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World's Most Annoying IE Toolbar

Posted by michael on from the someone-will-surpass-it-soon dept.

nautical9 writes "Following the same devious footsteps of the infamous Bonzi Buddy, Gator, and Comet Cursor "enhancements", Xupiter now has their own self-installing toolbar for IE. There are many claims that if you leave your security preferences at their default level, it will install itself without your express permission. And once on your system, it's gracious enough to reset your homepage to xupiter.com, forward all your searches to their search engine, download and automatically launch applications (like gambling applets), and blocks all attempts to set these back to normal. Removing it isn't trivial either - it automatically checks for updates upon reboot, where it constantly changes the registry settings it uses, making the jobs of spyware removal programs like AdAware or Spybot Search & Destroy much harder. No word yet if it collects and forwards personal data."

8 of 817 comments (clear)

  1. IE TOOLBARS ARE FOR PUSSIES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Karma censoring in effect, thus AC.

    I am still richer than you and want to Cyber!

  2. Misplaced blame by Strike · · Score: -1, Troll

    "When I find the bastards who programmed this thing I'd be happy to castrate them with a pair of dull pinking shears," fumed one of Xupiter's many unhappy victims in a newsgroup posting.

    Here they are:

    Microsoft
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond, WA 98052
    US
    425-882-8080

    This security hole is their fault, they've known about it for quite some time and still haven't fixed it.

  3. *groan* by Gentoo+Fan · · Score: 0, Troll

    No word yet if it collects and forwards personal data.

    Is this just more mindless Microsoft bashing on Slashdot? It's one thing to post a notification of actual, privacy damaging spyware, but if it's simply annoying and you don't know if it spies on you or not then DON'T INSTALL IT!. Sheesh...

  4. Shit like this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    ...is the only reason why M$ still maintains this "WWW client" called IE in the Mozilla age... they just WANT you to hate their proprietrary shit where every wegsite becomes a danger to your system and to your good mood..

  5. Get a real browser! by netsharc · · Score: -1, Troll

    Don't use IE, get a real browser, for example the newly released Opera 7.0, which is faster, more standards compliant, doesn't have any security exploits and doesn't allow just any DLL to attach to it! :)

    --
    What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
  6. Re:the last straw for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I would have switched the whole operating system.

  7. HELP! /. BLOCKING MOZILLA!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I can't access SLaSHdoT WIth MOZILLA!

    It's blocking mozilla but I can get to it with IE!! UGh!

    HeLp!!

    THis IS NoT a JOKE!

  8. MODERATORS ON CRACK! mod down this muther fucker! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll


    Hey,

    who in this parallel world akin to hell, mods pornography up as insightful?

    Oh..yeah that's right...the moderators on slashdot enjoy squirrel and kitty porn.

    Yer all Sodomites and Gamorites!