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Date Posted: 11:14:41 12/12/04 Sun
Author: Beth Cox
Subject: My Web browser was hijacked last week
In reply to: HIJACKED? 's message, "Has your homepage been" on 10:55:19 12/12/04 Sun

www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/news/article.php/1496721

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Hijacked! Adventures in the Adware Wars
By Beth Cox
November 7, 2002

My Web browser was hijacked last week, and although I survived the ensuing mess and met all my deadlines, I can tell you it's one very unpleasant experience.

You fire up your computer as always and before you know it, you are deluged with flashing, vividly colored pop-up ads. This hijacker calls itself TopClicks.net and describes itself as a "pay per click search engine."

I was bombarded with ads for everything from no-name casinos and off-the-wall travel services to pitches for American Express and Classmates.com. There were dozens of "claim your reward" pop-ups, many very vague, others for things like "home-study" courses.

I started getting Gator.com's software offer on a regular basis, too, just popping up on my screen. The Gator software runs in the background as a user surfs the Web, and pops up windows -- including ones containing ads -- in response to the sites a person visits. But in theory you have to sign up for it.

Here's what TopClicks.net says when you go to the site:

"TopClicks.net was designed to introduce qualified leads to online merchants using a powerful, real-time search engine platform. Keyword-based searches originate from TopClicks.net's network of content-driven search partners, large and small. Merchants list their site, manage their online advertising account, all in real-time and it's totally free. Webmasters pay nothing for the traffic leaded from TopClicks.net."

Well, I'm here to tell you that although there is a search device (as well as lists of merchant categories) on the TopClicks site, no search engine was involved in my experience. Instead, some little piece of code attached itself to my browser and every time I opened up Internet Explorer, which I keep set to open on a blank page, it also opened up TopClicks. Then the barrage started.

I think I got this by opening one wrong e-mail - just opening it, not downloading a file. I don't download files anymore. Ever.

There is, of course, no indication on the TopClicks site as to who owns or operates it, although it was registered at BulkRegister.com.

I don't know what to call this exactly - maybe an adware parasite, or malware, a browser hijacker, scumware, maybe foistware.

I finally succeeded in getting rid of the TopClicks bug after a colleague advised me to visit Lavasoft.com, where I downloaded the free Ad-aware 5.83 software, designed to scan your memory, registry and hard drives for known programs of this type and remove them. It worked like a charm for me. It also found five other little things lurking on my computer, including three from Alexa and one from DoubleClick.

According to Lavasoft, "These programs are in some shareware or freeware programs because, unfortunately, this is the only way some software developers can pay their bills. If you are among those who don't want any part of this--and feel these hidden programs invade your privacy--you should definitely consider downloading Ad-aware."

Currently, the Ad-aware utility detects small ad programs from Adware, Aureate/Radiate, OnFlow, Comet-Cursor, Cydoor, Doubleclick, EverAd, Flyswat, OnFlow, TimeSink 5.0, and others, as well as many browser hijackers.

Lavasoft also offers an enhanced version, Ad-aware Plus, for $15 at the Web site. There's also a link to "spyware free alternatives."

Interestingly, there appears to be an ongoing war between the hijackers and Lavasoft, as I found this posted in one of the forums about Ad-aware:

"If your copy of Ad-aware is asking that information such as name and e-mail address be entered into the software prior to installation, then you have downloaded a software that is not actually Ad-aware. Adaware.exe from downloadalot is a scam and a fake. The description given at the site is a description of Ad-aware. PLEASE NOTE ...The software at downloadalot is NOT Ad-aware. The properties say it's a TalkingBuddy. It's not a TalkingBuddy, it's a 187kb browser and hosts file hijacker -- It hijacks to searchalot."

I decided not to pay a visit to searchalot.

I did ask the folks at Gator.com what was up with TopClicks, and a spokesman said only: "...unfortunately the Gator Corp. is not at liberty to disclose information about their partners."

At Classmates.com, they were a little more forthcoming. Wendy Dickerman, director of member care, told me that " We have worked with our campaign organization and removed the advertisement with TopClicks ... We are further investigating the situation to fully understand the events you described so further changes can be made, if appropriate."

In any case, my new policy on all this is to regularly scan my computer, not only for viruses and Trojan horses, but also for hijackers and scumware. And you should, too.
 

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