan for viruses.
- It may have come bundled with a “reputable” application that bundles “optional” software.
- Your device was already infected with malware, and that malware installs even more malware.
- You aren’t using an Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware application.
For more help protecting and removing malware, I recommend you have a read of this guide.
Thanks for your reply. I am frustrated with such a softened shell that admits and gives safe harbor to known toolbars of bad intent.
If I were to compare this problem to a real life problem of LICE, then my next question is, "Why does FireFox do nothing and not even scratch, not even say there is a problem?" It attaches itself as a FireFox toolbar and yet FireFox never asked me if I wanted this and FireFox never told me in any of the Option or Security Panels that I had a Toolbar installed. Seems to me that Mozilla has some skin in the game here but does nothing to protect its vulnerable self just cowers away.
Sometimes you just have to defend yourselves. Or better yet, sometimes you have to apply First Aid while waiting for the ambulance to arrive... that is if you have a desire to live and continue.
My problem attacked FireFox directly adding a Toolbar and 2 PlugIns. My next problem is trying to extract the PlugIns since FireFox only allows me to say Never Activate but not UnInstall.