Month: December 2010

Another site selling “memberships” for something that’s free

Here’s the latest twist in the “membership” site scam: spam emails that tell potential victims to update their Adobe Reader include links to a web site intended to look like something related to Adobe products, but is selling “memberships.”

The REAL way to update your Adobe software is on the help menu: help | check for updates (see the end of this blog piece for details).

The spam email:

 

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Notice that the graphic on the web page says “PDF Reader/Writer” and doesn’t mention Adobe, as the email (and the URL it contained) did:

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The default selections on the “choose your  plan” page includes

— three years of “unlimited VIP access and support” ($12.97)
— one year of “full protection against intrusion with ETD scanner” ($1.49 per month – payable up front, so that’s $17.88)
— “award-winning download accelerator” for $9.95.

That’s a total of $40.80.

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A web search for “ETD scanner” is interesting too. Its home page says it has been parked by GoDaddy.

In material that comes with it, it’s described as: “… an anti-spyware/malware/trojan, privacy protector, system performance enhancer and popup blocker software all-in-one!” In its “system requirements” the latest version of Windows listed is 2003.

The scanner is for sale on a site called “BrotherSoft”  for $29.95 although only 135 people have purchased it in a year and a half.

A 60-day trial version that we downloaded installed successfully and wasn’t detected as malicious code by VIPRE or other AV sources, but didn’t download any signature updates, so, apparently the only detections it was capable of were those from 2004 (if it’s functional at all.)

 

How to REALLY update Adobe products (IT’S FREE!)

Now back in the REAL world, if you want to update one of your Adobe products, you open it, then select the help menu, then “check for updates.” They’re free.

 (click graphic to enlarge)

Thanks Adam.

Tom Kelchner

You’ve locked down your computer. Nothing is going to bypass your privacy shielding programs. AdBlock is fully loaded, NoScript is ready to roll and RefControl is sending “Party on, Wayne” as your custom referrer to all and sundry.

However, you really want to hide your IP address too and decide to load up one of the many web-based proxy services available.

Something humorous I’ve noticed across many web-based proxies recently is that they’re jumping on a marketing strategy that might be slightly at odds with their attempts at privacy for the end-user. In order to keep your private details private, you have to fill in a survey and hand over a bunch of information to third party marketers.

Type in a URL, hit the “Go” button on the proxy and you’ll see one of these:

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

One of the stranger marketing tactics I’ve seen…

Christopher Boyd

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accepted a preliminary staff report that lays out a framework for Internet privacy and suggests a “do not track” mechanism – possibly a persistent cookie installed on browsers.

The agency was careful to point out that the commissioners see privacy measures as a balancing act. The news release quotes FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz:

“Technological and business ingenuity have spawned a whole new online culture and vocabulary – email, IMs, apps and blogs – that consumers have come to expect and enjoy. The FTC wants to help ensure that the growing, changing, thriving information marketplace is built on a framework that promotes privacy, transparency, business innovation and consumer choice. We believe that’s what most Americans want as well.”

The report also said industry efforts to guard users’ privacy through self-regulation have been too slow and haven’t provided adequate and meaningful protection.

 “Although many companies use privacy policies to explain their information practices, the policies have become long, legalistic disclosures that consumers usually don’t read and don’t understand if they do. Current privacy policies force consumers to bear too much burden in protecting their privacy.”

The FTC report recommended that companies should have a “privacy by design” approach and build privacy protections into everyday business practices including:
— reasonable security for consumer data
— limited data collection and retention
— reasonable procedures to promote data accuracy

“Companies also should implement and enforce procedurally sound privacy practices throughout their organizations, including assigning personnel to oversee privacy issues, training employees, and conducting privacy reviews for new products and services,” they said.

“… consumers should be presented with choice about collection and sharing of their data at the time and in the context in which they are making decisions – not after having to read long, complicated disclosures that they often cannot find.”

The commissioners approved the preliminary staff report by a vote of 5-0.

FTC Staff Issues Privacy Report Offers Framework for Consumers, Businesses, and Policymakers

Tom Kelchner