 Imageshack Promotes Malware, Don't be fooled |
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 Jan 8 2006, 06:46 PM
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#1
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 Forum Addict  Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809  |
 The warning is an advertising link to a site which sells SpywareCleaner - a product listed as rogue anti-spyware at Spyware Warrior. For those that may not know: Don't click the Ad! Nothing has been detected on your system. It's a con job. -------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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Jan 8 2006, 07:00 PM
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#2
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 Bleeping GloDiva Group: Members Posts: 7,479 Joined: 25-April 04 From: As always I'm beside myself ;) Member No.: 228 |
What?? No way. Say it aint so. OMG I cant believe it.
That is crazy, I wonder if they (ImageShack) is aware of what is behind the ad. Or if so, do they care? *Shrug --------------------  |
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Jan 8 2006, 07:58 PM
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#3
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
I've emailed ImageShack and await a reply.
-------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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Jan 8 2006, 08:01 PM
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#4
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Bleeping GloDiva Group: Members Posts: 7,479 Joined: 25-April 04 From: As always I'm beside myself ;) Member No.: 228 |
Cool, please keep us all posted.
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Jan 8 2006, 08:30 PM
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#5
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 Forum Addict Group: HJT Team Posts: 2,354 Joined: 13-September 04 From: SE Wisconsin, US Member No.: 2,698 |
I've seen that same one on DrudgeReport too. While we feel (know) that the software advertised is of dubious quality or even malicious, the products are legal and have a right to legitimate advertising. It would be nice if these sites would be more discriminating about what ads they run, but I can't really fault imageshack or Drudge for accepting these adds.
All we can do is make sure as many people as possible know that these are not the best products for the job. -------------------- Derfram
~~~~~~ If I have been of help, please consider a donation to the Humane Animal Welfare Society or your local equivalent. |
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Jan 8 2006, 11:42 PM
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#6
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
I think there's more that can be done than that. As individuals we can register complaints to Imageshack and as a forum we can withdraw our recommendation of ImageShack to our members. If we informed them officially - a decision that lies in the hands of the site owner and staff of course - that this was happening I would have thought it would apply pressure to Imageshack to reconsider their advertising criteria.
-------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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Jan 9 2006, 07:32 AM
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#7
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 125 Joined: 27-October 04 From: ann arbor, michigan. USA Member No.: 4,178 |
thanks rimmer...i hotlink alot of images at imageshack also but they'll never see another from me. i'm glad i caught this thread. in fact i came here to post a screenshot but i won't now. we shall all just have to find another good image host. i hope you don't mind if i share this notice at some of my other board hangouts?
-------------------- I can no longer sit back and allow Microsoft infiltration, Microsoft indoctrination, Microsoft subversion, and the international Microsoft conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious open source GNU/Linux operating systems. General Jack D. Ripper.
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Jan 9 2006, 10:55 AM
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#8
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Forum Addict Group: HJT Team Posts: 2,354 Joined: 13-September 04 From: SE Wisconsin, US Member No.: 2,698 |
QUOTE(Rimmer @ Jan 8 2006, 10:42 PM)  I think there's more that can be done than that. As individuals we can register complaints to Imageshack and as a forum we can withdraw our recommendation of ImageShack to our members. If we informed them officially - a decision that lies in the hands of the site owner and staff of course - that this was happening I would have thought it would apply pressure to Imageshack to reconsider their advertising criteria. Don't get me wrong, I get annoyed seeing these too. If someone has a form letter (or boilerplate) to send to these sites I would be happy to do my part. -------------------- Derfram
~~~~~~ If I have been of help, please consider a donation to the Humane Animal Welfare Society or your local equivalent. |
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Jan 10 2006, 01:41 AM
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#9
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
Sorry for the slow response.
cybermoron - please feel free to alert others and solicit their help. However I would not use the title of my post (re malware) as that seems, on reflection, to be going too far. Reading more of the links at Spyware warrior it seems SpywareCleaner appeared in November 2005 as one of a group of about six or seven anti-spyware products which closely resemble Ad-Aware 6.0. See http://www.spywarewarrior.com/family_resemblances.htm#5 They were all written by one guy in Serbia, in 2004, contracted by a company that also peddles pornography. The author makes assurances the product(s) were clean when he wrote them but their evolution is controlled by the owning company. He was contracted to update the application a few months (after their release?) later. Testers of the "Free Scan" report multiple false positives. Links lead only to the purchase form and the form (which asks for banking and credit card details) is insecure. So given the above it would seem the product itself is not itself malware or wasn't when written, but it may leave users open to attack through poor updating practices and poor resourcing. It also seems the company that owns the product provides no protection for their customers privacy and is engaged in deceptive advertising and is allegedly linked to illegal activities. Still want to buy it for $69.95? ddeerrff -I don't have a form letter and I don't know what a "boilerplate" is but here's what I wrote to ImageShack - feel free to cut and paste or maybe someone could turn it into a form letter? QUOTE Your current advertisements which begin "Warning Spyware Notice" promote a product called SpywareCleaner which is listed as rogue anti-spyware at the Spyware Warrior site http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm As a member of a computer help forum which specialises in removing malware from computer systems, I am alarmed that you should allow the promotion of such dubious software. The advertisement is deceptive as it pretends to be a message from the user's system, and the product it advertises is of dubious benefit for reasons detailed at the Spyware Warrior site. Use of this product in place of peer-approved products may make the computer systems of your members (and ours) more vulnerable to spam, spyware and other malware. I hope you will review your criteria for advertising content and prevent such material from appearing in future. Regards, Rimmer Here is the link to email ImageShack - http://reg.imageshack.us/content.php?page=email&q=customer Customer Feedback is probably the best choice though I sent mine to Marketing as I was following links about advertising. Note: No reply received other than the automated thanks. The SpywareCleaner Ad is not coming up today. This post has been edited by Rimmer: Jan 10 2006, 01:49 AM -------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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Jan 10 2006, 02:15 AM
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#10
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 Learning Daily Group: Members Posts: 4,543 Joined: 9-July 04 From: Washington State, USA Member No.: 1,322 |
Originally, I recommended photobucket.com. My problem (the only one) with that site is that I maxed out the capacity to store images. Freely. 95% of 'em were for here, but as time has left them deep in the back pages, or deleted, my original concern for site integrity regarding threads that might indeed still be viewed has lessened somewhat.
-------------------- patiently patrolling, plenty of persisant pests n' problems ...
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Jan 10 2006, 01:05 PM
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#11
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Forum Addict Group: HJT Team Posts: 2,354 Joined: 13-September 04 From: SE Wisconsin, US Member No.: 2,698 |
Thanks Rimmer.
-------------------- Derfram
~~~~~~ If I have been of help, please consider a donation to the Humane Animal Welfare Society or your local equivalent. |
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Jan 10 2006, 04:25 PM
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#12
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Bleeping GloDiva Group: Members Posts: 7,479 Joined: 25-April 04 From: As always I'm beside myself ;) Member No.: 228 |
QUOTE(Rimmer @ Jan 10 2006, 12:41 AM) Note: No reply received other than the automated thanks. The SpywareCleaner Ad is not coming up today. Well it seems to me that even though all you received from the folks at Imageshack was an automated thanks, that you must of gotten through to them. Since the ad no longer shows. Well Done!  Maybe they were not at all aware of what was behind the ad. *Shrug -------------------- |
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Jan 10 2006, 08:32 PM
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#13
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 2,159 Joined: 18-March 05 From: near Sydney, Australia Member No.: 14,809 |
Scarlett - I doubt the ad is gone, I think they just appear on rotation.
-------------------- Soltek QBIC, Pentium 4 3.0GHz, 512MB RAM, 200GB SATA HDD, ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB, Netgear 54Mb/s WAP, ridiculously expensive Satellite Broadband Windows XP Home SP2, Trend Micro Internet Security, Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAwareSE, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster, A-squared Free, Ewido Security Suite. |
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Jan 10 2006, 08:37 PM
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#14
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Bleeping GloDiva Group: Members Posts: 7,479 Joined: 25-April 04 From: As always I'm beside myself ;) Member No.: 228 |
Well dangit, then there needs to be more done then.
As soon as I can I will send an e-mail off to. -------------------- |
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Jan 10 2006, 11:01 PM
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#15
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: 26-December 05 From: USA Member No.: 46,386 |
www.imagedump.net lots better..and very fast..doesnt look like a very good site..but try it out some time
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