eburger68
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-28
4 edits | reply to eburger68
Re: FTC Shuts Down Adware/Spyware Vendor
Hi All:
Let me add a bit more information to my initial report.
This announcement by the FTC follows the report of a raid of Enternet Media's offices bythe authorities last week:
»spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=17492
SearchMiracle/Elitebar is one of the nastiest adware/spyware programs on the Net. EnternetMedia was the outfit behind the adware installations performed on Google's Blogspot.com, which Ben Edelman reported earlier this year:
»www.benedelman.org/news/022205-1.html
More recently, EnternetMedia's SearchMiracle/Elitebar program has used rootkit technology to hide its files from users and anti-malware programs (see attached screenshot). Elitebar was also implicated in the theft of sensitive data, including credit card information, off users' hard drives:
»www.forbes.com/businesswire/feed···2r1.html
In Sept. and Oct. 2005, SearchMiracle/Elitebar was being distributed by Pacimedia (aka, Pacerd, KvM Media), an adware distributor known to use security exploits to drop dozens of adware programs on users' PCs in one go -- so much adware, in fact, that a typical Pacerd install process could last up to a half-hour.
Other researchers have documented similar Pacimedia installs:
Ben Edelman
»www.benedelman.org/news/100505-1.html
»www.benedelman.org/spyware/insta···/pacerd/
Patrick Jordan
»www.webhelper4u.com/nontranspond···005.html
or »www.webhelper4u.com/CWS/wallpape···005.html
Paperghost
»www.vitalsecurity.org/2005/04/30···ase.html
Roger Karlsson
»www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/pu···05-10-05
So, this is very good news for consumers, as one of the nastier adware/spyware programs has been taken off the Net. I can confirm from my testing over the weekend that SearchMiracle/Elitebar is no longer being installed by Pacimedia, and EnternetMedia's other sites are no longer installing the software.
Best,
Eric L. Howes
--
Microsoft MVP
Sunbelt Software Consultant
Spyware Warrior |
