dsilvers
@gvtc.com
 from:
EGeezer 
| reply to sailor
Re: Is installing a Coupon Printer safe?
One hit at Jotti:
File: couponprinter.exe
Status:
INFECTED/MALWARE
MD5: faeaeff7bdf57cc69075d0ca01afc1c9
Packers detected:
-
Bit9 reports: Not analyzed yet (more info)
Scanner results
Scan taken on 28 Mar 2008 00:35:57 (GMT)
A-Squared Found nothing
AntiVir Found nothing
ArcaVir Found nothing
Avast Found nothing
AVG Antivirus Found nothing
BitDefender Found nothing
ClamAV Found nothing
CPsecure Found nothing
Dr.Web Found Adware.Coupons.origin
F-Prot Antivirus Found nothing
F-Secure Anti-Virus Found nothing
Fortinet Found nothing
Kaspersky Anti-Virus Found nothing
NOD32 Found nothing
Norman Virus Control Found nothing
Panda Antivirus Found nothing
Rising Antivirus Found nothing
Sophos Antivirus Found nothing
VirusBuster Found nothing
VBA32 Found nothing
I started cuponpriter.exe sandboxed and got as far as the EULA where it states the keys will not be removed if you uninstall the cupon printer. I have no idea what their keys do. At this point I terminated the .exe with process explorer and cleared the sandbox. I wouldn't install this. |
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bcastner
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2002-09-25
Chevy Chase, MD
clubs: 
 ·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | Thank you dsilvers,
Likely the couponprinter.exe is fine, the site is fine, and the whole deal is fine. (It is the same deal offered on the Bayer site).
But it is not worth it anymore to not ask if it is Safe.
I still, as EGeezer suggested above, think that nobody should be asking anyone to install an Active-X control to print a coupon. I have printed several, but have never had to install an Active-X control to do so.
Bayer, the owners of this product, should know this raises a concern. We have to educate the "push" sides of the malware equation as well as the "pull" side to act responsibly.
I personally think it was a great question to ask, and I personally appreciate the care taken to do so.
Bill Castner
--
============
MS-MVP 2004 - -2008, ASAP Member
Users Helping Users
|
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dsilvers
@gvtc.com
| Bill,
I got the download in Firefox. I had to allow scrips to get it so evidently they have more than one version. I did not try IE. I absolutely agree that both sides need an education. I got my education when someone said here take one of these its good for you. Flags should go up anytime it says free.
David Silvers |
|
EGeezer
Go Bobcats
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
 ·Callcentric
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to dsilvers
said by dsilvers :
One hit at Jotti:
File: couponprinter.exe
Status:
INFECTED/MALWARE
MD5: faeaeff7bdf57cc69075d0ca01afc1c9
Packers detected:
...
I started cuponpriter.exe sandboxed and got as far as the EULA where it states the keys will not be removed if you uninstall the cupon printer. I have no idea what their keys do. These pretty much seal it for me. I definitely wouldn't install it, or recommend installation. Thanks for the further tests.
BTW I don't care if they have TrustE and BBB or not - One should not need active-X controls or add-ons to print. If they want to track prints, there are other ways to track requests of print of a page. I don't need excess crap on my system.
--
Mayors of New York come from nowhere and go nowhere.
Wallace Sayre (apparently, so do governors... ) |
|
MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| said by EGeezer :....BTW I don't care if they have TrustE and BBB or not - One should not need active-X controls or add-ons to print. If they want to track prints, there are other ways to track requests of print of a page. I don't need excess crap on my system. Great call EGeezer !!
I would not let that application anywhere near a system. It may well be tracking far more than you think, or expect.
In fact, there are several issues with TrustE's certification on this matter, and raises questions about the validity of their endorsements in general.
There is an excellent article by Ben Edelman regarding that "little download", that I highly recommend reading, very informative analysis. »www.benedelman.org/news/031808-1.html
Some of his issues are:
quote:
•The Coupons.com "promo" promises that "The CouponPrinter does not gather or ask for any personal information about ... your computer." Yet my testing indicates that Coupons.com gathers detailed computer-specific information about each computer on which it is installed.
•Coupons.com's privacy policy similarly promises that "The Coupons, Inc. software ... only collect[s] information about what coupons have been printed and redeemed from your computer" -- again, directly at odds with my observation that Coupons.com collects far more information.
•Coupons.com's license agreement discloses this information collection only by admitting that the "software uses anonymous, assigned numbers and/or anonymous information about your computer or device." But the numbers at issue are not anonymous: These numbers identify a specific individual user based on the user's unique and unvarying Windows CD key, motherboard serial number, and hard drive serial number. TRUSTe rule 1.qq defines such information to be pseudonymous ("information that may correspond to a person [such as] machine ID"), while rule 1.i defines anonymous information to exclude all pseudonymous information. Coupons.com thus errs in characterizing these numbers as "anonymous." Moreover, Coupons.com errs in disclosing this data collection practice only in its license agreement; because this practice speaks to user privacy, it belongs in Coupons.com's privacy policy.
Ben also addresses Coupons.com's DMCA litigation against John Stottlemire »www.tenbucks.net/
MGD |
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