Virus Warning
Now you guys, I'm sure you're smarter than me. But if you do notice a big spike in your blogger stats, 50 hits a day from someone you follow, don't go and check them out. Otherwise -- kerplammy-- you'll might get virus fever just like me.
I've nicked Chris' computer to write this, and the lovely people at Dell are trying to sort me out, but I'm still a little feverish.
I don't know where the virus came from, I can't blame Blogger. But there's some funny business going on.
I don't know where the virus came from, I can't blame Blogger. But there's some funny business going on.
I cannot say for sure if this is the case.
BUT I am well aware that my blog stats has spiked AND that it has made other people spike as well.
I would feel terrible if my blog causes the loss of data, information and money to my friends. So please, as a personal favor, I am BEGGING you to update your antivirus software right now and do a scan.
Please.
I also want to ask you to please spread the word in case the threat is real.
This exact same thing is happening to me--and many of the hits came from your blog (and others'). I've been trying to figure out what it is. Do you know for sure it's a virus? Whether or not it is, I'll be sure to do a good virus scan!
ReplyDeleteHmm? I can't seem to get my post here. Maybe my virus protection software is protecting me?
ReplyDeleteWell, I see it finally went through. Hope you get it all worked out.
ReplyDeleteThis is so scary! I've never thought about our blogs being targeted. Grr... I hope all is well!
ReplyDeleteNot certain it's a virus. You can get spikes in blog visitors if your blog is optimized for search engines, but shouldn't be serious. Thanks for the warning!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your computer got hacked. That's terrible!
ReplyDeleteI generally don't check out who it is that's visiting though.
That's kind of funny, Misha. I actually came here to tell you, "I can't say why, but I seem to be getting a lot of views from your blog."
ReplyDeleteIn only the past week I've had 182 views.
I ran a scan just for the sake of it.
Thank you so much for the warning!Gosh i cant imagine what would happen if my laptop crashed! Have a great free-virus week! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your computer! Hope it gets fixed, and thanks for the warning!
ReplyDeleteInteresting and scary. I have noticed a lot of spikes in views from certain blogs, but they are ones I know about. Will do a virus scan now!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Someone has been clicking on some phishing emails I bet.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I am, checking your blog! Sigh. I hope it gets sorted soon. Thanks for the heads up! :)
ReplyDeleteI've seen this all over blogger -- others have mentioned the spike. I've had a spike, too.
ReplyDeleteI am running scared. I usually don't check the stats, and now I won't. Will talk to a wiser computer savvy son-in-law. Thanks for the heads-up.
ReplyDeleteHopefully your computer turns out okay! I'll keep a look out just to be safe!
ReplyDeleteI have a theory about this. Right now I am looking at your main page and, down in the left-hand corner of my screen, Mozilla is telling me that it's looking up/ transferring data from basically everybody in your blogroll (in order to update it). Each time it does that, I think that essentially counts as a view for that blog in Blogger. And surprise surprise, your blog is the source because it's your blog that's looking up everyone on your blogroll. So I don't necessarily think the stats thing is a virus -- I think it's a glitch.
ReplyDeleteEvery time anyone comes here they basically visit everyone's blog on your blogroll!
Damn, I really thought I had lots of extra readers.... Oh well.
It looks like Neil sorted it out (above). I was a little weirded out that I had over 100 referrals from your blog. Not that I don't welcome blog hits. ;) I just had a feeling something was off.
ReplyDeleteBlogger has been funky ever since the big crash a few weeks ago. I hope they sort it out soon.
I have noticed a bog spike - I was hoping I'd suddenly become popular :) - and it seems to be stemming from your blog. Blogger has been all kinds of trouble lately, so I'm hoping, like Nell said, that it's a Blogger glitch and not a virus.
ReplyDeleteEveryone on blogger is seeing a spike in stats. I think it's a Blogger issue instead of a virus. But you never know. I'm getting hundreds of extra hits a day, all from sites I follow and who have me on their blog roll.
ReplyDeleteAHA!!!!! I did wonder! :-D
ReplyDeleteWell as far as I am concerned all the hits can stay :-D
Cheers
paul
Ah, so I'm not the only one having spikes. I was confused, looking at the traffic sources all the blogs I'm getting hits from have me on their blog roll so what Neil says makes sense. Hopefully, it will be fixed and I can see what my normal stats are.
ReplyDeleteI just read another posts about a blogger who found a sudden spike in their stats--I wonder what's going on!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your computer troubles--thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteI noticed a whole lot of traffic coming in from your blog, yesterday, so I came by to see if you'd posted a link. Decided it was a fluke. But I've had 400+ of so more hits than usual both days.
ReplyDeleteI also started getting a whole lot of blog spam. Luckily the Blogger spamguard stops them. But maybe it's getting overloaded or something.
I just ran a full McAfee scan and it didn't find anything.
I hope it's safe to be here, because I want to check back and see how everybody is faring. We gotta hope it's not some new blog-attacking virus.
Ooooh, I've had a complaint from a reader in Africa that he hasn't been able to access Blogger sites for the last two days. I wonder if this is all related to some huge Nigerian spam attack?
Thanks, Neil, for being hopeful (and for catching that awful typo in my blog bio!)
And Misha, chin up. We'll survive this!
Saw the spike, figured it coincided with a post that got a lot of comments and then promptly brushed it off.
ReplyDeleteI fear no phishing attack (which is what this sounded like not an actual virus-it has to be downloaded for it to be an actual virus). Between Google Chrome and Malware Bytes (nifty program that goes one step further than firewall & anti virus programs for keeling things) ain't nothing touching my stuff. Then again I'm computer literate and don't click things that generally spread viruses.
I hope Neil is right in his theory. I've only seen one mention of this spike so far. I haven't looked at my stats lately, but I guess maybe I should.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
I have never looked at my stats at all. This is really scary. I thought our blogs were safe.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought I'm finally doing something right...lol
ReplyDeleteI had been thinking the same as Neil, because I get the spikes from different sites, all of which display a blogroll I'm in.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like those pageviews are counted, which makes sense if that website calls for our articles every time someone loads it.
Thank you for the information..I should go and check my anti virus:)
ReplyDeleteI haven't had that, my numbers are about the same, but last night I discovered Google Images, and how if I type in my blog name, they have a lot of my blog photos on there for anybody to take. They have good taste ... the only ones that I was ever really worried about somebody stealing are the ones front and center. Dang. I am not on Photobucket or any sharing program, so this really upsets me. It is like FB, changing the rules in midstream.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck and thanks for the heads up!
Kathy M.
Me again ... if you get some referrals from my blog today, it is because I included a link to your post in mine. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
Having the same issue from your blog - spiking 50+ hits / day - like 200+ referrals from you in the past few days. Will run a scan! I have a Mac - any idea where it might be?
ReplyDeleteAnd, was sort of hoping/thinking the same thing from Neil! I was just about to do some research on the blogroll thing ...
ReplyDeletebut thanks for including me on it!! ;)
Sarah, I can't put money on it being a virus. I'd just prefer to take precautions rather than getting hit by surprise.
ReplyDeleteThanks Em. I'm waiting for blogger to respond.
Me too, Sheri.
Fic, can be, but I don't think a week-long spike counts as normal anymore.
Maria I luckily haven't gotten hack. Just passing the warning on. :-)
Lol Ryan. Oh well, looks like you came out ok. :-)
My pleasure, Murugi.
Luckily it isn't my computer, but thanks for your concern. ^_^
Karen it's the same with me. That's why I thought to let you all know. I didn't get hit either, but feel better for knowing that it's a possibility.
Michael, from the description that she gave in the comments it did seem more like a phishing attack. Except that it froze her computer.
I hope so too, Carolyn. Thanks for stopping by!
Mary, that just shows me that it has to be something abnormal. I'm leaning to Neil's explanation below, but took precautions just in case it isn't.
Pleasure Susan. :-)
That's good to hear, Devin.
Neil, I really hope that that's the case. Thanks for letting me know. :-D
ReplyDeleteJeanmarie I'm thinking that they will. They're busy upgrading the blogger accounts and changing up the codes - which I think is the reason for the wacking out recently. (I've been drawn to test the new blogger and trust me. It's awesome.)
Susanna I thought I'd become more popular too. On the other hand (if the links prove to be safe), it provides me with lots of real traffic too. ^_^
L.G. I'm also inclined to think that it's a glitch. Because the hits seem to spike everywhere. :-/
Hehehe Paul, they're great. Except that I'm struggling to keep track with what's real and what isn't. But I know it's been attracting quite a few people to my blog.
Patricia, I'm hoping that blogger will respond soon. I contacted them through the feedback button and through the forum. Not sure where else to get them.
Golden I wish I knew. :-)
Thanks Elle. :-)
Anne I've also had in excess of 400 hits every day from Tuesday. I haven't gotten spam as far as I know, so I'll have to check it out.
Hehehe Steph. I'll go check out Malware Bytes. :-)
Lee almost everyone I've asked are experiencing spikes. I don't think that it's something as damaging as a virus, but it's better to be sure.
Rachna, my hope is that they still are. For all we know, it could be another Blogger glitch.
Lol the same happened with me, Wendy.
True, KC, but why is it suddenly happening now?
Pleasure, Sunny.
Kathy, as far as I know, they still belong to you... If someone uses those pics without permission, they can get into some trouble about it. Also, thanks for linking to my post!
My pleasure, Alana. Unfortunately I can't help you with Mac. I'm a PC kind of girl. ;-P Thanks for stopping by.
Just came from Kathy Matthews blog..and yes I checked my stats there are some days that that stats spiked too high. I did noticed this before but didn't figure out that this might be a virus or what. I didn't click these url that causes some spikes because I wonder it already and in the first place am not familiar of the url's name. Unlike when we go blog hopping we knew the name and url even if they are not in our blog list, but to those url that just appear in my stats I woule never try to click it for all we knew it's a spammer and a virus too. My concern is that how to block this url?
ReplyDeleteHere is also one thing there are some bloggers that when you visit to their blogs you don't see any face of the author THAT brings me a RED FLAG TOO!! I try to keep away to this kind of bloggers who knows they are for something not nice. ^_^
So are these real hits or is the program just reporting more hits?
ReplyDeleteJoyce
http://joycelansky.blogspot.com
I noticed the spike 2 weeks ago, tweeted about it, Dm'ed Blogger, looked for blogger threads - no help, no one seems concerned. I've used Avast! security for years, and it's picked up 1 or 2 threats in the past, but nothing now. Still, I don't bother to look at Blogger stats any more; I have a Revolver Map and hit counter which seems accurate, jives with the number and sources of comments, and tells me the countries. That's all I need. Hope you get your computer sorted out soon.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the spike's coming down a bit. I hope it equalises and stays down.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm not just seeing things.
Kim, I wouln't want to block the URLs as they all belong to blogs that I follow and to people who support me. :-(
ReplyDeleteJoyce it's probably just a blogger glitch. It normalized on my profile on Saturday.
Li I found the same thing, but I did bring it to Blogger's attention.
Ryan my spike also ended over the weekend.
Thanks for this blog. I found it investigating such a spike in my stats. I am saddened to read that it is a computer glitch and not actual readers.
ReplyDeleteThough if you wish to cheer me up you can all go to my blog anyway ;-)
Good blog, enjoyed wading through your blogs to find this one. Keep it up.
Finally! I was so curious as to why I had 176 hits from your page, haha! I was like, "holy cow, does she like my blog that much???"
ReplyDeleteMystery solved, for the most part. Still kind of mysterious, but thanks for posting this!