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Spyware from Techrepublic?

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8 replies

by dryflies

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I have begun getting notifications from Spybot Search and Destroy about Spybot has blocked the download of "Avenue A." and "Doubleclick" and other items deemed by Spybot to be spyware. Are we really being attacked by what I consider to be a valuable resource? I am re-evaluating whether I wish to continue as a member of this forum.

8 replies

by jkaras

About a year ago I started getting emails from supposed members of the site. I was confused and contacted the users via the website postings to find that they didnt send this or that to me. Apparently someone highjacked their alias and masquraded as them. I was quite miffed myself, but there is nothing that you can do to avoid exposure while on this site or other sites, it is just the pitfalls of the internet.

by bhunsinger

UM no I'm sorry " it's everywhere" is not an acceptable answer. I prefer to hear an official response and expect more from it. Hijacking an identity, especially sisnce many people post their emails, is one thing, using this forum/server/site access to distribute skankware is another. We should maintain our sites free from such things as well, and I would expect this forum to do so, even as a cronicle of how to do this.
Microsoft is regularly roasted in theese pages for secrecy over security. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes .

by gralfus

I had a million popup ads hit me after replying to a discussion on TR. I had to reboot to make it stop. Again, there was no official response. Once a website lets advertisers redirect adverts to any server they want, it is an open sewer pipe just waiting to flush. Most of the time there is no problem, but then *gotcha*.

by apotheon

Whereas the problem brought up by dryflies almost certainly refers to cookies, not actual "spyware", your problem with numerous pop-ups probably has a lot more to do with a piece of adware already existing on your computer. Many pop-ups that people find themselves dealing with when they use Internet Explorer are actually created by adware, not by anything involving whatever website they happen to be viewing at that moment. The adware ends up installed because of some unsafe browsing practice (such as visiting a site that runs malicious code while you have ActiveX enabled), and it later hits you with pop-up advertisements.

Such strings of pop-up ads usually end up being blamed on whatever website is open in the browser at the time. Usually, however, it's not the currently displayed site that is to blame.

Turning off ActiveX, Java, and Javascript functionality in IE can cut down on the likelihood of such things getting installed on your system, of course, but it won't eliminate the problem entirely. The only reasonably sure answer is to cease using IE entirely. This is part of the reason for the recent mass-migration of users from IE to Firefox as the browser of choice. Another part of the reason, of course, is that it is extremely easy for IE users to adapt to using Firefox instead.

by acumen

SpyBot, which BTW is a great "free" product (Please donate if you actually use it), removes cookies from well known advertisers as "spyware".

Doubleclick sets a cookie on your machine and figures out what type of sites you visit (since they know where they're served) and then targets ads to you more appropriately. So, because they "monitor" what you're doing, and are so prevalent they can actually gather this information, it's considered "spying".

In short, TR uses advertising, like DoubleClick and AveA, and Spybot cleans it up. Whether it's "spying" is like saying that TR doing log file analysis is spying. I would check their privacy policy if you're concerned about personal info.

I don't think TR using advertising is a problem, as it seems to be a valuable service, and it's easily blocked with browsers like FireFox.

Your call, though.

by anarchocapitalist

I would much prefer that TR ask advertisers not to use ActiveX and pop-ups on this site.

I don't want to get to a point where I am so aggravated by by ads, and having to steer clear of ActiveX and other security threats, that I decide that it would be in my best interest to go somewhere else for my information needs.

I understand that a lot of this site is available for free (and I greatly appreciate the service), but I'm the type of guy who will go without, before I have to deal with a bunch of irritations and intrusions.

by dsc

It is obvious no matter what site you plan on visiting on the Internet you must plan on having some sort of tracking via cookie. However, the problem is really in what is being installed on your computer without your consent. Whereas, data mining such as Avenue A and Doubleclick does not pose a serious threat, other simular malware does. Hyjacker software installed on a computer can disrupt productivity and sometimes takes quite a bit of skill to remove. Other stuff may actually install code, which will cause the computer to download other spyware and Trojan virus as well. TR does not appear to place such malware on their site, except that cookies are used and other code to display the web page correctly. No need in re-evaluating membership because there is a wealth of knowledge to be gained on this site.

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