GHA has Microsoft Defender warning for www.librarycat.org (TinyCat)

GHA terminals are presenting a warning message when we log into systems administration. "Microsoft Defender Smart Screen recommends you don't continue to this site. It has been reported to Microsoft for containing phishing threats which may try to steal personal or financial information." Is there an issue with signing into TinCat system administration? Do we need to take any action? This is occuring on our CCRC network for Microsoft terminals. We use Microsoft 10 OS. We are not getting any warnings on Apple IPADs. We are not getting warning when we log into LibraryThing. Is it safe to check books in and out?

Seeing same warning on desktop but not on iPhone.

I've asked Ganawa (our sysadmin) to look into this. I'm not seeing anything untoward, but we'll look. One thing I would insist upon. A lot of such warnings appear to include a phone number for "Microsoft Support." Do not call any such number, as they are looking to take over your computer.

>3 timspalding:

I also note that I can't find a message like "Microsoft Defender Smart Screen recommends you don't continue to this site. It has been reported to Microsoft for containing phishing threats which may try to steal personal or financial information" anywhere online. It doesn't look like something any MS product says.

If you can tell me exactly when you get it, and on what page, I'd appreciate it.

>4 timspalding: It looks to be the standard Microsoft Defender warning message. See for instance:

https://jeffreyappel.nl/microsoft-defender-smartscreen-how-to-use-smartscreen-an...

>5 newcrossbooks:

To save Tim asking again, note that he didn't ask you what it looks like. He asked you where you got it -- he needs to trace what is setting it off. For instance, did you get it on the "Your Books" page, or the "Add books" page, or when you first came to the site and were logging in?

I'll add a question which might help: If you did get it when you first came to the site, do you get it when you come in by another route? For example, do you get it when you reach the site by using each of the following links (note: open a separate browser tab and paste these in; don't just click on them):

https://www.librarything.com/home#
https://www.librarything.com/profile/newcrossbooks
https://www.librarything.com/catalog/newcrossbooks

>6 waltzmn: The warning message occurs on the Windows 10 workstations only when volunteers attempt to login to sysadmin, not when you bring up site. I have a windows 11 laptop, the message occurs immediately when I log on to GHA Library TinyCat catalog. No messages occur on Apple devices. I pressed “more” on the MS warning message. You are not asked to call any numbers. There are two options with URLs..1 report site does not contain phishing threat or 2 Continue to unsafe site. Hope this helps. Also, The message does not occur when you log into LibraryThing.

>6 waltzmn: I was simply responding to Tim's message where it seems he didn't believe that the message was sent by Microsoft:
I also note that I can't find a message like "Microsoft Defender Smart Screen recommends you don't continue to this site. It has been reported to Microsoft for containing phishing threats which may try to steal personal or financial information" anywhere online. It doesn't look like something any MS product says.

I haven't seen the problem myself, but then I don't normally use a Microsoft browser.

>7 GHA.Library: >8 newcrossbooks:

Please understand that I'm not doubting that you got messages. It's just that there are details you didn't describe, and that Tim will probably need if he is to figure this out. The idea is to get additional information for him before the next time he looks at this thread.

Debugging always starts by getting as much information as possible.

You hinted at another point that might be worth clarifying: He'll probably want to know what browser you were using: Edge, Chrome, something else? And which version? Also, Windows 10 or Windows 11. (I think one of you said this, but it's easiest to put it all in one place.)

Thanks for mentioning browsers. GHA library uses Edge browser on workstations that have had warning message. I also used windows edge browser on my windows11 laptop when I received warning. I just switched my laptop to Chrome browser. There was no warning message when I opened our TinyCat and no warning message when I logged into system administration. I will switch the library workstations to Chrome browser to see if that works on them too. I would still like to know what triggered the warning in the first place. Change to Browser? Change to TinyCat?

Update. Changed library workstations to Chrome browser… no warnings came up. Problem seems to be only happening with Edge browsers.

Update: We have an open ticket with Microsoft to clear TinyCat from their blocked sites, as it is unclear why it was marked as unsafe in the first place. We hope to hear back from them soon, but you should be able to access TinyCat with another browser in the meantime. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience! We'll update this thread when it's fully resolved.

It's possible for users to also mark the site as safe. If you could do so, we'd appreciate it.

We had this problem yesterday (April 8) but this morning our TinyCat system is working fine on both Edge and Chrome.

That's great news! We tested early this morning and were still getting blocked, but things seem to be clear now. Let's hold for a bit longer until we're sure, but hopefully this case is closed.

Hi everyone,

The issue with TinyCat being blocked on the Edge browser should be resolved at this point. If you are still having problems with this, please take the following steps:

1. Do a hard refresh on the TinyCat page in Edge. On Mac: shift + click the browser refresh button. On PC: CTRL + F5.
2. If that fails and you are still blocked from TinyCat, quit and then re-open the Edge application.
3. If quitting and restarting Edge fails, please reach out to us via email (tinycat@librarything.com) or this Talk thread (https://www.librarything.com/topic/359858) and let us know. Please provide the OS, device type, and Edge version in your message.

If you are noticing this issue on multiple browsers (i.e. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.), please check with your network administrator, as your network may be blocking TinyCat.

Please let us know if you have any problems along the way, or if you have any questions.

I’m getting the same message today although it was gone for a couple of weeks. I did nothing previously and it went away. Today, the hard refresh didn’t work and I have to wait for tech people tomorrow to try quitting/restarting Edge. I’ll keep you posted.

Reopening, but please follow along this thread for updates as well: https://www.librarything.com/topic/360181

>16 StJosephIssaquah: Can you tell me exactly what message you're still getting, and on what page/s?

Can you try some of the suggestions posted at https://www.librarything.com/topic/360181 and see if that helps?

>18 kristilabrie: I believe its the same message I saw 3 weeks ago. It's the first thing I see when I wiggle the mouse:
In white letters on red background: "This site has been reported as unsafe. Hosted by www.librarycat.org Microsoft recommends you don't continue to this site. It has been reported to Microsoft for containing phishing threats which may try to steal person or financial information. Go Back More information Microsoft Defender Smart Screen"

>18 kristilabrie: Thank you. I will try the other suggestions on 360181 but, I am not administrator, so may have to wait for tech people to try them for us.

Our IT consultants, who are new, couldn’t get into our computer see the URL message, or quit Edge and reinstall, or try Chrome etc because we have a “kiosk” computer that is set up so that only TinyCat is accessible. There is no internet access. Since our guys didn’t set it up, they don’t know how it was set up and can’t get into it remotely. They would have to come out and deal with the computer in person… I wonder if the other libraries having this problem are also set up as kiosk computers and that’s part of the issue?

>21 StJosephIssaquah: It's Microsoft Defender's SmartScreen that's flagging us as unsafe, and is happening on members just using their browsers, not just kiosks. I would get your IT people out to your computer, if you can. Sorry this is complicating your issue!

Here's a sample message from Kaspersky's Web-Anti-Virus detailing this site block on my Windows desktop:

Today, 4/30/2024 9:43:23 AM

Details:

Event: Access denied
User: ANTEC-ASUS\Geoff
User type: Active user
Application name: chrome.exe
Application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application
Component: Web Anti-Virus
Result description: Blocked
Type: Threat of data loss
Name: https://www.librarycat.org/tinycatsite/js/responsiveslides.min.js
Precision: Exactly
Threat level: High
Object type: Web page
Object name: responsiveslides.min.js
Object path: https://www.librarycat.org/tinycatsite/js
Reason: Databases
Databases release date: Today, 4/30/2024 6:34:00 AM

However, Tiny Cat works on my Android 14, One UI version 6.0 cell phone.
Hope this helps!

Our access is fixed. On April 29, as instructed by Kristilabrie above in 17, I followed the link on the red screen and told Microsoft TinyCat was safe. Our IT consultants couldn't do anything because it's a "kiosk" computer and they currently don' have access, so either Microsoft responded to LibraryThing's appeals for help or me telling Microsoft I thought TinyCat was safe was enough, at least for now. Last time it fixed itself, the fix lasted a few weeks.
Update: Following the link in Kristilabrie's #17 above, it looks like LibraryThing's appeal to Microsoft was the fix. THANK YOU!!!

>24 StJosephIssaquah: Very happy to hear it! We're not exactly sure what helped Microsoft remove our flags (even if because it was a new month or not), but hopefully our reporting helped. I'm glad you're back up and running.