p2pnet.net News:- StopBadware.org has unveiled its report database, complete with search capabilities.

Now, on the right of any StopBadware.org page, users see “Quick Reports” and under it, a list of reports to date, as well as a link to a comprehensive list of subjects, and a search box.

Not only but also, “We’re entering a new phase here at StopBadware.org,” say the organizers. “Google, which is one of our partners, is now presenting people with a warning before they visit websites that have been reported to StopBadware.org as sites that distribute badware.”

Behind the site are Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University’s Oxford Internet Institute, with Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. Consumer Reports WebWatch is StopBadware’s “unpaid special advisor”.

John Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Center and Harvard clinical professor of law, and Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law visiting professor and professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford University, are StopBadware.org co-directors, backed by an advisory board and working group comprising experts such as Esther Dyson and Vint Cerf.

“We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and to become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware,” says the organizers.

Who’s on the list? To give you a taste, below are a few entries with chickdump.com as the first.

“This site contains links to adult content and video,” says StopBadware. “After testing a random sampling of this site’s content, we have determined that the badware behavior of this website include: Videos on the website are distributed with software that reportedly behaves like adware. The installation of this adware is not disclosed to the user. (Deceptive installation) Pages on this site silently install Java Script Virus. (Deceptive Installation).

Astalavista.am (astalavista.am/) directs users to software, “reported to behave as a Trojan horse,” and, “Catholic (www.catholic.humor.edu.pl/ ), “has been determined by StopBadware.org to host or distribute badware. We currently recommend that users do not download software from or visit this website.”

Of Fast Mp3 (fast-mp3.com/ ), “We currently recommend that users do not download software from or visit this website. We find that the site Fast Mp3 (http://www.fast-mp3.com) contains badware. This site contains links to mp3 files. We have determined that the badware behavior of this website include: Content of the website bundled with a dialer reported as WWPack32Dialer. The installation of this dialer is not disclosed to the user. (Deceptive installation).”

Hack Zone (http://www.hackzone.us), “allows user to search their database for cracks and key generators.” The site, “links to another site that silently installs exploits that take advantage of a security vulnerability in the DHTML Editing Component,” says StopBadware. “This could allow an ActiveX Control to execute potentially malicious code remotely. (Deceptive installation).”

Kazaa.it (kazaa.it/ ) , “is a bad website according to our guidelines,” says Stopbadware. “The site hides executibles as links to songs and artist information. After testing a random sampling of this site’s content, we have determined that the badware behavior of this website include: Clicking on links on the site installs executible file onto the User’s system. At no point, the site discloses that the links on the site that look like links to mp3 or artist information will cause executibles to download. The site also does not disclose what the executibles do. (Deceptive installation)”

High Quality Free Porn Movies (video-blaster.com/movie.php?uid=56 ) content, “requires a codec that is bundled with components that are reported to behave as a Trojan horse. The installation of this Trojan horse is not disclosed to the user. (Deceptive installation).”

Poke & Play (pokeyplay.com/ ) contains Pokemon games and, “Pages on this site installs an exploit on the user’s computer immediately. (Deceptive installation).”

And the list goes on and on.

On the main page:

The FTC has just informed us that they’ve successfully shut down Team Taylor Made and the sites it was affiliated with (check out the FTC’s press release here). You may remember Team Taylor Made from our report on the Jessica Simpson Screensaver, one of the worst pieces of badware we’d ever seen.

Now, the U.S. District Court in Nevada has issued a temporary restraining order against Team Taylor Made and ERG Ventures, and the FTC is seeking a permanent injunction against them. Our report on the Jessica Simpson Screensaver was included as an attachment in the FTC’s application for a temporary restraining order. Here’s what Professor John Palfrey, co-director of StopBadware.org and executive director of the Berkman Center has to say:

“The action by the U.S. District Court against ERG Ventures is proof that consumers have an effective voice in the fight against badware. StopBadware.org’s report on Team Taylor Made (an ERG affiliate), released in May, and the subsequent news coverage that followed, should have put them on notice. However, ERG continued to operate deceptively despite our efforts to get them to change their ways.”

If you know of badware-distributing websites or unpleasant applications you’d like to see on the list, let StopBadware know.

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If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details.

And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 7th, 2006 at 10:50 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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