Why does Hubpages have a 'Bad Reputation' with Avast anti virus?

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   Thomas Swanposted 11 years ago

   I recently installed Avast anti-virus free edition. It puts little icons next to google search results to tell you if the site is safe or not. It seems that every hubpages link in search results has a yellow marker saying "This site has a bad reputation". Seeing as Avast is one of the most popular anti-virus programs out there, how much traffic do you think is being lost because of this? Why has this happened, and can the hubpages staff do anything about it?

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Not sure this is the right forum category for this question--it might better go into the technical issues thread.
      
      That said, I've had a related issue.  I rarely try to access the Internet at all from my Nook reader, because it just isn't a user-friendly platform for that.
      
        Last night, however, I had already shut down my computer, and wanted to check something on my Hub Pages account.  When the site came up, I got a warning saying there was a problem with the site's security certificate, and that it was not a 'safe site.'
      What's up with that??

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         Barbara Kayposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I think you ought to report it to Matt. It could be hurting all of us.

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         Thomas Swanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Agreed, I will ask in the tech issues forum to bring it to the staff's attention.

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         Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         If the time on your Nook is set wrongly you will get that warning. The machine is just checking the date on the certificate and comparing it to the date in its memory.

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            DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            What??!!  does the certificate date change to the current date every day?  I cannot imagine what other date the Nook would be checking against, as I doubt it came pre-loaded with the date-data for all possible site certificates!
            (It IS set to the correct current date within its own system.)

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               Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               It is a funny old world, isn't it? Certificates are only valid for certain time frames.
               
               Only you can tell if your Nook is using the correct date.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I suggest reporting this on one of the staff-monitored threads, or emailing the team.

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      Matthew Meyerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thomas, We are unaware of any issue with the site and malware, etc.
      I would suggest contacting Avast support as I am not familiar with how they determine safety for sites.  It could be due to erroneous user reports as some authors have suggested or due to an improper categorization of an ad URL or even local malware being inserted into the site content on your machine.
      
      If you have more specific information regarding a Hub or other example URL on which you are seeing the notice, please share that information and we may be able to research further, but from the information presented it sounds like this may be an issue specific to Avast.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Surely, if this is "an issue with Avast" - which is used by thousands of users worldwide - it's HubPages that should be contacting Avast, because the whole site is losing views from those users?
         
         If one of my readers told me my website was being blocked by Avast, I certainly wouldn't tell that reader to take it up with Avast - I'd be right on it.

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         Thomas Swanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for replying Matthew. I'm not suggesting Hubpages has any Malware problem. I'm not familiar with how Avast deals with these matters either, and I don't think I'm the person who should be talking to them. The site as a whole is losing traffic because people are being deterred after seeing this warning in search results. It is not one URL, it is every search result with hubpages.com in it. I was using Avast free edition with firefox on my old XP laptop. I've done my bit in bringing this to your attention. I hope you follow it up because it must be affecting traffic to the site in some way.

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            The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Perhaps it is not Avast but the Windows version or the browser which is used. I have Win 7 and have never had a problem.

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      The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have Avast too and I have had no problem with it and HP. Have you heard of Webutation? I have that and usually get a 100 rating on most online pages. Occasionally I get a warning that a site is unsafe and it has a 40 rating but it is not HP. I always get 100 for them.

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         epsonok0posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks I just installed webutation as my old antivirus expired. This will be a good tool.

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            The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I did not say that this was an antivirus. It just keeps tabs on page ratings. Hackers and viruses can probably still sneak in there. I use it with my Avast.

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               epsonok0posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               oh I guessed that after install. LOL I use a cloud server that prevents viruses before it comes to my PC. I download to the cloud then to the PC.

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                  The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I just wanted to make sure that I was not misunderstood.

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         Thomas Swanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Was it the free edition? I'm using the free edition with the firefox browser.

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            The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            The free edition of Avast? Yes, and I use Chrome.

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               Thomas Swanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Hmm, well that's strange. Perhaps it's only in firefox or because I'm using XP on that laptop. I'm not the first to report this problem though. There was a question asked about it, but it got no answers.

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                  The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Perhaps it is a combination. I have Win 7 on a desktop. Did you try using the laptop in various locations and see if all locations had this problem? It may also be that.

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   cheaptrickposted 11 years ago

   Not sure but I think Avast ratings also go by user reports(+ or -) ,so it may be that not enough people have reported on HP which would put us in the 'Iffy' category with Avast...which is,IMO,the best out there.

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      Thomas Swanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Could be some malicious ex-users or people from a rival site who want to destroy hubpages reputation then.

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   ChristinSposted 11 years ago

   I use avast and have noticed this also - but just never really paid a lot of attention to it.  I can see though how it could be problematic.

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   talentvillaposted 11 years ago

   That is strange, has anyone ever had a problem when using hubpages? Like actually got malware or a virus from a hub?

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      Thomas Swanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      No, I'm sure the only problem is with avast's rating system. I don't see anything wrong with hubpages.

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   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   I have no clue what 'rating system' is used by the Nook e-reader platform, and that is where I encountered this issue. 
   I do believe I was told it is "android-based," but that is all I know about it.
   
   (I've never even heard of "Avast" prior to reading this thread.)

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      The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Well you see it is like this...
      Do you have an Antivirus protection program?

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         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Those are not available for e-readers, as far as I am aware...

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            The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            They are available for laptops, desktops and these days they have ones for mobile phones.

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               DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               none of those things are "e-readers," however, and I've not seen anything about anti-virus ware for such devices. 

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                  The Examiner-1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  You must have something to do you e-reading on. What is it?

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   Anna Marie Bowmanposted 11 years ago

   I have Avast on my phone and my computer, and have had no problems with it and HP. I even went back and checked after I read this.

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