Thursday, March 1, 2012

MGRR is 100% malware and virus free

The real challenge of 21st century living is co-existing with Google bots

I have a supplement page, which many readers have had occasion to visit. You'll see a link to it on the right sidebar.

The supplement page is static; I never add anything new to it (at least I haven't to date). It contains 73 articles -- news items, editorials and other -- which I wrote last year for an English language electronic newspaper, The Yucatan Times. When I stopped writing for TYT last fall, the former owners were kind enough to download all of those materials to my supplement page. Many articles which I write on the Mexico Gulf Region Reporter (MGRR) main page have convenient links to supplement pieces.

Well, now there's a problem -- or at least the appearance of a problem. Several weeks ago The Yucatan Times website (www.theyucatantimes.com) began generating security alerts in some internet browsers. I browse with Goggle Chrome, and if I go to TYT, I get a possible malware/virus alert, coupled with a warning to "enter at your own risk." This has been going on for at least a month. I don't know why TYT hasn't addressed the (apparent) issue. But I sure wish they would.

So what does TYT's problem (assuming there really is one) have to do with me? My supplement articles (only) have embedded HTML code which contain references to "www.theyucatantimes.com." That's because they were originally published there last year. So Goggle -- which hosts both of my Blogger pages -- is now sending me the same alert when I go to my own supplement page.

Some techie could probably remove all of the offending TYT-referenced code for me, or I could do it myself if I wanted to spend several hundred hours on the project. I don't.

My website is absolutely safe and malware/virus free -- both the MGRR main page and the supplement page. In addition to Goggle's firewall and security systems -- which of course protect my Blog pages -- my own internet security system is constantly monitoring and sweeping. Nevertheless, if you access my supplement page directly or link to an article there from the main page, you may get a security warning asking if you want to proceed. Have no fear of doing so. Everything on my pages is and will remain clean as a whistle, Google alerts notwithstanding. Computer security is a great thing, but once you get on a machine's "problem list" it's not easy to get it to change its mind.

Thanks for reading. Oh, the image above. I'm sure everyone immediately recognized it. That's of course Gort, the human-like robot made famous in the 1951 movie, The Day The Earth Stood Still (no, I didn't see it the year it was released). It quickly became and yet remains a science fiction classic (featuring Michael Rennie, among others). "Gort, klaatu barada nikto." Visit Gort here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eun7SmpNr1I.

2 comments:

  1. While reading the "Yucatan Times " website about three or four months ago, my laptop was infected with "something" that resulted in a complete meltdown and loss of all data. Had to reformat the hard drive and reload. Much was lost forever. I will never go near that site again, or anything with that URL.

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  2. Thanks for your note. I posted this article just a few hours ago. Moments ago I checked the TYT website, and I received NO warning. It's the first time in weeks I haven't. Perhaps they've cured the issue at their site, or signed a peace treaty with the folks and/or machines behind the alert system. Whatever the case, I'm glad for everybody.

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