Damn Ants

[yragha]

I haven't installed Malwatebytes yet.  I've used it a ton in the past however.  Reason for this post is thr occurance of ants or maybe their spiders showing up this afternoon for no apparent reason and they keep following my damn mouse around. 

 

Can anyone help, can Malwatebytes help? 

 

Very annoying and nothing installed that I can find.  I've tried every avenue I know to try and remove them.  Google extensions, themes, resetting browser to default??? 

Thank you. 

[Malwarebytes]

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[exile360]

Greetings,

Please install Malwarebytes and navigate to Settings>Protection and under Scan Options enable the option for scanning for rootkits then return to the Dashboard tab and click Scan Now and allow Malwarebytes to scan your system for threats.  Once it completes have it remove any threats it detects and allow it to restart your system if prompted to do so to complete the threat removal process.

If that failed to resolve the issues then please try running ADWCleaner and likewise scan with it and allow it to remove anything it finds, again restarting your system if prompted to do so to complete the cleanup process.

If the problem still persists or those tools did not detect anything then please follow the instructions in this topic and then create a new topic in the malware removal area by clicking here and include the requested logs and information and one of our malware removal specialists will assist you in checking and clearing the system of any threats as soon as one becomes available.

I hope this helps, and if there is anything else we might assist you with in the future please let us know.

Thanks

[SPDIF]

Yes i know this from some client i had. It is something that you or another person that has had access to your computer, that installed this program.

You can find it here; http://www.cursors-4u.com/cursor/2009/11/23/fire-ant.html.

It is not malware related, just someone installed this on your computer. Normally it is easy to remove this in the settings and apps section of windows 10. Did you try this already?

[SPDIF]

Sometimes it uses another name, not really ants related, look for programs that you really do not know you ever installed this, or is completely unknown for you. If you are sure you have no memory of this app, you can safely uninstall it. Malwarebytes program will not do anything in your case, as this is not malware related.

[AnotherConcernedCitizen]

Is this what you are seeing?

auz.github.io/Bug/

I found this discussion via websearch:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/620622/insect-on-screen-malware/

[yragha]

I'm very hesitant to click on links (even that link above) these days that's why it shocked me when 5 or 6 ants after I returned from lunch at work were following my mouse's every move.   

 

Odd thing.  I went home for the night and this morning not a sign of them.  Then after the fact I installed Malwatebytes on the office computer and it found nothing.  I'm befuddled. 

 

I was streaming a radio station yesterday one which I always have streamed but contains ads.  I'm wondering now if that's what may have caused this.  The only thing "only" sign of 12 ants yesterday outside of them following my mouse around was a zip file which I deleted but yesterday they kept coming.  Nothing in add/remove apps. 

[AnotherConcernedCitizen]

I appreciate your hesitation, but would never have considered posting either had I detected anything untoward.  Sorry,  I probably should have obscured them somehow.(insert code?).

The upshot was that these are common javascript 'toys', not malware. The forum post suggested 'disabling a screensaver', but it could just as easily have been something in the browser cache.

[Maurice Naggar]

Curious as to why you refer to the term "ants".

and,  could you get a screen grab-image of what you are seeing ?

See how-to   https://www2.owens.edu/faq/entry/67/

Then attach the image with next reply.

Thanks

[yragha]

Thanks for replying and understanding. 

I've password protected my work computer this morning.  We'll see if the creatures return.

Both Malwatebytes and I just ran Adwcleaner as suggested showed nada. 

[yragha]

2 minutes ago, Maurice Naggar said:

Curious as to why you refer to the term "ants".

and,  could you get a screen grab-image of what you are seeing ?

See how-to   https://www2.owens.edu/faq/entry/67/

Then attach the image with next reply.

Thanks

Familiar with computers and careful at that which is why this dumbfounded me yesterday and even more so today because their is NO SIGN of the critters.  Here's a pix I found on the web. 

[Maurice Naggar]

Q:  Is any web browser running at that time ?

Q:  Have you restarted Windows today ?

[yragha]

Yesterday Chrome streaming radio station. 

 

Today no sign but ran Malwatebytes then anyhow which found 0 and restarted. 

[Maurice Naggar]

a) Delete all cache files in Chrome.

b)

See this article on our Malwarebytes Blog
https://blog.malwarebytes.com/security-world/technology/2019/01/browser-push-notifications-feature-asking-abused/

 

You want to disable the ability of each web browser on this machine from being able to allow "push ads". That means Chrome, Firefox, or Edge browser (on Windows 10), or on Opera.

Scroll down to the tips section "How do I disable them".

c)

also, if you use Chrome or Firefox browser, install the Malwarebytes beta browser extension.  There is one for Chrome & another for Firefox.

To get & install the Malwarebytes beta Chrome extension,

Open this link in your Chrome browser: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/malwarebytes/ihcjicgdanjaechkgeegckofjjedodee

Then proceed with the setup.

d)

Get ScriptSafe   for Chrome browser

Edited July 26, 2019 by Maurice Naggar
fix typo