'All clear' for web auction tool

Auctiva has more than 500,000 users

A third-party add-on for eBay has been given the all clear after being flagged by Google as potentially malicious.

Servers powering Auctiva's website, which provides tools for sellers on the popular auction service, had become infected with a trojan virus.

"Google has rescanned our site and given it a clean bill of health," said the firm's Robert Green.

Google warns users about websites which may pose a security risk.

The trojan that had infected some of Auctiva's servers, called Adclicker, is classed by security specialist Symantec as a "very low risk".

It is designed to "artificially generate traffic to certain web sites" and is used by malicious hackers to boost clicks to online banner adverts or to inflate web statistics.

Google works in partnership with the StopBadware.org organisation to warn users about potentially malicious websites that are infected with viruses and trojans.

First flagged

More than 186,265 websites have been reported to StopBadware for hosting malicious programs or web scripts, which can damage a computer or, in extreme cases, hijack a machine.

Users first flagged the problem with the Auctiva site last week after anti-virus software began to warn there could be a problem with the service.

Hundreds of thousands of people use Auctiva's tools in their virtual shop windows on eBay.

Some users reported they were also receiving warnings on auction listings inside eBay.

The firm said it had removed servers in China that had become infected with the trojan and that it was "currently safe to navigate the Auctiva website".

Earlier this week Auctiva was taken offline completely in order to fix the problem.

Mr Green, product manager at Auctiva, added: "Ebay Security Teams are helping Auctiva to ensure the strictest level of safety and security on Auctiva.com.

"Ebay is currently conducting a site scan of Auctiva.com to ensure security vulnerabilities have been eliminated."