Slanderous misdetection
On 11/16/2016 I was searching for another malware website scanner to scan a site that I frequent that keeps adding various scripts from odd domain names (appearing to be just a number of random characters), due to the fact that the one I used the most was down. Securi SiteCheck was one of a few that I used on that site found in a Google Search. While I didn't find any malware on that site (scanned not only because of the new script from odd domain names, adding more & more over time, but also because of the blocked direct viewing of images & odd behavior of the site), I decided to do a scan of my own site afterwards. When I did the scan, these were the results:
The statement of being malware is grossly inaccurate to the detection, as the detection states Defacement. The definition states that the site was hacked & defaced, however it appears this detection was simply caused by a single word in my news archive. The site was never hacked, that word was put there on purpose.
Looking further into this, the Website Details tab also displays incorrect data, stating that the application is Microsoft FrontPage 4.0, however the reality of it is the site is created with Microsoft FrontPage 2000. However I can see where they got that information, it's a metatag written by FrontPage on page creation in the software, so this seems to be inaccurate by design on Microsoft's part... So on this point, it seems I can't really blame the site for having inaccurate information, seeing as this is actually a flaw in the software & I hadn't noticed it until now...
There is one other possibility for this misdetection that would classify it as otherwise, but that's a much darker view to it, it is very possible this could be fraudulent marketing (not too different from fake virus scanner malware that can get installed to your computer; some of the most aggressive ones overwriting your browser's software with it's own to keep redirecting you to other sites, blocking you from others & continuously throwing you pop-ups, most also including trojans that log your keystrokes & steal other personal information from you). While I'm going to keep an open mind about this for now & state I think it's just a misdetection, it is possible this could be fraudulent marketing, as those ads are on the right side of the page of results & the urging to get something done IMMEDIATELY is similar to the warnings you get with fake virus scanner malware that keeps telling you your system is infected & you have to purchase THEIR software to fix it (where I think the reality of it is you're just installing malware to shut up their own malware; it's a 2-step malware process that cons money out of unsuspecting individuals that don't know any better). From my experience, these fake virus scanner alert viruses get so embedded into your system, the only option to get rid of them is to repartition the drive to make sure every thing gets wiped, reformat & reinstall everything (basically a full wipe of your system & reinstall), as I've never had any luck cleaning that aggressive of a virus from any system I've worked on in all my time as a Computer Technician...
One might think I'm writing this review only to lash back at detection of legitimate malware on my site, but that's hardly the case. In most cases I have high respect for site scanners, particularly free ones, but obviously not when they are making false claims of my own & I would expect any webmaster to have the same opinion. This is why I think there's the possibility of this site being a fake/phishing site, however I'm going to leave that possibility as a last resort where if it continues to be a problem, I'll report their site for deceiving business practices. In the mean time I've decided I need to block the site from accessing my own, so unless they decide to contact me about this review (and the fact they won't be able to access my sight anymore), all they're going to get are 403 errors.
Long story short, the validity of this site is undetermined, but the results are inaccurate, so I would suggest using another over this one, if not due to incorrect detections, but the possibility of malware, deceiving business practices, scams and/or theft of information.
1/3/2017 UPDATE: As I stated before, if they didn't get this detection fixed, I would be banning the IP address to their scanner. It's been a few months now, same situation, so it's time to block their site from accessing mine. Even after blocking the IP address & referral traffic, it seems to still be able to access the site, so I may need to go as far as blocking access by hostname or blocking it by client.
