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Avast blocks opening Dropbox Web site from the application
When trying to launch the Dropbox Web site, from the icon of the application, Avast blocks it identifying it as phising (see attached image).
It happens also when trying to reach Dropbox from t...
Hey again Debby M., thanks for nudging us here.
As Rich mentioned previously, this is a false positive. This can occur when an application is incorrectly flagged as malicious due to an overly broad detection signature or algorithm used in an antivirus software.
In any case, rest assured, the official Dropbox desktop app isn't a phishing attempt and our team is further looking into this matter.
If you have any other concerns, we are always here to assist. Hope this helps to some extent!
Last night the problem disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared yesterday.
This was on 2 devices, and I did nothing... no reinstalling Avast, no cache clearing, nothing. There is no way I'm giving anything from Dropbox a carte blanche to get through my AV.
I checked to see if my anti-virus software had updated during that period andit hadn't.
So therefore, logically, it must have been at Dropbox's end. I shall continue to think that until Dropbox come out with a sasatisfactory response to the contrary.
Same here. Problem disappeared. Because it happened to so many of us, I have a feeling that the dropbox folks released a file that had not been cleared with the antivirus community so it jumped all the alarms.
Problem solved.
Debby M. wrote:Last night the problem disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared yesterday.
This was on 2 devices, and I did nothing... no reinstalling Avast, no cache clearing, nothing. There is no way I'm giving anything from Dropbox a carte blanche to get through my AV.
I checked to see if my anti-virus software had updated during that period andit hadn't.
So therefore, logically, it must have been at Dropbox's end. I shall continue to think that until Dropbox come out with a sasatisfactory response to the contrary.
Tuesday November 5, 2:55 PM, I just received an e-mail from Avast (I had opened a ticket with them to have them check the various files involved) which confirms that it is indeed a false positive created by the Avast algorithm. The Dropbox app is clean and can be used safely. And we will probably never know whose fault it was, but at least both parties are in agreement!
Hurrah - thank you plg A definitive answer backed up by fact!
When this was raised on Friday it looked fairly serious and yet Dropbox support took what I would consider to be a relaxed attitude to it. For me - bearing in mind that Dropbox contains some of my most confidential business data in shared client files - I wasn't sure if I was in breach of GDPR if Dropbox had beeen hacked, or what. Meanwhile Avast advised a previous poster that it was malicious (note comment re non-existent support from Dropbox at weekends):
SORRY, I MUST BACKTRACK! Archiving my e-mail from the beginning of the week, I realized that what I had assumed was a communication from Avast was actually from... Dropbox. I had opened a ticket in both, forgot I had done so with Dropbox first, and misattributed the answer (I used the same topic line —dumb...), not paying enough attention to the signature. Debby M., I truly apologize —I have the same security concerns as you do for different reasons, and I suspect my unconscious desire to see this put to rest played a role (plus lack of sleep...). I am really, truly sorry and hope I didn't cause any damage.
I also ran Dropx.dmg by VirusTotal (https://www.virustotal.com/) and it did flag an AdWare, so there is that.
And now that I think of it, Dropbox's answer does not really make sense —can a false positive on Avast show up on AVG at the same time, given that the algorithms used would not be the same? The previous poster was right, and I was wrong to indict Avast. Again, sorry!
PS/ I opened a ticket here in the forum re the VirusTotal flagging. Again, sorry for the erreoneously reassuring posting two days ago.
plg
Hi plg
No harm done at all. I too was very nearly caught out by a ticket response saying exactly the same - and I questioned where they were getting their facts from.
To be honest - I've been taking extra precautions, and will continue to do so until we have a clear and unambigouos statement from Dropbox based on written evidence that there is a reason why it should be flagged as a phishing site.
I'm not using the desktop app at all. It's hopeless and unnavigable because of this non-US date issue that won't go away.Thanks for your continued vigilance.
