Chess.com SPYWARE infestation!

I still am not seeing what chess.com would gain from installing spyware on a chess site.

I remember, way back not long after I joined 8 years ago (back in the days of V2), the site offered a download of some kind of toolbar, or something like that (I don't remember the details). I remember researching it and discovering that it contained a well-known piece of malware. I remember screaming bloody murder about it, but it was still offered for a time after that. Thankfully, at least that episode is in the past. Of course, they never talked about that part of it, so I'll never know whether it was done on purpose or whether they were just clueless.

It's clear that the site wants the money from the ads, so it's more likely that if anything untoward is happening here, it's just sneaking in via periodic episodes of malvertising from the ad servers.

ah ok. 8 years ago I was on chesskid, so I wouldn't know of anything that happened there. Still I feel like it wouldn't be on purpose

I tend to agree with you, but I think the ad server situation *IS* a real problem that the site doesn't seem to feel the need to address. To protect my system, I had to resort to ad blockers and script blockers.

When I didn't have premium I don't remember seeing ads for some reason, or if there were they weren't too big of a problem for me.

Uh dude

I've been here 2 years and am fine

So something is up on your side  

That response has been given to people who complain about problems for years. Chances are everything on your side IS fine. Or at least you think it is. And chances are things are NOT fine for the people complaining. Both are very possible. It's just that something has been, and is, still going on. If it doesn't affect you, that doesn't mean it's not affecting others. 

Escher had a good point. That seems like the most reasonable explanation. 

Hmm I am reminded of a virus I read about( Don't know what it did)

The "I Love You" Virus

wasn't it a worm?

Patriots

The thing is

If it isn't a site wide problem

Then it's an issue on the user's behalf 

not on the server's behalf

Correct?

I dont know. But I know that response has been given for years. It seems to me if installing some sort of adblocker, malware fixer, or just stop playing live chess fixes the problem, then it's probably not the user. It's probably chess.com. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Did you read the OP(sorry)

But this isn't related

Just for fun, a little while ago, I grabbed a couple of Linux Live USB thumb drives (just a couple of random lightweight Linux distros that I had laying around; PeppermintOS and MX Linux) and booted each one up. I tried logging into the site via Firefox, Chrome, and Chromium, and I didn't add any extensions to the browsers. I made sure to go to the Live chess room. In each case, I got lots of ads, but no popups (except for the one asking to allow notifications) or "scanning your browser" messages. If you're concerned about Cloudflare or evil, elite programmers, this might be a workable solution, as the Linux thumb drives have no connection to your other OS, and they don't even have persistence (changes aren't kept after rebooting). If you wanted persistence, you could always actually install the full Linux OS to the thumb drive. And the only cost would be the cost of the thumb drive, which you may already have.

I just ran another test. I booted up my MX Linux Live thumb drive, installed the Google Chrome browser, then installed Adblock Plus, NoScript, and uBlock Origin in the browser. (For NoScript, in order to log into Chess.com, you have to allow two scripts: Chess.com, and Chesscomfiles.com.) I logged into Chess.com, and the only Chess.com popup I got was asking to allow notifications, which I just closed without answering yes or no.

I checked a few forum posts, then I went to Live Chess and played one game against a bot. It let me play the game, and I never got another popup. Of course, no ads due to the other extensions being installed.

Now, the only real difference between my experience and yours is the OS. I was running Linux, and I'm assuming you're running Windows 10, since you previously mentioned Windows Defender.

I'm wondering if your problems could be caused by the malware that may already be on your system?

Win 10 is a problem for me. When I left Win 7 last January due to end of life, I refused to go to Win 10 due to all the problems with it, including the increased telemetry. That's what forced me to decide to go to Linux. So, I don't run Win 10 and can't run tests based on it.

Regarding your situation, Windows Defender is decent, but there could be stuff on your system that it just can't find. You might try going to Bleepingcomputer.com and downloading their AdwCleaner program. Also, there's a USB bootable AV program called "Bitdefender Rescue CD" that I've had good luck with. If you can't find the download link, I could look it up. You download the ISO file and use Rufus to burn it to a USB thumb drive. Then boot into it to run the Bitdefender AV program. The advantage of Bitdefender is that it scans your system when Windows isn't running.

Well, I'm having a hard time finding the link to the Bitdefender ISO file. It's been a while since I downloaded it, and it looks like they changed up their download pages. Also, reviewing my notes, I had problems trying to burn the ISO using Rufus, but the Stickifier burner worked OK. If I can find the links, I'll post them here, but it looks like they may be trying to hide them these days. :-(

Nevermind about Bitdefender Rescue CD - After a bit of searching, it appears that they are no longer offering that software. (sad face) The bad news for me is that's one less AV program I can use - The good news for me is that's one thumb drive freed up for other uses. :-)

I hate to say it, but if I were in your shoes, if AdwCleaner doesn't do the job, I'd consider a fresh install of Win 10 along with a HD reformat. (Make a cloned image of your present install first, just in case the fresh install goes south on you.)

Yeah, I kept my Win 7 setup. I have a two-hard drive, dual-boot arrangement, but my Win 7 never sees the internet these days.

Mate people legit ran test, disproving you

It. Is. A. Problem. With. Your. System.

👍w