Threat Watch Popup Notification

[Mortisanti]

I was working on something in Firefox recently when I noticed this pop-up notification. Is this expected behavior from Malwarebytes? I've never seen a pop-up notification like it. No offense to the MBAM design team, but it honestly doesn't look legitimate and I want to confirm that this is legit.

[Malwarebytes]

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[Maurice Naggar]

Hi @Mortisanti    Thanks for relaying the screen grab.  I have sent message to staff to see about this.

 

[Maurice Naggar]

p.s.  There is a related Blog post on this threat

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-spotlight/2019/07/threat-spotlight-sodinokibi-ransomware-attempts-to-fill-gandcrab-void/

[Mortisanti]

Just now, Maurice Naggar said:

p.s.  There is a related Blog post on this threat

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-spotlight/2019/07/threat-spotlight-sodinokibi-ransomware-attempts-to-fill-gandcrab-void/

I found that blog as well. Considering its post date I'm assuming/hoping the MBAM pop-up is legitimate. I've just never seen a "Threat Watch" pop-up before, let alone a notification that looked as simple as this one.

[Maurice Naggar]

I am advised the message is legitimate.   Like you, I have not seen that style of messaging before.

[AdvancedSetup]

Yes, this is a legitimate message from the Malwarebytes Premium program.

[Mortisanti]

Just now, Maurice Naggar said:

I am advised the message is legitimate.   Like you, I have not seen that style of messaging before.

Thank you for checking. Now my concern is that there is no option to disable these Threat Watch pop-ups without disabling MBAM's notifications entirely, which I don't want to do because I prefer knowing when MBAM blocks a malware connection or quarantines a file. Perhaps the MBAM team can add a separate setting for this in the future.

[Maurice Naggar]

There is not a way to turn those notices off. 

[plodr]

That's why I showed up here. I wanted to determine if this was legitimate. Thanks for letting us know that this might be ongoing behavior in MBAM.

I showed my husband the screen so when he gets one on his computer he won't think something is wrong and ask me to look at his computer.

[Maurice Naggar]

There is nothing wrong on any machine.  The message is intended to bring people's attention pre-emptively about a very new variant of ransomware.

There is a related Blog post on this threat

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-spotlight/2019/07/threat-spotlight-sodinokibi-ransomware-attempts-to-fill-gandcrab-void/

[dprout69]

Seriously... WTH.  Just got this popup.  This is nothing more than "clever" advertising.  STOP IT!  All it tells you is there is something out there that only the premium version can remove.  I don't need THREAT WATCH pop ups.  Knock it off

[Chuckler]

Turn this crap off. I don't pay for Premium to get your blog update notifications. What a blatant attempt to get web traffic and sell services. You MUST allow a way to turn this incredibly rude marketing strategy OFF. What you are doing is so tasteless and shameless, I will cancel in a heartbeat if you try this crap again.

[Bubbha]

If that goddamn spammy message pops up again on my system while I'm working again, this software, of which I have purchased a premium license for on multiple machines in my house, will be uninstalled and the rest of my family, of whom I am their "tech guy", will be advised to do the same. What dumb-ass executive thought THIS would be a good idea?!?! If it's only for premium members, you have my damn email address, just send me your "notice" there...

[Chuckler]

7 minutes ago, Bubbha said:

If that goddamn spammy message pops up again on my system while I'm working again, this software, of which I have purchased a premium license for on multiple machines in my house, will be uninstalled and the rest of my family, of whom I am their "tech guy", will be advised to do the same. What dumb-ass executive thought THIS would be a good idea?!?! If it's only for premium members, you have my damn email address, just send me your "notice" there...

Exactly. Malwarebytes is now malware. This is totally unacceptable.

[Scott_M]

The popup is a bad idea. Newsletters are the way to get this out there. 

[Tural]

Absolutely a bad idea. Got a call from my grandparents (whom I installed a license for) because they thought they got a virus on their laptop due to this popup. Send a newsletter/email, don't give ominous, un-opt-out-able popups to drive blog traffic. I genuinely wonder who thought pushing what is essentially an ad to premium subscribers and end-users was a good idea. If it continues to happen and there is no way to disable it, I'll just switch products to something more respecting of their paying customers and who their customers provide end-user support to.

[some_loony]

I am interested in a feature to disable the Threat Watch spam. What is the best approach I can take?

[TempLost]

I haven't seen this popup yet but I wouldn't have expected something like this on the Premium product, without a way to opt out.