My mac immunity?

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So, you think you've mastered the new world, and then you find yourself back in Switcher Hangout - because it still seems the best place to get the answers.

Here's my question:

I'm in another forum which has suddenly been blocked by Firefox - turns out it was sending out malicious software and Trojans etc.

Am I immune to this? Being a Macbook OS X user etc? Or can these still get into my software programs (Safari/Firefox etc)?

My browsers have slowed down recently and I'm on a high spec Macbook with a strong wireless signal right beside me.
Should I trash them and do a clean install - or is that Windowsthink?

I've been an active member of the forum concerned for a long time and was permanently signed in.

Here's the report I get when I try to visit the forum:

What is the current listing status for fountainpennetwork.com?
Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 1 time(s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?
Of the 163 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 28 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2010-06-10, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2010-06-08.
Malicious software includes 14 scripting exploit(s), 14 trojan(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 1 new process(es) on the target machine.

Malicious software is hosted on 2 domain(s), including arsdh.in/, gighw.in/.

This site was hosted on 1 network(s) including AS14383 (VCS).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?
Over the past 90 days, fountainpennetwork.com did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?
No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

How did this happen?
In some cases, third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites, which would cause us to show the warning message.

Next steps:
Return to the previous page.
If you are the owner of this web site, you can request a review of your site using Google Webmaster Tools. More information about the review process is available in Google's Webmaster Help Center.

Apologies for such a long post.
Regards to all, cb
 
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No you are safe, no malware can be downloaded without your consent

Unless you have downloaded and installed (giving your password) anything from that site you are OK

Windows users are a different story
 
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cowbrain
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Thanks, louishen.

I may well have downloaded and installed stuff from that site, stuff like Adobe reader files and photographs mainly, also (probably) tools etc, to help me upload my own photographs and posts etc.

Thanks again, cb
 
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You can't really download anything harmful that needs to install unless you are asked for your password and enter it. As long as you are 100% certain of the source of what you're installing, you're fine.
 
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Thanks Oneironaut.

Again, though, I may well have entered my password if I was prompted to do so on downloading. I was a member of this site for over a year and trusted it whole-heartedly, so maybe I gave consent, thinking I was getting bona-fide material. Not sure about this, but just supposing.

The bottom line question: If I have pulled stuff in (malicious/trojan etc) - will it affect my browsing? (I'm thinking specifically about slow speed) - or am I safe because it's a Mac?

Thanks again, cb
 
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What "material" are we talking about? Stolen software? What would ever cause you to enter your password unless you were getting software? If you enter your password for anything BUT software from a truster source, then you probably deserve what you get.
 
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Thanks. No, not stolen software. I seem to remember having to download something so that I could upload photographs onto the site, then having to register with photobucket to proceed? This was months ago - but I'm sure I was prompted (by OS X) to put in my password to accept.

But, yes, I am too careless with it all. So I probably do deserve what I get. Just wondering what it is that I can get?

Just to clarify, as I realise that this all sounds dodgy. It was a Fountain pen users forum, seemingly all above board until this recent turn of events.
And just for the record, I never use stolen/knock-off/bootleg stuff, it's not worth it. I'm involved in the industry (non technical) and would be robbing myself and my friends.

Cheers,cb
 
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Fair enough. I'm in a snarky mood because my old ball and chain is in a mood tonight. Urgh. Anyway, that seems fairly legit to me. Though honestly I just use the photobucket website to upload crap.
 
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If a trustes site like Photobucket tells you you need to download a certain plugin or something, and you're 100% sure the site is in fact Photobucket and not an imposter site, downloading it shouldn't affect anything on your computer. If things are running slow, use Disk Utility to verify the disk and repair permissions. Also make sure your software is up to date by clicking on Software Update from the Apple menu.
 
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Thanks for all the replies and advice.

I'll give the verify disk and repair permissions a try and report back.

Thanks again. Regards,cb
 
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Just a quick update:

The Fountain pen network is back online. Apparently it was hijacked and then blocked by Google/Firefox/Safari etc.

Now it's fixed and clean. There are quite a few Mac users on there. One of them is a bit of an expert and is going to give us instruction how to check and rectify any corrupted files.

Thanks again to all contributors. Regards, cb
 
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When was the last time you cleared browser cookies and the cache. This will speed up the browser.
 
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cowbrain
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When was the last time you cleared browser cookies and the cache. This will speed up the browser.

Thanks, Mac SK, but I clear them out daily.

I'm following a few other threads on this forum to try and sort this one out, going through something of a learning curve about DNS and ipv4 and ipv6 etc etc.

It's slow work. I'm an old dog and these are new tricks.

Regards, cb
 

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