Hi kkritsilas,

It would be worth resetting Firefox. This will give you a fresh start (hopefully free of that addon!) but will preserve all of your history, saved passwords and bookmarks. See the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article for more information.

To Reset Firefox:

1. Open the Troubleshooting Information page using one of these methods:
   • Click the menu button , click help and select Troubleshooting Information. A new tab containing your troubleshooting information should open.
   • If you're unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting Information page.
2. At the top right corner of the page, you should see a button that says "Reset Firefox" that looks like this: . Click on it.
3. Firefox will close and reset. After it is done, Firefox will show a window with the information that is imported.
4. Click Finish and Firefox will reopen.

Did this fix the problem? Please report back to us!

Thank you,

Jayelbe

Hi,

I have tried to reset Firefox 5 times. I have also tried almost all of the solutions in the Troubleshooting Information. I have tried starting up Firefox with Add-Ons disabled. I have tried running 2 anti-malware programs, and deleted what they found, I have run Windows Defender on a full scan. This problem is still here. I have enclosed screen captures of the same website using Firefox (titled Infected Firefox Screen Capture) and the same website on IE (titled IE Screen Capture (uninfected)). Note all of the underlined links, that all pop out with the window shown. This is annoying on a bulletin board type web site, it renders sites like eBay useless, as instead of jumping into the different categories/areas of eBay, it imposes its own search engine on top of the eBay links, making moving around the eBay site impossible (this is just an example) It also limits, or attempts to limit, what you can see or puts up windows that tries to get you to load a new version of a video player or Java update (I have not allowed this to happen).

Sometimes a problem with Firefox may be a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

• Microsoft Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• Anti-Rootkit Utility - TDSSKiller
• AdwCleaner (for more info, see this alternate AdwCleaner download page)
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Did this fix your problems? Please report back to us!

Again, as previously stated, I have run Malware Bytes Anti-Malware, and Adw Cleaner. I have run HItman Pro, and I have run Windows Defender in full scan mode. I can run every anti-virus/malware program on the face of the planet, and they all come up clean. SecureWeb BHO is NOT a virus or malware in the traditional sense. It is an add-on that has attached itself to FIrefox. It had a attached itself to Internet Explorer 11 as well, but I was able to disable it within Internet Explorer by using its Manage Add-ons control panel inside of IE 11. Not only can I not do that within FIrefox, I can't even SEE it within Firefox; it doesn't show up as an extension or add-on (it was shown as an extension in IE 11m which is what allowed me to disable it there). This seems to be an area that could use improvement in Firefox.

Also, while I haven't stated it outright, this is a WIndows 8.1 update 1 64 bit machine, so Windows Defender, the replacement for Microsoft Security Essentials, is built in. it is set to update automatically, both for Defender and for regular Windows updates.

FYI, the issue has now been resolved by deleting and re-installing Firefox.

Kostas

HI,

Just had this re-occur. I believe that the current Adobe Flash download is doing this. I don't know if it is intended or not, but with the re-loaded Firefox 33.0.3, it was fine until I downloaded the Flash 15.0 plug in. Problem started up again, with the "ghost audio in the background".

Kostas

What is the name of the add-on? What ever it is, it should have been listed.

As per the the first email, IE called it "SecureWeb BHO" by Jelbrus LLC. My assumption is that this is the same piece of code that was affecting Firefox 33.0.3, but I can of course be wrong about that. With IE, when I disabled the SecureWeb BHO extension, all of the behaviors (Ghost audio, every uncommon word being underlined as a link, with the link being directed to some strange web search engine) disappeared. This does NOT show up in FIrefox as either an extension or add-on. Doing a web search reveals that this is a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) which for some reason is not classified as a virus or as a browser hijack. I'm pretty sure it needs to have the Flash Player plug in installed, as this was one of the steps I took to get rid of it (deleting Flash player 15.0.6, I think).

The fact that is runs under Flash may be the key, and why it doesn't show up in the Firefox add-ons/extensions. IE has its own, internal Flash player now, while Firefox is still relying on the Adobe Flash player. Because IE has full control over all plug ins, including Flash based ones, it can see that something has installed itself (ie. SecureWeb BHO). Firefox can see the Flash Player Plug in just fine, It just can't see that something has installed itself using Flash player, because it can't see inside of Flash Player, all it can see it that Flash is installed or not. Just some thoughts based on my experience.

Kostas

http://www.bing.com/search?q=SecureWeb%20BHO

Further information points:

-The problem re-occurred.

-I downloaded and ran Microsoft's Offline Defender today. It was downloaded with a separate, un-infected PC, burned onto DVD, and then I booted from the DVD drive on the infected* computer. Ran a full scan on the infected* computer and let it run to completion. No infection found.

-Rebooted Windows 8.1 Upgrade 1. Opened up FIrefox. Problem still there. Went into the Control menu, looked at add-ons and extensions. Nothing showed up. Went to extensions. Did a search and downloaded NoScript. Closed down Firefox. Re-started Firefox, and problem is gone.

Kostas

Well done.

Turns out that this malware is coming from a particular site. I don't know why it only seems to affect Firefox (now at version 33.1). I intentionally visited this same site with IE 11, and it is not affected. I will avoid visiting this website with Firefox for the time being. I don't know if it affects Chrome, because I don't use Chrome, and refuse to do so.

Kostas

What is the name of the site? Send a message to the site support and ask about this.

BlockSite {web link} BlockSite is an extension, which automagically blocks websites of your choice. Additionally, this extension will disable all hyperlinks to these websites, by just displaying the link text without the clicking functionality.

FredMcD:

Thanks for the pointer to BlockSIte. I have contacted the website owner to let them know that their website has most likely been hacked and has malware residing on it. I have also added the site to the BlockSIte blacklist.

Kostas

Once they get their system straightened out, you can remove that site from BlockSite. If you end up on a site you don't like, right click on the page, and near the bottom is Block This Site. The best way is to open the add-on, and edit the entry so it looks this; *website.com*