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Spyware in Kazaa, Limewire, Grokster
BigMacMike writes: "The San Francisco Chronicle (via the sfgate.com website) has a story that Kazaa, LimeWire, and others have secretly hidden software in their applications that track users' browsing habits." Not the first time. The corporate response is that they literally didn't know what was in these secondary applications that they were providing to be downloaded and installed alongside their primary program. Believe it if you wish.
Download the acclaimed Ad Aware program (link provided) here. It searches your registry and all your drives for running and installed spyware programs. It works great.
I wrote an article on Kuro5hin entitled The Spyware Invasion when I found out that there was a piece of Spyware(WebHancer) on my machine that was logging EVERY URL I VISITED. It turns out that this company sells these statistics that they obtain from over 16 million unsuspecting users to businesses for over $12,000 a pop.
What bothered me in particular about this approach is that I know a few websites that log users in with their pasword in the URL (Slashdot is one of them) and I wondered exactly how many of my passwords and userIDs had been sent to webHancer over the past weeks I had it unknowingly running on my machine. Of course, I quickly ran Ad-Aware on my machine and changed all my online passwords.
PS: The offending application that installed this spyware was AudioGalaxy.
AD-AWARE (current 5.62) is one of the BEST ad removal tools for windows computer, grab it at Lavasoft. It's free, it has updates (download the latest definition file after installing the 5.62 version) and I've tracked it's every move with a filesystem scanner, and it doesn't put thrash anywhere in your system.
It scans Registry, cookies, files, dlls, and it found the Kazaa backdoor installed in my system. Usually when you put a software you can remove it's tracking bugware and the main software will still run (I remember posting an article here over a year ago about bearshare having that same type of crap that Kazaa is using right now but it got rejected). What's interresting about Kazaa is if you remove the offending DLL (which is Cydoor bugtracking stuff), Kazaa won't start anymore, this really shows how BAD they want to track your moves.
While I don't have anything against software companies making a buck by selling tracked info, I do have something against companies being hypocritical about it. When you install Kazaa, it offers you a lot of "free stuff" that any above average users knows that it means advertising stuff, spamming and tracking. This is okay in my book at LEAST it's part of the installer and if you don't know and say yes, well that becomes your problem. What I find really hypocritical is i've unselected EVERYTHING exept "Kazaa needed files" and it STILL installed that bugware thing, and it's not mentionned anywhere CLEARLY in the installer. People get pissed at microsoft activation process which is clear, known and way less intrusive than that, but they let that pass in exchange of leeching free MP3, vids, p0rn and warez. If one day the big suppliers of content on that services have an FBI raid at their places, they'll scream justice and claim that FBI couldn't use the informatin that Kazaa was getting from them because it's not constitutionnal. Well I'd say, make up your mind, if you want P2P and privacy, go to some other service, an example, Download winMX, run Ad-aware in case there's anything installed with the newer versions, and it will probably still run after the cleaning process (I use winMX I love it). Don't support crooks like Kazaa and bearshare that are trying to look friendly, on your side, and pro this and that, while they turn around and sell your browsing habbits without your knowledge.
Also, notice when you're not uploading or downloading, but kazaa is running.. your drive burps every 5 seconds.... I'm still trying to figure out why.. it doesn't stop even after an hour.. it's not "windows-typical" drive burping.
Anyways... hope that helps anyone out there.
--- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
Here's a (dutch :P) site about this thing, with more details
http://www.zdnet.nl/News.cfm?id=14504
The article says that LimeWire 2.0.2 and Grokster ask on installation if you want to install a certain 'service' or program called 'ClickTillUWin'. Whether or not you confirm or deny this request, it secretly DOES install it on your pc. This so-called online lottery game contains the trojan. If you go to clicktilUwin.com you'll see that there are possibly more programs 'infected' by this trojan (check the partners section).
What is basically does (according to the above article) is install a file called Dlder.exe. When you start the p2p program it came with, dlder.exe will automatically start too and download a second piece, called explorer.exe (and no, not the same one windows users normally have). This program then does some things to the windows registry and sends usernames and your ip adress to http://www.2001-007.com.
Symantec (the guys of Norton Antivirus) have called this thing a trojan horse and all of their antivirus applications will regognize it as one. The above article also states that other antiviruscompanies have also already updated their software (waiting for you to press the 'update button' that is :)
here is a really comprehensive hosts file that blocks morpheus,bearshare,hotline and 10,000 advert servers, daily updates, instructions and works on all platforms including Linux/beos/macs ;)
1st a quote..
"F-Secure Virus Descriptions
NAME: DlDer
ALIAS: Trojan.Win32.DlDer, Troj_DlDer
This two-component trojan was discovered in the end of December 2001. The trojan being installed on a user's system constantly upgrades its main component that connects to 2001-007.com website and reports user's ID, web browser a user is using and all URLs that a web browser and all its child windows open. The trojan violates user's privacy and opens a security hole in a system by downloading and activating executable files.
The main component of the trojan is Explorer.exe file that is located in Windows folder in \Explorer\ subfolder (do not mix with the original Windows' Explorer.exe). This component is constantly upgraded by the second trojan component that has the name 'DlDer.exe' and is located in Windows folder.
The DlDer.exe file is most likely dropped to user's system by ActiveX applet or Javascript code that a user doesn't notice when he is browsing Internet. The exact way how this file is dropped is not yet known. The case is under investigation.
The DlDer.exe file when it is started downloads Explorer.exe file from a website and puts it to \Windows\Explorer\ folder. Then the trojan creates a startup key for Explorer.exe file. On next System restart the Explorer.exe file is activated and it creates a startup key for DlDer.exe file and starts to connect to 2001-007.com website and report user's ID, web browser and all URLs that a user visits to there.
We recommend to delete both trojan components from an infected system. If these components can't be deleted (locked files) they should be deleted from pure DOS (in case of Windows 9x system) or renamed with different extensions (EXA for example) with immediate system restart (in case of Windows NT/2000/XP system).
[F-Secure Anti-Virus Research Team, December 28th, 2001]"
Now some links
Astechnica Forum - "Is download.com infected with a virus???"
Arstechnica Forum - "explorer.exe and Explorer.exe"
Computing.Net Forum - "How to delete trojan in explorer.exe"
Gnutella Forum - "p2p Trojan info"