There is a new form of malware going around which has installed a very annoying popup at the bottom of web browsers. It is called the “Meebo Bar,” and it is very difficult to remove.
Here’s what it looks like (shown sideways to display it thoroughly without messing up the formatting):
And if you click on the bar for information, here’s what it says:
What is this bar?
This social bar from the Monitor and our partners at Meebo enables easy sharing of your favorite Monitor stories and photo galleries via Facebook, Twitter, email, and more. It also gives you direct access to our social media platforms, subscription products, and other great Monitor content. And, with the ‘Connect via Meebo’ function, you can chat or share content via Instant Message.
Try it out. We hope you like it. We’ll be updating it regularly, so stay tuned.
Hiding the bar
You can hide and reveal the Meebo bar using the button at its right end. If the bar does not stay hidden, you may be blocking cookies from our site. For more information, see The Meebo bar.
I don’t want to “hide” the blasted thing, I want it GONE! It is intolerable to discover that an intrusive gadget I don’t want has been installed without my consent.
The people behind this malware virus are claiming to be a legitimate company, and under “support” (as if that’s what you call wanting to be rid of a damnable and detestable virus product you neither installed nor wanted) they offer “instructions” for its removal:
How do I uninstall the MiniBar?
In Firefox:
Go to Tools->Add-Ons. Choose the Meebo extension (in the Extensions category), and click Remove.
Wrong! It is not listed among Add-Ons.
These scum-sucking bastards are among the lowest form of life on the Internet.
Any ideas on how to remove the blasted thing, I’m all ears.
I wish I could sue them.
MORE: I have tried the solutions offered here, but none of them work. Meebo is still there.
The bastards really put some effort into making this monstrosity bulletproof.
AND MORE: As entering the company’s dot com didn’t work, I finally tried adding the URL with an asterisk in the Ad Block Plus Options manager:
*.meebo.com
That seems to have done it.
Bastards.
I should add that the reason I thought this was worth a post is that I am spending waaay too much time clicking my way out of popups. Things have reached a point where I am almost fearful about clicking links. I don’t need the stress, the anger, the tendonitis. This Meebo thing proved especially vicious, and especially annoying; hence the post.
In general, I would be willing to pay more to avoid advertising. That was once the idea behind cable TV. But things just didn’t work out, did they?
AFTERTHOUGHT: My kvetching aside, I believe there is a First Amendment right to advertise. But is there a right to invade my space and my computer, make me exhaust and possibly injure my fingers and joints, waste endless time, and have my activity monitored when I don’t want that? (I am also sick of seeing ads for items I looked at once being flashed at me for days.) The problem is that there is no easy way to avoid popup-laden web sites if I want, because there is no way to know where they are. No choice is available. The popup blockers are always a step behind the popups.
Advertising is also slowing down the Internet — to the point where in many cases, it approaches the old dialup speeds.
UPDATE: Many thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the “HORROR OF MEEBO” link. (The traffic overwhelmed the blog so much this morning that I was wondering whether the Meeboid minions were after me.)
I appreciate the advice from commenters, and have already installed No Script, although that takes some work adjusting.
A warm welcome to all, and please feel free to share any similar experiences.
Comments
27 responses to “Death to Meebo!”
This was the most helpful:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1837465
I haven’t had a virus nor anything of the sort for years. And I web surf a lot.
If you don’t have a good enough firewall and anti-virus consider Comodo and Avast respectively. Also it helps to set your browser to clear cookies every time it closes (you can also delete flash cookies with the BetterPrivacy addon).
The “Meebo Bar” itself seems to be content on the webpage; it’s not a browser addin.
(As Simon’s link says; it’s not the same thing as the “Meebo MiniBar”, which is installable in your browser.)
Nothing was installed without your consent – it’s just the site owner being self-sabotaging with useless crap that someone told him will “get more views” or some similar idiocy.
Best to inform them that their site is user-hostile and they’re in danger of losing a reader (and thus valuable page views) if they don’t stop being eyeball-abusive.
Sigivald is right. The Meebo bar is not malware — it is just a new sort of interactive banner ad that a lot of publishers are starting to add to the footer of their site. Meebo likes it, because it turns more people on to their web-based instant messaging platform. These publishers like it because it is a new form of ad revenue. But certainly, a lot of users are not fans.
Here are some sites that are serving the Meebo footer:
http://www.cafemom.com/
http://www.fanpop.com/
http://www.playlist.com/
Try adding NoScript to your FireFox. It usually stops what AdBlock misses.
Am using AdBlockPlus and NoScript and i NEVER get pop ups but, even better. I been using Linux for 12 years and NEVER had a virus in that time.
I second the NoScript recommendation for Firefox. Noscript also tends to make pages load faster by removing the advertising junk…
On the other hand, if you are worried that you might have something nasty on your (Windows) computer then may I suggest downloading ThreatCHECk (http://www.threatstop.com/threatcheck ) and running it periodically while you are going around the web. If there is something nasty on your computer it’s likely that this app will notice that your computer is visiting odd places you weren’t expecting.
I also wish to shout out for NoScript. It’s one of the three most valuable add-ons I have, along with ad-block and Web of Trust. I force my wife to use it against her will, and she usually just bypasses it because she, “just wants the browser to work”, which I admit is a bit annoying, but definitely the wrong attitude to have. That attitude is dangerous on the modern PC, and even if I let her have an overpriced Apple like she wants, she will not be safe on the Internet. 90% of all Java scripts are disallowed on my laptop while 99% is allowed on hers. Her attitude is the reason I also have to shell out an additional $20 (sale price) on an Internet security suite every year. Otherwise the family Internet hygiene in our family would be impeccable. Practice good Internet Hygiene, don’t stick strange code in your browser.
Just wait until you get infected by AV-protection-2011 if you are looking for one that is nearly impossible to remove.
+1 on NoScript. OpenDNS (www.opendns.com) is another great help in automatically blocking all kinds of bad stuff. I also use FlashBlock, Force-TLS, and BlockSite, not to mention Microsoft Security Essentials and an AirportExtreme router.
Thanks for the tip. I have added the *meebo to AdBlock.
It’s on websites going after ad revenue.
You want irritating? How about those webpages that start an ad movie up when you get on them. Usually you have to scroll down half a mile to locate where the little noisemaker is to shut it up.
@Jupiter – 🙂 of course you haven’t had a virus in ten years. Why would anyone write virus that would only ever hit a relatively tiny number of machines. That’s one underachieving hacker..
Meebo’s little link is bad enough. However, it’s only one such company that specializes in underlining text on web pages. Not only is this annoying (and prone to bring up an unwanted popup), the searches are ALWAYS useless.
I will add my voice to the Linux crowd!
The internet is a Fun and Safe place, if you run Linux!
I run eLive, and had to stop using Opera for routine browsing, as there was so *much* multimedia crap coming through that it was bogging the machine. Open more than three tabs, and -hey, presto!- things slowed waaaay down…!
I found Links2, which displays text and still pix, and my Internet is back to blistering-fast…
And I Defy You to write a piece of drive-by-download malware for Linux!!
It can’t be done. Period. End of report.
Anyone who suffers from one of those nearly impossible to remove things like AV-Protection-2011 should do a google search for “linux antivirus live cd”.
I’m a big fan of the Kaspersky Rescue Disk myself but they all work basically the same.
You boot into linux with the live cd so windows doesn’t start, which means windows PROCESSES never start. Then the on board antivirus clobbers the nearly impossible to remove virus.
Reboot into windows.
What’s not to like?
AdAware and/or SpyBot will likely be capable of permanently removing Meebo. Worth a try anyway.
Also check Control Panel > Program and Features (Windows 7. XP it’s Add Or Remove Programs I think)and see if it’s on the list of programs. If it is, click it and remove it from there.
Regardless, after every clean/remove, be sure to reboot and recheck/redo. Some spyware can be amazingly persistent. By not launching any browsers between reboots though, you can usually root them out in 2-3 tries. If it doesn’t work in 3 tries, something more drastic will be required, which, find someone who knows what they’re doing before taking drastic action.
I also advise downloading/installing CCleaner. Play with its options, root around, it’s pretty intuitive, and does lots of wonderful things to clean up a computer and also sterilize it of deleted content (by wiping free space).
All of these programs are free, incidentally.
I also run Microsoft Security Essentials (also free), and it has kept me bug free since intallation. It does the same thing as McAfee/Norton/Expensive Anti-Virus Program, only it uses fewer system resources. It’s the geek’s Windows anti-virus of choice, and it can stop things like Meebo from installing themselves in the first place.
It always cracks me up to see the Linuxi brag about how they/v never had a virus in XX years, given the number of folks I know using Windows who could say the same thing. Those are the “Brian thinkers,” you could say.
The poor buggers who get pounded by infections are “Brian’s wife thinkers.”
Echo the props for MS Security Essentials. It works pretty well, and has even received an Orchid from Jerry Pournelle.
[…] who spends time online knows what a constant annoyance viruses, malware, adware, spyware, Trojans, unwanted self-installing “bars,” and all that other crap can be. I like to think that I am at least fairly conscientious about […]
Security Essentials here. Also, some suggestiosn if you use IE (8 and above):
1) Change security settings for the Internet Zone to be restrictive. If you find a site that you need to use, consider putting it in the ‘Trusted Sites’ zone… but be careful. If the site gets busted somehow (XSS attack, for instance), you’re still at risk
2) Add sites to the ‘Restricted Sites’ zone as needed. Change the security settings to Taliban level (don’t allow ActiveX, don’t allow JavaScript, etc. etc.). Good for Advertising sites, as well as strange 3rd-party sites that may run blank-check hosting for those with hostile intentions.
3) Change permissions for ALL ActiveX/AddOns to be a whitelist, rather than openly permissive. If you go to Manage Add-Ons, you can click on individual extensions (Java, Flash, etc.). There should be a ‘More options’ link in the information pane about the add-on. Clicking on this brings up a new window with a big box indicating “Approved Sites to Run this Add-On”. Notice the asterix? *BAD*. Click Remove All Sites. This will clear the ‘allow all’ functionality. You’ll then get the “Do You Want?” yellow bar every time a page tries to load, but it won’t run the app. If you DO accept the yellow bar, the site (specifically, whichever one was trying to load the add-on) will then get on the whitelist and it will be able to load that plugin at will.
I 100% agree with your post. And the tip worked thanks. One less little annoyance in my life.
Don’t write a blog about something you know nothing about. Meebo is a script that the web-designer installs into THEIR website. It allows social network functioning, sharing content with others, etc. It’s a good tool to bring more viewers to their website.
It is NOT malware. Malware installs onto your computer itself. This does not. It is nothing more than a bit of javascript that runs when you go to a website. It’s nothing bad. You’re just a moron.
By your logic, websites would have no advertising at all and fire everyone who works at the company.. Meebo is fine. You’re specifically complaining about someone who probably turned on web-notifications in their options which causes pop-ups for advertisements etc.
I use something like Meebo and do nothing like that. I just use it for easy share buttons on all the social networks. Nothing more, nothing less.
Basically, this is javascript built into the webpage itself.
(1)To fix the problem, add “AdBlock Plus” to your extensions/addons.
(2) Go to: http://easylist.adblockplus.org/en/ and use the Easy List and Easy Privacy to your AdBlock+ addon.
These little problems go away.
LOL. MUHAHAHA. That’s not installed on your PC, dumbass. It’s part of the web page that you are viewing. Website owners can install it on their sites so whenever you look at their pages, you’ll see the bar. Of course you can’t remove it, any more than you can remove an ugly image from their site, because it doesn’t belong to you.
I use Firefox and have No Script installed which allows me to block all kinds of unwanted java script crap and it works on Meebo also.
Fuck you, Dan May. You don’t have get rude to people just because they don’t know something that you do. Who died and made you the computer/internet God?