Home Forums Networks & Cross-Platform Networking Safari and a malware issue

This is a tip about Safari but it could apply to other browsers as well. Troubleshooting some nasty Safari malware It also may encourage people to upgrade to El Cap or Sierra.

I've seen this many times. The immediate solution I thought of before anything else was the one the person in the linked article eventually came around to: turn off WiFi, run Safari, close the (blank, because you aren't connected to the Internet) window, change your home page.

I have been deliberately seeking out these pages, because I'm doing a project involving tracking down the folks responsible. The 800 numbers lead to call centers in India, safely out of the reach of US law enforcement, but it seems the actual masterminds may be in the US.

In any event, my sleuthing--I've uncovered a couple dozen such sites so far, all with different domains but all leading to the same Indian call centers--revealed something surprising: Almost all these malicious domains live on the Same Web host: GoDaddy.

i tangled with GoDaddy's PR person in a public conversation on Twitter, to no effect. I use GoDaddy as the registrar for all my domain names, including Fine Tuned Mac.

Since multiple attempts over a period of more than a month have been completely ineffective at getting GoDaddy to take action against these malicious domains, I am now transferring all my domains off GoDaddy, and recommending that friends, clients, and everyone else do likewise. Since being bought out by a private equity firm, it seems GoDaddy has fired most of its abuse staff, and now permits (or at least takes no action against) malware and scammers.

Another result of short term profit being the ONLY motive⁉️ That is a genuine shame.

I think the problem isn't so much corporate stupidity as it is middle management incompetence. Return On Investment (ROI) is important to middle managers, it's what keeps them employed. Make sure you are prepared at any time to demonstrate the value of your department to your company if asked to. Periodically, when CEOs and boards ask the CFO where the next corner to cut is, they in turn check with their bean counters and managers, to review the ROI of all the major expenses. The lowest rated one is usually placed in the crosshairs.

"Mr Abuse Staff Manager, what does your team do for the company?" ITS A TRAP! What he's really asking you: "I don't care what you do. Give me several good reasons why we shouldn't cut some of your staff or slash your budget to save some money and make our shareholders smile".

Wrong answer: "We investigate fraud, respond to customer complaints of abuse, and work with law enforcement agencies." What they hear: "Nothing important, we don't make the company any money or save them from any expenses. There aren't any downsides to cutting back this department, it will just save the company some money. We're the dead wood you've been looking for all morning."

Right answer: "We protect the company's public image by investigating fraud, maintain customer satisfaction and subscriptions by resolving complaints of abuse, and prevent legal expense and exposure by working with law enforcement agencies." What they hear: "We provide valuable and essential services to the company. Cutbacks in our area will incur ongoing and widespread additional expenses that greatly exceed any savings generated by cutbacks. We're an excellent value for what we cost and you'd be a fool to mess with it."

If you don't know how to sell it, you shouldn't be surprised when they bring in the hatchet.