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Yo! Admin Guy!
So three time now in the past couple days I have been innocently cruising tripawds and this screen for "api downloader" replaces tripawds and a little dialog box pops up saying "you have chosen to download api downloader.exe". Needless to say I have run screaming in the other direction and have NOT chosen to ACTUALLY download whatever this thing is. Has anyone else had this issue? A google search on the subject "api downloader" just confuses me. I don't know what the heck they are talking about--but I guess api is a type of file? Any thoughts about why this thing is after me?
thanks!
Codie Rae's mom
Woohoo! Tripawds Rule!
Regulator of the Oaktown Pack, Sheriff of the Oaktown Pawsse, Founding member and President of the Tripawd Girldogs With 2 Names ROCK Club, and ... Tripawd Girldog Extraordinaire!
Codie Rae said
...a little dialog box pops up saying "you have chosen to download api downloader.exe".
Interesting indeed. Sounds like a browser extension message. Is it a pop-up window or a banner ad. The latter may just be nefarious AdsSense ads. If it happens again, a screen shot would be very helpful. A few questions come to mind...
Any other browser tabs or windows open at the time? The active window may not be necessarily requesting the download.
What browser are you using and is it up to date?
Do you have an antivirus program running that may be displaying this message?
Is it only/always on a Forums page? Any particular topic?
FYI: API stands for Application Programming Interface. It's basically a toolkit for manipulating some sort of software to integrate with another application. While APIs are available for WordPress and SimplePress, rest assured we are not pushing any downloads here.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
NOTE: Further investigation suggests this may be a virus affecting the browser on the client side and not website specific.
Do not download anything from anyfiledownloader!
Do not allow automatic downloads to begin on your computer.
This appears to be a fairly new bug, but this forum post offers a few recommended solutions.
We'll keep looking into this...
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Ukranians!
It seems like IP addresses from the Ukraine and Germany are using URL scanners to randomly redirect unsuspecting users to the malicious download link.
We have blocked the suspected IPs from accessing our server.
Good news, you may not have the virus yet. Be sure to run a complete scan. AVG and MalwareBytes are recommended are free antivirus tolls for Windoze.
Please advise if this persists.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Just an fyi I'm sure you see the recent vlog referencing tennis.....I guess another Ukranian hacker? Just makes you want to take that tennis racket and...........
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
and another bogus blog just popped up.....
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Got the Splog! Totally unrelated, but thank you for being so attentive.
Another article which may prove helpful in removing the downloader virus:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hey Jim. I've had two instances of malware trying to attack from the site. Yesterday I clicked on one of the blogs (don't remember who now, but it's someone we talk to all the time in chat), and something tried to download to my computer. I stopped it. Then just now, today, when I was directed to the log in for the chat room my antivirus kicked on and stopped a redirect to a malicious site. When I went back to log in, it directed properly and I was able to sign in to the chat room . Just thought I'd let you know. Oh and both of these instances were from different computers but both using chrome as the browser. Last night was from my Alienware, today was from my work machine.
Adelaide is a young tripawd Husky, from an injury. Her amp was on 10/1/12. She has 4 sisters, Aissa (a senior border collie/chow), Maggie May (a puppy Great Pyrenees), Mathilde and Morrigan and 1 baby brother, Bagheera. We are all watched over by our angel Brendol, who was dx with OSA 1/30/13, amp on 2/6/13, and left us on 8/20/13.
You can read their stories at http://adelaide.tripawds.com and http://brendol.tripawds.com
Thanks for all the feedback!
Anypawdy else?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Nothing here with us 
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Yes! Three or 4 times this week I've had the apiDownloader pop up when get on Tripawds. A couple of times, in the middle of browsing the Tripawd threads I have gotten the same pop up.
Liberty (Libby) was diagnosed with OSA on 1-22-13. Right front amputation on 1-31-13. No IV Chemo. Metronomic Therapy started 2-19-13 along with supplements and some home cooking. Lungs clear until 1-06-14. She's still her happy, hoppy, bossy self. Living the dog life to the fullest and a proud Winter Warrior. :) RIP my Libby 4-21-03 to 3-19-14
This is becoming very interesting. [scratches head]
We just had a security guru run some rather comprehensive tests, only to report:
scan is done, you came out totally clean, not a single vulnerability found.
Anypawdy who experiences this, please report here with as much detail as possible: browser, time, exact message, screenshot if possible... we shall continue trying to get to the bottom of this.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Ok, I will take better notice because it has happened since my last post. I was on Tripawds and walked away from my computer. When I came back the api downloader had taken over the entire screen (which is how it has behaved each time). It's kind of an animated finger that points to a "download now" bar. I use Google Chrome. I end up going to my download files and deleting it.
Liberty (Libby) was diagnosed with OSA on 1-22-13. Right front amputation on 1-31-13. No IV Chemo. Metronomic Therapy started 2-19-13 along with supplements and some home cooking. Lungs clear until 1-06-14. She's still her happy, hoppy, bossy self. Living the dog life to the fullest and a proud Winter Warrior. :) RIP my Libby 4-21-03 to 3-19-14
amya said
...the api downloader had taken over the entire screen (which is how it has behaved each time). It's kind of an animated finger that points to a "download now" bar.
Yes, these are symptoms of the anyfiledownloader virus, a PC virus which hijacks the user's browser.
We are working with a security expert who has ensured us the file is not being delivered by our server, and we shall continue to investigate the issue and report back with any further recommended remedies.
Here are steps for using another tool to help scan for and remove similar malware:
how-to-remove-yourfile-downloader-through-isafe-virus-removal-tool
DISCLAIMER: Do not download anything you believe may be suspicious. Use all virus removal tools at your own risk.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
ACK!!!!! got the dreaded API downloader when I first got into the site about an hour ago. Got out immediately when I saw exactly what Amya described. Called hubby; he's the techie in the house and he ran Spybot, which didn't find anything. Must be those damn Ukrainians...I'm half on my father's side, and I'll tell ya, they're trouble!!!!
-Liz
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