AAC-19

Q: Google redirecting to Facebook.

Every time I go to google from my ipad or iPhone - I'm redirected to Facebook. Could this be a virus or hacker? I've also noticed I get error messages (google cannot confirm the identity of the server) when my phone tries to connect to the google server for my gmail. What should I do? I've cleared browser history and cache. I've also completely powered down and back up again.  That only temporarily solved the problem.

 

Please help.

 

Thanks

iPad 2, iOS 6.0.1

Posted on Jan 2, 2013 2:36 PM

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Q: Google redirecting to Facebook.

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  • by LuckyKentucky,

    LuckyKentucky LuckyKentucky Jan 6, 2013 8:43 AM in response to AAC-19
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 8:43 AM in response to AAC-19

    I'm having the exact same issue, on two seperate ipads (an ipad 2 and an ipad 3) as well as an iPhone 4S. I also get the same verification errors. Specifically, if I access google.com, by typing in the URL, I am redirected to facebook's search page. If I use Safari's search bar, which is set to search using google.com be default, my search is redirected to facebook's search page showing facebook results for my search query.

     

    To try and isolate the problem, I installed Google Chrome, but any search, which is also by default Google, redirects me to Facebook as does typing in the Google.com URL. In both browsers, the problem persists in private browsing mode as well and also with java diaabled. On all three devices, if I switch off wifi and use my AT&T data connection, I have the same issue. Thus; the problem isn't with my internet connection or ISP, java, cookies, cache, browser, or any one device, the only thing it seems to follow are all my apple devices using my apple ID. My Windows 7 system on the same network isnt affected. The problem is also intermittent and can sometimes be temporarily fixed by rebooting my apple device, but it inevitably returns. It might go away for an hour or a week, and then comes back. It's been coming or going for two months now.

     

    However, the creaters of this virus—yes I've decided to call it a virus—neglected to reassign alternate google.com addresses in other countries such as google.ca or google.co.uk, which yield the same search results as google.com. So, this is the only solution I have found, using google.co.uk or google.ca for google searches; however, this means I am not able to use the Safari or Chrome search bars, which direct to google.com by default.

     

    The problem is clearly DNS related, someone has cleverly found a way to redirect traffic from google.com to facebook.com, but how and for what purpose, I am not sure. The potential motivation is intriguing. The obvious motivations would be to increase facebook traffic, although I can't believe facebook would engage such activity. A second motivation could be to more easily gain access to a user's search data. Third, simply to frustrate google users, perhaps into switching their search engines to Bing or Yahoo, although frankly, using Bing or Yahoo would probably frustrate me more than Google with a virus. Or fourth, it's just a harmless, albeit annoying, prank.

  • by LuckyKentucky,

    LuckyKentucky LuckyKentucky Jan 6, 2013 9:20 AM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 9:20 AM in response to LuckyKentucky

    So, since I paid $89 extra for Apple Care, I decided to make my first-ever call to Apple Support. The lady was very nice, but definitely neither fully able to understand my problem nor offer any real solutions. The Apple rep said my device had a virus—yes, the Apple rep said I had a virus—and that I needed to delete my browsing history and cache, which obviously isn't going to fix a problem occurring across multiple browsers and devices. She then said that the last solution she could offer was to wipe and re initialize my device. I had already tried this, but the virus was restored along with everything else when I restored from iCloud, and again, was on all of my apple devices. I guess my last option is to wipe but not restore from iCloud. For now, I'm going to keep searching from google.co.uk instead of google.com.

  • by LuckyKentucky,

    LuckyKentucky LuckyKentucky Jan 6, 2013 11:07 AM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 11:07 AM in response to LuckyKentucky

    Alright, I had to come back to clear Apple's good name. Since the problem is intermittent, it has been hard to diagnose. I assumed it was Apple, because I am mostly on an Apple device, and I assumed wrong. Today, the problem occurred on my Windows PC as well and Chrome caught and blocked the redirect, saying I had typed google.com but was being redirected to Facebook. While the virus was back, I immediately tried on my ipad, same thing, except neither Safari nor Chrome caught the redirect on my Ipad. So, I switched the Ipad over to AT&T 4G and it went away. All of this to say, after banging my head against a wall for three hours today, I believe that I have isolated the problem to either my wireless router or home cable Internet connection since it is the only thing all of the devices shared. I flashed my router and set it up again from scratch. If it continues, the problem is likely not on my end, it might be at my ISP or somewhere else along the tubes between my router and google.com.

  • by AAC-19,

    AAC-19 AAC-19 Jan 6, 2013 12:31 PM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 12:31 PM in response to LuckyKentucky

    That's interesting. Thanks for the info. So if it is the router, does it mean someone is trying to hack in? I'm going to try to call my service provider to see if they've had similar complaints.

     

    Is it a virus?

     

    I tried best buy geek squad the other day, but they hadn't heard of the issue.

     

    Please let me know how resetting everything works!

     

    Thanks!

  • by MadMacs0,

    MadMacs0 MadMacs0 Jan 6, 2013 1:55 PM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 5 (4,791 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 1:55 PM in response to LuckyKentucky

    LuckyKentucky wrote:

     

    I believe that I have isolated the problem to either my wireless router or home cable Internet connection since it is the only thing all of the devices shared.

    Neither of you mentioned what ISP and router you are using, but a similar issue with redirects to Yahoo by Comcast and/or LinkSys is discussed here.

  • by AAC-19,

    AAC-19 AAC-19 Jan 6, 2013 5:14 PM in response to MadMacs0
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 5:14 PM in response to MadMacs0

    Thanks. I do have Comcast. They supplied the router also.I'll see what I can do based on the discussion you directed us to.

  • by LuckyKentucky,

    LuckyKentucky LuckyKentucky Jan 6, 2013 5:21 PM in response to AAC-19
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2013 5:21 PM in response to AAC-19

    I have a linksys router and my ISP is small municpile government utility. It looks as though resetting my router fixed the problem. If this isn't the case, I'll be sure to post a follow up.

  • by LuckyKentucky,

    LuckyKentucky LuckyKentucky Jan 7, 2013 6:16 PM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 7, 2013 6:16 PM in response to LuckyKentucky

    Well, I give up. The virus is back today after I reset the router and again set up WPA2 encryption. When I switched off the cable internet and used to AT&T 4G, the problem went away. So, what is now clear is that it had nothing to do with my iPads or iPhones, it is definitely isolated to my router, cable modem, or ISP. My next step will be to replace the router and then cable modem and contact my ISP.

  • by clarky1120,

    clarky1120 clarky1120 Jan 28, 2013 10:52 PM in response to AAC-19
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2013 10:52 PM in response to AAC-19

    I have been having this same problem for the last couple of months. I get it on my iPhone 4S and MacBook (running 10.6.8).

     

    I've experimented with running a search across multiple browsers. I get redirected for any search I do using Chrome, Safari or Firefox. I went into the setting tab in Chrome and noticed that somehow my homepage of "google.com" had been mapped to redirect to Facebook. I deleted it and tried to type in just "Google," but when I hit enter, "google" automatically became Facebook.

     

    For kicks, I logged in one time. I got to some search site tethered to Facebook. It looks like its some sort of beta from FB. I tried to access it, but it didn't do anything, just refreshed.

     

    One interesting note: when I searched "Bing" in the URL bar, I never had an issue. I was immediately taken a Google search page for Bing (conspiracy time? haha)

     

    I went into Chrome and changed the cookie exceptions and deleted ".facebook.com" and blocked it. We'll see what happens.

  • by clarky1120,

    clarky1120 clarky1120 Jan 28, 2013 10:58 PM in response to clarky1120
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2013 10:58 PM in response to clarky1120

    Facebook's beta thing is called Graph Search. I definitely was redirected there when I logged in to the Virus, but, like I said in my previous post, nothing happened (making me think it was a beta).

     

    It's also worth noting that Facebook will only show web results from Bing. I'll be the crazy message-board conspiracy theorist and say that this is an underhanded ploy by Facebook and Bing to drive traffic to the site, validating Facebook's newest "innovation."

     

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2013/01/28/graph-search-and-online-recruitin g-how-facebook-is-transforming-an-industry/

  • by clarky1120,

    clarky1120 clarky1120 Jan 28, 2013 11:02 PM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2013 11:02 PM in response to LuckyKentucky

    Have you tried managing the cookie exceptions? I blocked ".facebook.com" and it has worked so far.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Jan 29, 2013 4:03 AM in response to clarky1120
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 29, 2013 4:03 AM in response to clarky1120

    The repeated use of the word "virus" here caught my eye... none of the problems described on this topic are related to any kind of malware. If everyone here were using Windows PCs or Android phones/tablets, that would definitely be a possibility. However, there is no malware at all for non-jailbroken iOS devices (iPads, iPhones, etc), and the last DNS redirect malware on the Mac was killed off in November of 2011.

     

    As to what is causing the problem, cookies are not high on the list. Blocking or clearing cookies might mask a symptom, but that is almost certainly not a reliable fix. I would refer you to:

     

    Eliminating browser redirects and advertisements

     

    That article is written from a Mac-centric point-of-view, but much of what it says is applicable to iPads as well.

  • by LuckyKentucky,

    LuckyKentucky LuckyKentucky Feb 4, 2013 5:40 PM in response to clarky1120
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2013 5:40 PM in response to clarky1120

    Alright clarky1120, a variant on your idea seems to have worked for me. I blocked "www.facebook.com" by creating an internet access restriction policy on my wireless router, which seems to have fixed, or masked, the problem. Traffic now flows correctly to and from Google, without being redirected to Facebook graph search. I am obviously also not able to use Facebook from any browser, which is fine with me, but the Facebook ap still works.

     

    Thomas, good article. Since in my case the problem, as "virus" may indeed not be the correct word, occurs on numerous devices and platforms, i.e. both windows and Mac's, but only my home network, it is clearly a problem with my network and not my devices. After flashing and setting up my router encryption again, which already had WPA2 encryption set up, it seems to be a case of "DNS Poinsoning" as you indicate. At any rate, blocking facebook.com seems to have resolved the issue for me.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Feb 4, 2013 6:34 PM in response to LuckyKentucky
    Level 7 (30,889 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 4, 2013 6:34 PM in response to LuckyKentucky

    If you're suffereing from DNS Poisoning, blocking Facebook to mask a symptom could be the worst thing you could do, as it will let you forget the issue and continue working under the mistaken impression that you are safe. Suppose, for example, that the DNS Poisoning also causes Amazon to get redirected to a site designed to look just like Amazon, and you log in to make a purchase. You could end up with a bunch of other purchases made before you realize anything is wrong.

     

    I'd recommend removing the blockage and changing your DNS server settings, as described in the Domain name server issues section of that article I referred you to. If that solves the problem, you should change the DNS server settings for all your devices, or even change your DNS settings in the wireless router itself.

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