Fighting malware and spam
Anti-spyware activists condemn rogue MP3 search firm
CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers.
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and StopBadware.org have issued a joint complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hoping to put a stop to a rogue site, which is pushing spyware posing as a music search tool.
The Argentina-based, English-language site FastMP3Search.com.ar promotes itself as a rapid MP3 search service and requires the installation of a 'plugin' to enable searching of its content. According to StopBadware research, users that have been tricked into installing the software find the plugin is in fact a trojan which downloads numerous other malicious items. Spyware and adware are installed, the Windows firewall is disabled, and many changes are made to the system, including the hosts file and Internet Explorer settings, without warning or permission. The software is rendered difficult to remove, and system efficiency is impaired.
The CDT, an organisation promoting democracy and liberty in the online world, and StopBadware, an organisation including Oxford and Harvard Universities backed by technology firms such as Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems, have issued their complaint to the FTC stating that FastMP3Search.com.ar is one of the worst spyware operations on StopBadware's lists. They request that the FTC investigates and if possible shuts down the operation.
A joint press release from the two complainants (PDF format) is here, with the full text of the legal complaint put to the FTC here. StopBadware.org's notes on the spyware operation are here.
08 December 2006
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