pcmag article about spyware has spyware

[Pretender]

Quoted from securitynewsportal.com:


Ziff Davis and PC Magazine are Spyware Hypocrits - Do as we say - not as we do
Web site plants spyware on users reading anti-spyware articles
04-09-2003 2:38:21 PM CST -- from a furious guy in the third cubicle on the left


There are some days where things happen that leave you scratching your head in amazement. Today is one of those days. Earlier I posted up an article and links that highlighted three quite interesting articles posted at the PC Magazine's web site. The articles involved spyware and anti-spyware solutions, titled PC Mag does an Indepth look at Spyware and anti-spyware solutions. It turns out that PC Magazine is either hypocritical or totally unaware of how their advertisers are planting spyware all over their viewers computers.

I received no less then fifty complaints from users who had detected spyware being planted on their computers while visiting Ziff Davis's PC Magazine web site. Not one spyware, not two spyware... but up to THIRTY advertisers spywares... This may go a long way to explaining why the intrepid Ziff Davis writer appeared rather shocked when he tested his own computer and found a slew of spywares on it - he probably had just finished surfing around the PC Magazine web site prior to testing the anti-spyware software. Possibly PC Magazine and Ziff Davis should not bother to write any future articles on the topic of advertiser's spyware when it turns out that they appear to be a veritable hotbed for the planting of spyware on their visitors computers. All in all, it is rather disturbing and will probably come as quite a surprise to the folks who trust PC Magazine and Ziff Davis. Let us all be thankful they were not writing an 'anti-trojan' article. Goodness only knows what they may have planted on their visitors if this anti-spyware hypocrisy is any indication ;)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attached below are the results of one users 'spyware alert logs' after visiting PC Magazine to read those anti-spyware articles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

04/09/2003 20:09:44 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@atdmt[2].txt
04/09/2003 20:09:45 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@mediaplex[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:09:45 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:09:46 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@atdmt[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:10:01 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@mediaplex[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:10:01 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:12:05 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@mediaplex[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:12:06 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:13:40 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@mediaplex[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:13:40 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:13:47 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:13:57 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:14:49 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@mediaplex[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:14:50 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:14:56 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:15:47 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@mediaplex[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:15:48 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt
04/09/2003 20:16:03 ~ [action:deleted ] found spyware cookie ******@questionmarket[1].txt


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another user provided the following information about his visit to the Ziff Davis - PC Magazine Web Site after viewing those articles : " I went for "The Ziff Davis" read on the PC Mag site, and I read the whole article...; the result was over a hundred of the so called "tracking cookies" of mixed brands, blocked by both my firewall and CookieWall. A nice score for an article like that... In the comment you didn't mention the number of aggressive "pop-ups" (20 during my session) and webbugs (countless) they drop on a "victim's" system. How good the information they give may be, IMO we should be very careful in directing people to their site! "

[spy1]

There're a couple of ways to look at that, I think.

First of all, if you're properly protected to begin with, none of the stuff encountered is a problem (of course, that's easy to say when one's sitting here behind OutPost, SpyBlocker - with the latest S. Martin hosts file blended with SB's using Hostess - IE_SPYAD - fully updated - and AGNIS for Outpost[ditto]).

That said, I've always kind of admired the dichotomy involved with visiting ZDNet/Cnet - they do un-flinchingly expose the different kinds of malware/spyware you can encounter on the Internet (as well as publish many articles - good ones - that can help you retain any shreds of anonymity we still have left).

And at the same time, they're serving up all that stuff themselves.

At least they're showing you how to protect yourself from it.

So, they get to collect all the revenue from the advertisers/trackers at the same time they're cluing their readers in on how to defeat it.

Slick. Pete

(From this thread: http://www.hazeleger.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=prAnnounce;action=display;num=1049963973 ).

[The Snowman]

"A man can't serve two masters"

"gee. now I wonder who said that?"


There are some who would say that the webmasters who are knowingly serving out any form of spyware are worse than the Snakes themselfs who make the spyware.

The webmasters of such sites aren't ignorant. While they themself pretend to be "whitehats" and leaders in the privacy community they are instead subjecting newbes to the Snakes. Real nice guys these fellows.

The Snowman

[Pretender]

I suppose this is all inclusive in the concept of capitalism.
:o ::)

[root]

I think I have finally lost any respect I had left for Ziff-Davis.
Too bad. They were once leaders in their field.
I don't know, Pretender. If this is what capitalism is coming too, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[Pretender]

-{ Quote: " quoting: root link=board=21;threadid=8385;start=0#54535 date=1050104423]
I think I have finally lost any respect I had left for Ziff-Davis.
Too bad. They were once leaders in their field.
I don't know, Pretender. If this is what capitalism is coming too, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
" }-

I have a problem any time that stuff/property/money takes priority over concern for the people.

[TheApostate]

Hi folk

Well, nobody ever said capatilism was perfect, but I'd tend to agree with you Pretender on the people having priority over materialistic gain. Unfortunately, the more materialistic a society becomes, the lower down the priority ladder do other people come. And why am I not suprised at there being so many spyware thngs on those sites. Me, I'll go and surf them just to see what spyware "might" get missed by my protection so I can add it to my list of sites to be blocked.

TheApostate