- Jun 24, 2016
- 636
How Annoying Adware Makes Companies Money:
SOURCE: vocativ.com (ARTICLE DATE: 5th Aug 2016)
Researchers from New York University and Google teamed up to figure out just how adware operates on a user’s computer. They will present a paper about their work next week at the USENIX Security Symposium in Austin, Texas.
The term adware (the combination of “advertisement” and “malware”) usually refers to advertisements that are either aggressively displayed on a screen or surreptitiously downloaded to a user’s computer. Once they’re on a computer, the adware can do things like collect a user’s information to then push more targeted ads, or bombard her with pop-ups for legitimate products
Adware is shockingly common, which makes it extremely lucrative—the researchers cite reports that estimate that adware companies raked in $460 million in 2014 alone, nearly triple the income of companies that generate malware. And though for years Google has been tracking some of the sites where adware commonly lurks, they don’t know much about the companies propagating the ads...
NYU, Google researchers hack business model of adware, scareware, other unwanted software:
SOURCE: eurekalert.com (ARTICLE DATE: 4th Aug 2016)
Commercial PPI is a monetization scheme wherein third-party applications -- often consisting of unwanted software such as adware, scareware, and browser hijacking programs -- are bundled with legitimate applications in exchange for payment to the legitimate software company. When users install the package, they get the desired piece of software as well as a stream of unwanted programs riding stowaway. Thomas, McCoy, and their colleagues cite reports indicating that commercial PPI is a highly lucrative global business...
"If you've ever downloaded a screen saver or other similar feature for your laptop, you've seen a 'terms and conditions' page pop up where you consent to the installation," McCoy explained. "Buried in the text that nobody reads is information about the bundle of unwanted software programs in the package you're about to download." The presence of a consent form allows businesses to operate legally, but McCoy classifies the extra applications as "treading a fine line between malware and unwanted software."
The report explains that PPI businesses operate through a network of affiliates-- brokers who forge the deals that bundle advertisements (often unwanted software) with popular software applications, then place download offers on well-trafficked sites where they're likely to be clicked on. Parties are paid separately -- meaning some legitimate developers do not know their products are being bundled with unwanted software -- and they are paid as much as two dollars per install.
When an installer runs, the user's computer is "fingerprinted" to determine which adware is available to run on that particular machine. Additionally, the downloader searches for antivirus protection, factoring in the presence or absence of such protections in its approach. "They do their best to bypass antivirus, so the program will intentionally inject those elements -- whether it's adware or scareware -- that are likeliest to evade whichever antivirus program is running," McCoy said...
SOURCE: vocativ.com (ARTICLE DATE: 5th Aug 2016)
Researchers from New York University and Google teamed up to figure out just how adware operates on a user’s computer. They will present a paper about their work next week at the USENIX Security Symposium in Austin, Texas.
The term adware (the combination of “advertisement” and “malware”) usually refers to advertisements that are either aggressively displayed on a screen or surreptitiously downloaded to a user’s computer. Once they’re on a computer, the adware can do things like collect a user’s information to then push more targeted ads, or bombard her with pop-ups for legitimate products
Adware is shockingly common, which makes it extremely lucrative—the researchers cite reports that estimate that adware companies raked in $460 million in 2014 alone, nearly triple the income of companies that generate malware. And though for years Google has been tracking some of the sites where adware commonly lurks, they don’t know much about the companies propagating the ads...
[To read the full article please visit the link at the top of the page]
NYU, Google researchers hack business model of adware, scareware, other unwanted software:
SOURCE: eurekalert.com (ARTICLE DATE: 4th Aug 2016)
Commercial PPI is a monetization scheme wherein third-party applications -- often consisting of unwanted software such as adware, scareware, and browser hijacking programs -- are bundled with legitimate applications in exchange for payment to the legitimate software company. When users install the package, they get the desired piece of software as well as a stream of unwanted programs riding stowaway. Thomas, McCoy, and their colleagues cite reports indicating that commercial PPI is a highly lucrative global business...
"If you've ever downloaded a screen saver or other similar feature for your laptop, you've seen a 'terms and conditions' page pop up where you consent to the installation," McCoy explained. "Buried in the text that nobody reads is information about the bundle of unwanted software programs in the package you're about to download." The presence of a consent form allows businesses to operate legally, but McCoy classifies the extra applications as "treading a fine line between malware and unwanted software."
The report explains that PPI businesses operate through a network of affiliates-- brokers who forge the deals that bundle advertisements (often unwanted software) with popular software applications, then place download offers on well-trafficked sites where they're likely to be clicked on. Parties are paid separately -- meaning some legitimate developers do not know their products are being bundled with unwanted software -- and they are paid as much as two dollars per install.
When an installer runs, the user's computer is "fingerprinted" to determine which adware is available to run on that particular machine. Additionally, the downloader searches for antivirus protection, factoring in the presence or absence of such protections in its approach. "They do their best to bypass antivirus, so the program will intentionally inject those elements -- whether it's adware or scareware -- that are likeliest to evade whichever antivirus program is running," McCoy said...
[To read the full article please visit eurekalert.com]
