i.simpli.fi

On this site and several others, I have to wait sometimes up to 30 seconds for something called i.simpli.fi to load. I have gone into control panel and looked at all the programs on my computer and this does not show up. I have have tried to google this with no luck. It asks me if I mean simpli.fi. I know this is a gambling forum, but I thought someone might have encountered the same problem. Gamblers are supposed to have some of the highest I Q's. Thanks for any help.

" Gamblers are supposed to have some of the highest I Q's. " key word is supposed.

deleted

Facebook --

http://www.simpli.fi/

Facebook is evil?

It says that on the s.fi site - not on facebook site. If a phishing site said it's sponsored and sanctioned by US government, would you trust it any more for it?

You have an adware trojan. These trojans aren't exactly viruses: they don't self-replicate. It's possible you have even given "consent" to it by agreeing with a 200-kb page of terms&conditions somewhere.

Quote: P90

You have an adware trojan. These trojans aren't exactly viruses: they don't self-replicate.

But they may be hard to remove. I hear burning the computer sometimes works. I know a hollow wooden horse does not...

It's important however to understand the distinction.

Viruses are defined by their self-replication code. They are infectious and simply inserting a USB stick can in rare cases infect it. On the other hand, even free software now has better than 95% detection rate for unknown viruses and better than 99% overall. Viruses can be easy or difficult to remove, but their removal, if successful, is easily confirmed.

Trojans aren't infectious. There is no need for special precautions with an affected PC, even using separate boot media and such, and files can be freely transferred from the affected machine. A trojan can only be acquired from a dedicated source, not from an infected PC.
Since trojans have no giveaway code, their detection a toss, as is removal. It is often a question whether a particular program even is a trojan or not, and it can hinge solely on how reputable an entity operates it.

Most viruses have been written as personal exercises, to do damage, let off steam, spread infamy. They are a dying breed due to high detection rate, though. Trojans today are almost always written by hired guns and run for profit. Milder ones just want to show you ads, hardcore rootkits can log your banking details or hijack your PC to use it as part of Botnet.

Is there any way to get this adware,trojan,thing off my computer?

Quote: dihaig

Is there any way to get this adware,trojan,thing off my computer?

Yes, but it may take some time and a great deal of effort.

Simply put, google the name of the trojan and look for isntructions on how to remove it, and print them. The last time I dealt with one, I had to re-start the PC in safe mode in order to remove the re-spawning tool used by the invader.

Also, practice safe web usage. Don't open attachments sent through email, unless absolutely necessary. For frivolous videos and applets, we ahve Facebook now :) Also don't follow links emailed through spam, even if it's allegedly to remove your address from a mailing list. Last, get a good anti-virus program isntalled, prefferably one that warns of insidious websites. Many of those warnings are paranoid, but some are very real.

Quote: Nareed

Last, get a good anti-virus program isntalled, prefferably one that warns of insidious websites. Many of those warnings are paranoid, but some are very real.

I just use a proxy chain for generic browsing, only switching to single proxy for sites I have complete confidence in.
With that decoupling I can browse any sites I decide to, even known attack sites, without opening up any vulnerabilities or giving up any information to them.
This is a power user approach, though.

As for dealing with trojans, if you can't get it off - which is common - reinstall Windows. Remember that your files are not contagious, you can copy everything back, just a little short of the entire OS. A safer practice is to only copy user files and to explicitly discard Windows settings and browser files. You can still copy bookmarks and passwords, though.

Quote: P90

As for dealing with trojans, if you can't get it off - which is common - reinstall Windows. Remember that your files are not contagious, you can copy everything back, just a little short of the entire OS. A safer practice is to only copy user files and to explicitly discard Windows settings and browser files. You can still copy bookmarks and passwords, though.

I've dealt with adware and malware that sows "dragon's teeth" so it can re-spawn after you delete it. Ergo the need to reboot the PC in safe mode to deal with those nasties.

I've been told that these things can survive a simple re-installation of the OS, so it's necessary to re-format the hard drive first. I don't vouch for this, but it's something worth checkign into. I mean, imagine re-installing windows and seeing the unlamented trojan back the next day.

Quote: dihaig

Is there any way to get this adware,trojan,thing off my computer?

I've used the free program "Ad-Aware" with great success for issues like this. http://www.lavasoft.com/

Quote: Nareed

I've been told that these things can survive a simple re-installation of the OS, so it's necessary to re-format the hard drive first.

Rare and unlikely today. This is virus territory, but there used to be viruses that could even try and infect BIOS (bricking the motherboard usually). Other viruses could infect MBR, etc. Modern computers and OS are full of protections against this, and trojan writers prefer the path of least resistance.

Also, you'll usually be installing OS on a clean partition. That's well enough. Most modern trojans try to be "legit" anyway.
As for software, malwarebytes consistently ranks as one of the best utilities.

Hi All,

Simpli.fi is not a scam but a very safe AdTech company. Please feel free to visit our website at www.simpli.fi for more information about our company and service offerings. I apologize some of you are experiencing issues but our tags are dropped for cross matching with exchanges for online advertising purposes. If you do experience problems, please email ts@simpli.fi and someone from our tech team will respond to try and resolve any issue you are having. Thank you.

Quote: Simplifi

Hi All, Simpli.fi is not a scam but a very safe AdTech company. Please feel free to visit our website at www.simpli.fi for more information about our company and service offerings. I apologize some of you are experiencing issues but our tags are dropped for cross matching with exchanges for online advertising purposes. If you do experience problems, please email ts@simpli.fi and someone from our tech team will respond to try and resolve any issue you are having. Thank you.

Probably not a good idea to email these creeps -- once your email is on the marketing list as a confirmed working address it is never getting off, and it is probably sold to other marketers.

Best thing to do is to clear everything in your browser and do a virus scan. I can't tell you the particulars of virus scanning, as I run a Linux distro.