Broadband Tech > Security > Security > Dale Begg-Smith, Adscpm Spyware King wins Olympic Gold

Dale Begg-Smith, Adscpm Spyware King wins Olympic Gold

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PRESSURE is mounting on gold medal skier Dale Begg-Smith to detail the origins of his internet fortune, which increasingly appears to have been built on developing spyware that diverts users to advertisements and porn sites.

Begg-Smith's manager David Malina said last night he hoped Begg-Smith would issue a statement clarifying his business interests, after his gold medal performance in Turin brought his internet whizz-kid reputation back into the spotlight.

Mr Malina said Begg-Smith "would prefer the media to focus on that".

"He has minimised his involvement in the business and he'd really like to focus on his skiing," he said.

"He runs a legitimate business. He's just won a gold medal for Australia and everyone wants to cut him down."


Begg-Smith, 21, could not be contacted yesterday.

His companies CPM Media and AdsCPM have been identified as the origin of "spyware" programs that can redirect a computer to porn sites or install software that floods the computer with pop-up ads.

Spyware, which installs itself without the owner's knowledge, has become a huge internet security problem, said Ben Gutherie, product marketing manager at internet security company Trend Micro.

"Spyware has been massively increasing year on year," he said.

The CPM programs, which are installed without the owner's permission when they visit web sites, are difficult to erase and have been the subject of many angry complaints on internet help sites.

It appears the CPM spyware also redirects users to websites selling spyware removal tools.

CPM is believed to earn commissions for every click on a pop-up, a diversion to the advertiser's website and when sales result from those diversions.

Begg-Smith has been reluctant to talk about his business, which he started when he was 13 years old in his native Vancouver. He emigrated to Australia three years later.

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but on the link found here he is an internet innovator?
»Spammer Wins Olympic Gold
»www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=···ustralia
"..
Dale Begg-Smith, a freestyle skier and Internet innovator, won the gold in moguls skiing at the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. ..."

Cudni
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Some are born to failure, others achieve it, all deserve it
Help yourself so God can help you

reply to CalamityJane
Maybe he should take a good look at what he has accomplished in the Olympics with hard work and dedication and apply it to his everyday life?
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~~Then the rainstorm came over me and I felt my spirit break; I had lost all of my belief you see, and realized my mistake...~~

reply to CalamityJane
Maybe in this sequence:

said by CalamityJane :

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Maybe he should be made to pay back those whose machines he has infected

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said by hpguru :

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Maybe he should have a close encounter with a tree.

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reply to hpguru
hpguru wrote:
"Maybe he should have a close encounter with a tree."

No one should wish ill will on others, no matter what evil things they may have done. Wishing physical harm on others is not funny, especially since I am laid up with an ACL injury due to a downhill skiing accident, going into surgery next week. I don't see humor in your remark, at all.

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ionSKY Wireless ISP - 2.4GHz - 802.11b - 1.0MB/384kbps | Dell Dimension 4550/WinXP Pro/SP2/768MB Ram -- Dell Inspiron 5150/WinXP Pro/SP2/1024MB Ram |Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 | NAT Router/Firewall | D-Link DI-524 Wireless Router/Firewall |MSAS Sucks!

reply to CajunTek

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The Chinese farmer

There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and, when all the farmer's neighbours sympathised with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'

A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, 'Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?'

Then, when the farmer's son was attempted to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, 'Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?'

Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

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reply to CalamityJane
What I would like to see is some spotlight on his company and some accountability for that. I have seen the arguments about this person being entitled to compete or win the medal, and I am not quite able to wrap my head around that (although he did use his ill-gotten gains to finance his quest).

However, I'm all about intelligent discussion on how this person can be brought to account for the damage to computers as a result of his escapades with Adscpm Network. Sometimes the spotlight shines where one doesn't want it to. Hence the silence on Begg-Smith's part to discuss his company.

I'm quite sure his domains are in hpguru's hosts file and have been for some time. Likewise for the excellent research by WebHelper, et al.

So, he is Canadian by birth - Australian by choice (four years ago, I think I read?). Cannot this be investigated by these two countries? I'd really like to see some action against the offenders for the spyware installs. The numbers are staggering.

And I have to wonder why it has been "allowed" for all these years.
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It takes a disaster to make a woman out of a female
Microsoft MVP/Windows Security 2003-2006
Proud Member of ASAP (Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals)

reply to CalamityJane

... it's no wonder he doesn't want to talk about his 'business' ... but with so much data available already and the spotlight squarely on him it's going to get harder to avoid ... frankly I hope they grill his a$$ but good ...

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... "Do You Know Where Your Towel Is ?" ...

reply to CalamityJane
Excellent, and I agree wholeheartedly. Perhaps his winning gold at the Olympics and the spotlighting of his "business" will help more people to become aware of insidious spyware crap.

I hope he enjoys his medal, and I hope he's made to pay for all the machines he's messed up and compromised.

I'm all for the "up-close-and-personal" treatment for this scum ball.
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Die Weiße Rose

reply to CalamityJane

reply to CalamityJane
It would be nice if either Canada or Australia could investigate his companies and set an example of him to the rest of the "Spyware Community".

Maybe in way his winning is a good thing as it may bring more of an everyday awareness about Spyware and how it takes over your computer to the average person.
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Team 4 ~ Northern California Forum ~ ECO

reply to CalamityJane
Begg-Smith now has his own write-up on Spam Kings.

»spamkings.oreilly.com/archives/2···old.html

reply to CalamityJane

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"He runs a legitimate business. He's just won a gold medal for Australia and everyone wants to cut him down."

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reply to CalamityJane
I thought highly of the guy, worth $40 million, started the company at 13, drives a Lambo, until I did some googling and saw the words "pop-under".
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Start the Revolution, download Opera, »www.opera.com

reply to CalamityJane

reply to CalamityJane
The spotlight on spyware can only bring attention to it's insidios purpose. I'm glad that it's getting attention as more people need to be aware of it.
I hope he is embarassed.
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Choose heaven for climate, hell for society.

reply to CalamityJane
Write the IOC and complain that a "criminal" has been awarded a medal.

Provide various links to document the accusation.
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The alphabet is my favourite group of letters in the whole world.