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Avast blocks opening Dropbox Web site from the application
Avast notificationWhen 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 the links ("Share..","Version History", etc.) of a file in the local folder.
Reinstalling Dropbox, or unlinking/linking to the account, does not solve it.
(Otherwise, there is no problem when opening the Dropbox web site by login in the web browser.)
I am using macOs Catalina and Chrome.
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!
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- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Hey peeps, thanks for your ongoing reports here!
flomaka, glad to hear that the behavior's resolved for you - that's great!
For those of you still experiencing this, could you please try adding the Dropbox cache folder to the ignore list?
You can find more info about how to locate the cache folder here.
Let me know how it goes!
- Lusil
Thanks for the screenshot, jim24.
Could you please try adding the Dropbox cache folder to its ignore list? Maybe that will do the trick.
You can find more info about how to locate the cache folder here.
Let me know of any updates!
The issue disappeared just as mysteriously as when it had first appeared...
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.- Lusil
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!
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!
