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With Tiger comes ADWARE!

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qzak

macrumors 6502
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Jan 19, 2005
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Adware Widgets already!

story from slashdot.org....

Posted by timothy on Sunday May 08, @05:49PM
from the not-good dept.
bonch writes "If you're running Safari on OS X Tiger and go to this website, a 'slightly evil' Dashboard widget will be automatically downloaded and installed and can't be removed without manually removing the file from the Library folder and rebooting the computer. The widget is called Zaptastic and is a demonstration by the author of how easy it is to exploit Dashboard for nefarious purposes. The essay, released under the Creative Commons License, goes on to describe the many ways users can be taken advantage of--imagine porn sites auto-installing adware widgets without your knowledge." So if you're on a Mac, it would be smart to view that page with something other than Safari.

it's the top story on the main page right now


EDIT - my bad, didnt see it was already posted
 
killuminati said:
This has already been posted 4 times.
Click to expand...

I for one am glad it is being posted multiple times. This is the first I have seen of it. Pretty messed up
 
Brother Michael said:
Install Camino.

Problem(s) solved.

At least they are on my 10.3 system.

Mike
Click to expand...
Actually, no. For those who have been asleep for the past six months, there is a new type of block-skirting pop-up/pop-under ad out there. A growing number of websites choose to support themselves with these ads. Camino is most certainly a victim. I understand that FireFox is most resistant, but no browser immune. The villian, however, are not the users. The villians are not the browser developers--except IE. The villians are the web sites who use these ads. When you encounter one, let the webmaster know that you don't appreciate his choice of ad medium.
 
qzak said:
Adware Widgets already!

story from slashdot.org....

Posted by timothy on Sunday May 08, @05:49PM
from the not-good dept.
bonch writes "If you're running Safari on OS X Tiger and go to this website, a 'slightly evil' Dashboard widget will be automatically downloaded and installed and can't be removed without manually removing the file from the Library folder and rebooting the computer. The widget is called Zaptastic and is a demonstration by the author of how easy it is to exploit Dashboard for nefarious purposes. The essay, released under the Creative Commons License, goes on to describe the many ways users can be taken advantage of--imagine porn sites auto-installing adware widgets without your knowledge." So if you're on a Mac, it would be smart to view that page with something other than Safari.

it's the top story on the main page right now


EDIT - my bad, didnt see it was already posted
Click to expand...

technically not even adware. more like malware. adware is an app supported via ads.. this isn't an app supported by ads. it's an app that could technically inflict damage.. no damage is done by adware, what you're thining is malware... malicious ware for those who don't get it.

all that really needs to happen here is a popup asking if you'd like to install that widget or something along those lines. problem psuedo-solved. as stated in those threads on slashdot.. ultimately no app will be perfect.. users are 90% of the problem. they will click and run ANYTHING. if you're halfway intelligent then you know "mmm maybe i shouldn't click this" ... so if you're one of those users who just click anything.. that's your problem, not the developers.
 
MisterMe said:
I understand that FireFox is most resistant, but no browser immune.
Click to expand...

You can block the ad servers at the DNS level :)

Hint: The /etc/hosts file is the one you want to look at.
 
killuminati said:
This has already been posted 4 times.
Click to expand...

Do you (or anyone) have links to those threads? I would like to see them, but can't seem to find them.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found one in the Current Events forum.
 
tech4all said:
Do you (or anyone) have links to those threads? I would like to see them, but can't seem to find them.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found one in the Current Events forum.
Click to expand...

widgets of DOOM is one of them, in this very forum. Mac OS X
 
While this is a problem and needs to be fixed, it's hardly scary. It just adds a widget to your widget library you may not want there. you still have to open it yourself, and you can still close it yourself.

You can also delete it from ~/Library/Widgets/ and it's like it was never there.

Additionally, I'm under the impression that a widget wouldn't be allowed deeper system access without at least a password from the user? Not sure about that one.

Regardless: Apple, please correct this Safari/Dashboard behavior.
 
I wonder if you could of thought of a more inflammatory title for this thread.
 
Nermal said:
You can block the ad servers at the DNS level :)

Hint: The /etc/hosts file is the one you want to look at.
Click to expand...

/etc/hosts doesn't do anything on a Mac except in single-user mode, unless things have drastically changed since Panther.

Misterme: actually, OmniWeb seems to be immune to these: set the site preferences to block all pop-ups from that site and it works great. Much better than Safari's blocker, which blocks legit pop-ups, and lets these through.
 
Should make widgets tougher to add. All this talk and "automation" in the system gives me a Windows feel. Something just doesnt sit right.
 
Like I mentioned in the DOOM thread, I think Apple should do the following things:

-Disable Safari's ability to auto-install Widgets - I mean what were they thinking?!

-Move the Widgets folder to somewhere more easily found. Maybe next to the Applications folder, maybe inside the Applications folder, or maybe in the Home folder (that will make more sense, since Apple separates user Widgets and system Widgets). Oh, and put it in the sidebar by default.

No need for a dialog asking if you want to install the Widget. It should be treated like any other drag-and-drop install applications.
 
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