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Russian Firm Pays to Infect PCs with Adware

Posted by timothy on from the that's-pleasant dept.

Jaidev writes "Information week is reporting that a Russian site (IframeDollars) is paying web developers 6 cents for each machine they infect with spyware or adware. One security expert estimates that iframeDollars could collect as much as $75,000 annually from the adware it placed on the infected machines during the third week of May, which cost approximately $12,000 in payments to place"

16 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. never a better time NOT to RTFA by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    Never know if the article publisher itself is an affiliate ;)

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. MS putting food on other peoples table once again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Eat this, open source zealots.

    This story proofs once againe that MS is delivering an infastructure on which other companies can thrive.

    Thank you MS!

  3. They've got me! by nyxon · · Score: 5, Funny

    They've already infected my machine! I keep getting pop-ups for penis enlargements! Help!

    1. Re:They've got me! by cr3ative · · Score: 5, Funny

      The good old targeted advertising must be working then ;)

  4. Amateurs! by serutan · · Score: 5, Funny

    6 cents per machine? Hah! Our outsourcing group could get it done for 4 cents.

    1. Re:Amateurs! by John+Seminal · · Score: 5, Funny
      6 cents per machine? Hah! Our outsourcing group could get it done for 4 cents.

      But your help hotline would be in India. No thanks!

      Spammer: Hello, this is 30 year old shit in parents basement calling. I have infected 4,000 machines but only credited with 500.
      CallCenter: One moment, very sorry, read off sheet. Okay. Thank you so very much for using SpamInfect. We can help you.
      Spammer: Okay, about those machines I was not credited with.
      CallCenter: So very sorry. Very, very, very sorry. I sure it fixed soon.
      Spammer: So, are you going to credit my account or what?
      CallCenter: Yes, we credit right now. Right now. All better. Now you go to www.infectspammertoo.com for your reward.

      --

      Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."

  5. Everybody is satisfied! by MikeDX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    # Everyone is welcome to join the iframeDOLLARS.biz partnership program
    # Earn $0.055 ($55.00/1000 installs) and more for each unique iframe installs
    # You only put the short one line iframe code on your page(s) and start to MAKE MONEY
    # WITHOUT any Active-X console or any pop-ups...It means that you will not lose your unique visitors with our iframe!
    # The best percentage of installs (10-40% from the total traff or it's $4-$15 FOR 1000 UNIQUE VISITORS)
    # DAILY updated soft
    # We have 3 reliable servers with excellent speed
    # Payments every Tuesday
    # Real-time statictic of your work
    # Payment via: Fethard, Webmoney, Wire and E-gold
    # More than 150 webmasters work with us
    # Friendly support service
    # Everybody who works with us is satisfied.

    Does this "everybody" include the people whos pcs get infected with this shit? How long before this becomes more widely known or more common place... and will joe public do anything or care? no. The only chance we have is when the next windows "more money, better computer needed edition" comes out..

    1. Re:Everybody is satisfied! by Paco23 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      # We have 3 reliable servers with excellent speed Probably not for very long.

  6. So much for our time by AtlanticGiraffe · · Score: 5, Funny

    The price of your hours spent trying to get rid of that annoying adware from your mother's WinXP box:

    6.1 cents.

  7. Get the Firefox users! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Code up a cool extension
    2. Throw in some code for this
    3. Spread it around
    4. Profit!

  8. Prevention by kschawel · · Score: 4, Informative

    First of all, this exploits holes that already have patches on Windows systems:

    The code exploits a number of patched Windows and Internet Explorer vulnerabilities, including some that go back as far as 2002. Systems that haven't been updated would be vulnerable to the exploit.

    So patch and you'll be fine. Second, if you don't want to patch, you can just block this company's IP:

    According to the Internet Storm Center, companies can prevent the downloading of adware and spyware from iframeDollars' servers by blocking the IP address 81.222.131.59.

    1. Re:Prevention by Baron_Yam · · Score: 4, Informative

      So what if everyone here started clicking here?

      Is it morally acceptable to launch a preemptive strike when you absolutely, positively know the bastard is attacking you? Given that I get a timeout when I click on that link, I'd guess many people have already said, "Yes".

    2. Re:Prevention by Baron_Yam · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh, and since going to iframedollars.com or iframedollars.biz takes you to 195.95.218.170 and not the address mentioned in the parent post, you might want to click on the link above a few times as well.

  9. Re:When spreading malware becomes this obvious by swschrad · · Score: 4, Funny

    the russians will understand your post.

    nobody else will accept it as a viable option.

    we need a compromise here... perhaps on the order of "kill all the spammers, but pray for their souls."

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  10. I will pay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I will pay 6 cents for every employee of this Russian company you murder.

  11. Honeypot browser by tgibbs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So what we need is a "honeypot browser," that represents itself to a website as an old, unpatched copy of IE--but doesn't actually install the spyware. Then we could log in over and over, costing the spyware company money each time.