If you get a pop-up message asking to update Firefox or plugins or scanning for malware then such a message is likely a scam and you should never respond to such an alert to avoid getting infected with malware.

• Only update Firefox via "Help > About" or by downloading and installing Firefox from the Mozilla server and never via a pop-up or link on a web page.
• plugins should only be updated via the plugin itself or by visiting the home page of the plugin.

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/i-found-fake-firefox-update

Please update to Firefox 51.0.1 via "Help > About" to get the latest security fixes.

It doesn't solve my problem. If I continue receiving the messages, I'll have to stop using Fire Fox.

ffuserornot said

It doesn't solve my problem. If I continue receiving the messages, I'll have to stop using Fire Fox.

This is a form of malvertising where these those fake notices get triggered by code contained in ads that are displayed on otherwise legitimate websites you are visiting. Only some Windows users using Firefox get this and is not targeting Firefox users on Mac OSX or Linux. The only real way to get rid of this is the Ad company systems being used to do this stops these ads or the person or group behind this is stopped.

A ad blocking extension such as uBlock Origin can help block these fake update pages. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/

What web browser would you use instead as IE and Edge is terrible and Chrome users on Windows are getting a fake urgent Chrome update page also.

Yes, I am aware that it is a malware, and I am glad that my antivirus software intercepts it nicely; it is a nuisance nonetheless because it locks the screen and I must end the process in task manager every time it attacks. I could have probably lived with occasional incidents, but it's awfully frequent now. I, therefore, expect Firefox to come up with a resolution.

As for other web browser, I beg to differ from you about IE. I use it all the time and have never experienced any problem with it. True, IE uses more resources than Firefox but I have a pretty powerful laptop, so resources have never been a problem. I am not a big user of Edge or Chrome. So, if I stop using Firefox, which I may have to eventually, I'll start using IE exclusively.

May I also request the respondents of my question to kindly impress upon Firefox the need of finding a solution to this problem and not dwell upon what it is and what it does?

Thanks for your response.

Did you install the latest Firefox 51.0.1 version since you posted with a Firefox 50 version?

• Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:50.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/50.0

Yes I did.

ffuserornot said

May I also request the respondents of my question to kindly impress upon Firefox the need of finding a solution to this problem and not dwell upon what it is and what it does?

If by "upon Firefox" you mean the company which is Mozilla then what can Mozilla do really as even Google have not been able to get this thing shut down with their vast resources as it affects Chrome users also.

Yes, by "upon Firefox", I meant Mozilla. I am not in a position to comment about Chrome as I am not a big user of Chrome anyway and have never considered it as secure as Firefox or IE. I never use Chrome to do my banking or credit card transactions or online shopping. However, I have never encountered such incidents with IE. I am also sure that thugs would have targeted IE also the same way as they attack Firefox. If IE can stop these attacks, I think Mozilla can too.

While I would love to continue using Firefox, unfortunately my confidence in it for doing sensitive business stands shaken at this moment. This is all I can say.

Thanks.

any website can redirect you to another page with javascript - this is a basic functionality on the web that will apply to all browsers and not much can be done about this. the way this spreads is by malicious advertisements embedded in otherwise legitimate sites, so it's the foremost responsibility of advertising networks to get their act together - what they are doing is obviously not enough: https://blog.google/topics/ads/how-we-fought-bad-ads-sites-and-scammers-2016/

IE doesn't have any built-in ways to stop fraudulent messages like these - it just happens that firefox and chrome users get targeted by these campaigns at the moment.

at least in firefox you have very good addons available to block connections to ad networks and only allow javascript to run on particular pages: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ https://addons.mozilla.org//firefox/addon/noscript/

another thing to try is to go to firefox options > advanced general and tick the box to warn you when websites want to redirect you.