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(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Feb 20th 2006 1:53am





Behind The Botnets

from the it-ain't-pretty dept

Just a few hours ago, I wrote about Ben Edelman's latest evidence concerning sneaky installs of adware/spyware/malware. This ties perfectly into this long article at the Washington Post looking behind the scenes at botnets, who are often used to install adware like 180solutions, in order to generate cash. The folks who run the various botnets (of which there apparently are more than many think -- and they're larger than many believe) don't seem put off by the weak attempts by the adware companies to make it more difficult to install those products. They recognize that the adware firms make so much money off of surreptitious installs that it's in their best interests to leave open enough holes. In fact, it sounds like the bigger fear from most botnet operators isn't that these adware firms will stop making it easy to install their products -- but that the firms won't actually pay them all the affiliate money they owe.

6 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
    identicon
    Andrew Strasser, Feb 20th, 2006 @ 5:37am

    You get one.

    It gives you another. They are literally worse than STD's.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Feb 20th, 2006 @ 7:57am

    Re: You get one.

    Just return the game for a complete refund: doesn't work as promise (no online play after you paid for the game (no mention of additional fees on box)).

    When their profits go down, they'll change.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Feb 20th, 2006 @ 8:05am

    Re: You get one.

    tell that to someone with AIDS

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Feb 20th, 2006 @ 8:21am

    Re: You get one.

    Imagine that the AIDS gave you syphilis too.. that's what he/she's saying.

    I think even a person with AIDS would agree to that.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    botnet squirrel, Feb 20th, 2006 @ 11:42am

    Why isn't anyone attacking the botnets

    I would think that a blackhat approach to the botnets would allow one to take control of them and cause them to self destruct if passed proper instructions and programming. Is this going on now somewhere under cover somewhere? If so they must not be doing very well because the plague of botnets seems to be growing.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Josh, Feb 20th, 2006 @ 11:54am

    Re: Why isn't anyone attacking the botnets

    Even if someone did shut a botnet down, the people getting infected would get re-infected. Botnets are caused by people who don't know enough about their own computer to protect it, are using insecure software/browsers, and just general stupidity. Killing off a botnet just means someone else is gonna get control of those system soon enough. In medicine, this is called curing the symptoms - not the disease that causes the symptoms.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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