Origin-a.akamihd.net?

[user_195856]

I've been getting into gaming recently and went on the website Origin.com a site owned by the large video game company EA (Electronic Arts). Mcafee SiteAdvisor  had given me a green, "safe" rating for the site and I was at peace of mind knowing that it was a site owned by a large corporation. When I went to go download the Origin client SiteAdvisor then stopped me from going to the download page and gave me a yellow risk warning. After checking the URL (http://www.mcafee.com/threat-intelligence/site/default.aspx?url=https://origin-a.akamaihd.net/Origin... ) I decided to look up a.akamihd.net to find that it was a source of the virus/adware a.akamihd. After a bit of research I'm pretty sure I'm not infected, but, I am confused to whether the site is safe or not, I would be glad if someone could give me an explanation.

Thank You.

-A.H

[exbrit]

I moved this to WebAdvisor as the best spot for it.

I can't find that URL, can you clarify it please?  Also the URL you posted goes to a dead page.

Generally speaking, game downloads are often identified as possibly (or definitely in some cases) dangerous.  WebAdvisor is simply warning you to be careful.

[exbrit]

Came across this when I was trying to find that page:  Remove AkamaiHD.net pop-up ads (Virus Removal Guide)

and there are lots of removal guides for various malwares starting with random wording and ending akamihd.net if you search on Google.

[exbrit]

OK, that link you posted now goes to a medium risk warning page...possible PUP's, so that means it isn't dangerous  A PUP is a Possibly Unwanted Program.

[exbrit]

I've altered the header to include the entire basic address.   That's why I was confused about where you were talking about.

It's origin-a.akamihd.net.  

[user_195856]

So webadvisor is warning me that the client I'm trying to download could possibly contain a PUP (a.akamihd?) and to proceed with caution?

-a.h

[Hayton]

The McAfee Yellow warning - dating from 2012 - is because the "origin-a.akamihd.net" address is a Parked Domain. The whole of akamihd.net is up for sale, and sometimes a parked domain will be hijacked and used temporarily as a host for all sorts of advertising. If the people doing that can induce a user to visit their "borrowed" Parked page they get a cut of the advertising revenue. Of course, given the financial incentive there are all sorts of ways to "persuade" browsers to visit the page, via adware and PUPs.

Going there isn't necessarily dangerous, you're just lining the pockets of some unscrupulous people.

WOT by the way classifies the site as Red citing Spam, but again their review dates from 2012.

https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/akamihd.net

fake domains redirecting to pay-per-click scam sites

[exbrit]

Yes, but of course I can't check exactly what it is as I'm remote from you.   Proceed with caution and ensure it is scanned by antivirus and perhaps an extra anti-malware application once downloaded.

For suggestions on extra anti-malware applications see  Free 3rd Party Tools in this link:

Anti-Spyware/Malware/Hijacker Tools

As Hayton has posted, the site assessments are old but proceed with caution anyway..

[user_195856]

I see, thanks for the help.

I made sure to shred the file using the safest Mcafee livesafe option hopefully completely getting rid of it aswell as running a full Livesafe scan followed by a 2nd opinion Malwarebytes scan, both of which yielded no results. I also took extra measures so much as to read up on the virus and watch tutorials on how to get rid of it just to make sure it wasn't there in the first place, in any case webadvisor seems to have done it's job as I couldn't find any trace of the PUP/adware.

But once again thank you for helping me out.

-A.H

[exbrit]

OK, good luck to you .