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"This Download Has a Virus or Malware" warning is deceptive

sschuldenzucker
sschuldenzucker

Hey guys, this is more of a bug report or so.

I just got the above message downloading something from libgen. (of course, a document that doesn't have any copyright on it)

I learnt that what the message really means is *not* that this download *actually* has a virus or malware, but that the domain is known for distributing malware. This is a completely different statement!

I understand that I can turn this feature off, but shouldn't the absolute baseline be that my browser doesn't lie to me? I also learnt that Firefox pulls the list of "dangerous" domains from Google. In effect, Firefox is acting as an agent for Google spreading FUD against libgen. :(

Hey guys, this is more of a bug report or so. I just got the above message downloading something from libgen. (of course, a document that doesn't have any copyright on it) I learnt that what the message really means is *not* that this download *actually* has a virus or malware, but that the domain is known for distributing malware. This is a completely different statement! I understand that I can turn this feature off, but shouldn't the absolute baseline be that my browser doesn't lie to me? I also learnt that Firefox pulls the list of "dangerous" domains from Google. In effect, Firefox is acting as an agent for Google spreading FUD against libgen. :(

Chosen solution

Hi,

The people who answer questions here, for the most part, are other Firefox users volunteering their time (like me), not Mozilla employees or Firefox developers.

If you want to leave feedback for Firefox developers, you can go to the Firefox Help menu and select Submit Feedback... or use this link. Your feedback gets collected by a team of people who read it and gather data about the most common issues.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (1)

Wesley Branton
Wesley Branton

Chosen Solution

Hi,

The people who answer questions here, for the most part, are other Firefox users volunteering their time (like me), not Mozilla employees or Firefox developers.

If you want to leave feedback for Firefox developers, you can go to the Firefox Help menu and select Submit Feedback... or use this link. Your feedback gets collected by a team of people who read it and gather data about the most common issues.