# I keep getting redirected to an ad for something called "ZoneAlarm" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853 "2011-06-09T14:31:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/1 "2011-06-09T14:31:48Z")
This is the second time it has happened. I didn’t click on anything; I was just browsing, and was forced into an advertisement. It’s not a pop-up. I’m taken to a different page, away from the SDMB, in my current browser window. It happened yesterday morning in the middle of me reading a thread, then it happened again just now while looking through thread titles on the MPSIMS main page. [Screen shot here.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/MeanOldLady/zonealarmbs.jpg) Has anyone else seen this? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/2 "2011-06-09T14:40:55Z")
This happened to me last night, and just now, from the Cafe Society main page. This is worrisome - I’ve been able to defend all of the other attacks from the Dope. Please let us know if this is some kind of cookie in our PCs, or if it’s on the Dope servers. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/3 "2011-06-09T14:51:27Z")
Zone Alarm is (or was) a top rated firewall. I used it for years but when I got DSL, it wouldn’t play nice with the connection so I ditched it for the Windows Firewall. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/4 "2011-06-09T15:09:36Z")
Happened to me yesterday, I think in the pit. I rebooted in safe mode and ran antivirus and Malwarebytes and came up with nothing, but I’ve been hit with fake antivirus malware before so it had me worried. ZoneAlarm seems to be a legit product but who knows what else was going on. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/5 "2011-06-09T15:19:26Z")
Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/6 "2011-06-09T15:34:53Z")
I saw this yesterday as well. I thought I’d accidentally clicked on one of the ads or something. Glad to know it’s not just me (although that does make it more worrisome). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/7 "2011-06-09T17:56:25Z")
Could it be a fake ad for ZoneAlarm? That is, some site pretending to be them, phishing as it were, in order to fool people into thinking they were getting the real thing instead of scumware. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/8 "2011-06-09T18:20:38Z")
I got it today. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/9 "2011-06-09T18:29:01Z")
I just had to reformat due to google image search malware. When I reinstalled I added something called “No script” to firefox that was recommended to help stop the google image search malware and others. It’s a little annoying at first because you have to add things you want to run scripts to the whitelist but it also helps you see what’s trying to run scripts on a webpage. I don’t know what all the scripts are but there are currently four scripts trying to run on this page that I have not allowed. Anyway, if you have firefox you may want to try this. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/10 "2011-06-09T18:31:16Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > I saw this yesterday as well. I thought I’d accidentally clicked on one of the ads or something. Yeah, I thought for a moment, before bothering to upload a photo and post, that maybe nothing actually happened and I’d clumsily clicked on an ad by mistake. When it happened again today, I felt it was safe to say that it wasn’t user error (this time). ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/11 "2011-06-09T20:07:03Z")
I’ve reported this to our ad provider and they’re looking into it. Thanks for the screen shot. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/12 "2011-06-10T00:05:58Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Could it be a fake ad for ZoneAlarm? That is, some site pretending to be them, phishing as it were, in order to fool people into thinking they were getting the real thing instead of scumware. Not unless Internet Explorer has a major security flaw, as the address bar in her photo goes to zonealarm’s website. I’d more likely suspect a poorly coded ad, then a bad ad that drops you off somewhere else, checking for security holes, and then redirects you afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/13 "2011-06-10T15:46:37Z")
Happened to me yesterday, again this morning. Both times I assumed I inadvertently did something to cause it. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/14 "2011-06-10T15:50:55Z")
BigT makes a good point – this could be just a badly coded/miscoded ad that is acting strangely because it is in error. I tend to think this because usually Zone Alarm is one of the “good guys.” I can’t imagine they would be doing anything rogue. Thank you for all the reports. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/15 "2011-06-10T16:59:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Happened to me yesterday, again this morning. Both times I assumed I inadvertently did something to cause it. Me too (twice) but what I did was click on a thread each time. My updated explorer had been catching a lot of cross-linking on SDMB before yesterday. Can that be related to the problem? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/16 "2011-06-10T17:04:32Z")
Wouldn’t a bad script affect all users? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/17 "2011-06-10T21:44:02Z")
I got hit with this earlier today while visiting another web site. It is indeed something that redirects directly to ZoneAlarm’s site. Which means there’s a 90+% chance the ZA knows perfectly well the ad server supplier is doing this evil thing. I had a lot of tabs (none The Dope) open so I don’t know which site nor which ad server was doing this but I really want to find out so I can block the ad server at the source. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/18 "2011-06-11T15:30:43Z")
Twice to me also. Today and yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/19 "2011-06-11T16:04:01Z")
Just got it when trying to go to the “ATMB” forum. Joe ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853/20 "2011-06-11T16:18:52Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > I got hit with this earlier today while visiting another web site. It is indeed something that redirects directly to ZoneAlarm’s site. Which means there’s a 90+% chance the ZA knows perfectly well the ad server supplier is doing this evil thing. > > I had a lot of tabs (none The Dope) open so I don’t know which site nor which ad server was doing this but I really want to find out so I can block the ad server at the source. I’m curious - why not just block all ads? It’s simple and effective. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-keep-getting-redirected-to-an-ad-for-something-called-zonealarm/584853.md?page=2)