Orbital Decay: the dark side of a popular file downloading tool

Discussion in 'malware problems & news' started by SweX, Aug 23, 2013.

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  1. SweX

    SweX Registered Member

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    SweX, Aug 23, 2013
    #1
  2. AVusah

    AVusah Registered Member

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    That's just bizarre.
     
    AVusah, Aug 24, 2013
    #2
  3. Snoop3

    Snoop3 Registered Member

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    eh, i knew some of these FF add-ons like ANT Downloader were making their $$ by stealing/compiling your browsing data, profiling etc so this isn't too surprising either. If its "free" it usually isn't free.
     
    Snoop3, Aug 24, 2013
    #3
  4. 0strodamus

    0strodamus Registered Member

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    Interesting article. Thanks for the post. I used Orbit a long, long time ago. Glad I replaced it with WinWget way back then!
     
    0strodamus, Aug 25, 2013
    #4
  5. guest

    guest Guest

    I already left Orbit years ago since the development is slow and it didn't support the latest version of Firefox in that time. Despite what the article said, I found it to be an excellent download manager. Unless of course, there are some nasty things hidden under the hood some times after I quit using it. :ninja:
     
    guest, Aug 26, 2013
    #5
  6. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    See appendices to article:
    [UPDATE #2: Popular file download sites BetaNews, DownloadCrew, Softpedia and Softonic have all removed Orbit Downloader from their sites. (2013-08-23 19:00 PDT)
    UPDATE #1: Popular file download site MajorGeeks has removed Orbit Downloader from their site. AG (2013-08-22 19:00 PDT)]

    Or - as below.

    http://betanews.com/2013/08/23/orbit-downloader-includes-ddos-code-says-eset/#comments

    http://www.downloadcrew.com/article/298-orbit_downloader

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Orbit-Downloader-Contains-DDOS-Component-ESET-Warns-377662.shtml

    http://news.en.softonic.com/orbit-downloader-contains-trojan-downloads-blocked

    http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/orbit_downloader.html
     
    siljaline, Aug 26, 2013
    #6
  7. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    LOL, I´m still using an old version of this app, I noticed that the newer versions didn´t work correctly, so I never upgraded plus I found a better downloader (YTD Video Downloader). :)

    I´m actually surprised that it took so long to remove this app from popular downloading sites, on the Orbit forum and in some user reviews it was already mentioned that this app was behaving fishy a long time ago. :cautious:
     
    Rasheed187, Aug 31, 2013
    #7
  8. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    And why would you need or use a download manager that poses this much risk ? Nonetheless, it has been removed from most sites as noted.
     
    siljaline, Sep 3, 2013
    #8
  9. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    Wild that they got away with it for so long.
     
    zapjb, Sep 3, 2013
    #9
  10. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    Is that a pun on LOIC? Or vice versa?
     
    mirimir, Sep 3, 2013
    #10
  11. SweX

    SweX Registered Member

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    ........one more
     
    SweX, Sep 3, 2013
    #11
  12. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    Thanks for the added note: SweX
     
    siljaline, Sep 4, 2013
    #12
  13. SweX

    SweX Registered Member

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    You're welcome siljaline :thumb:
     
    SweX, Sep 4, 2013
    #13
  14. agoretsky

    agoretsky Eset Staff Account

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    Hello,

    I've been thinking about doing a follow-up blog, but, there's just not much additional to report. Still no contact from the author, nor has any additional malicious behavior shown up.

    Regards,

    Aryeh Goretsky
     
    agoretsky, Sep 5, 2013
    #14
  15. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    The only download manager ive used was Download Accelerator. Used it a lot when i had Dial Up and early DSL days because i could resume my downloads. :D
     
    Noob, Sep 17, 2013
    #15
  16. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    Are you referring to Download Accelerator Plus?

    I'm using the registered version right now to speed up the download of Windows 8.1.
     
    roger_m, Sep 17, 2013
    #16
  17. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    Back in those days I used FlashGet. It was adware but there were workarounds.
     
    zapjb, Sep 17, 2013
    #17
  18. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    These days FlashGet and others of it's ilk would be in a Hosts file and or flagged by your AV as a PUA.

     
    siljaline, Sep 18, 2013
    #18
  19. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    I gave it a try in 2012 just to remember the old days and to be honest i didnt notice any difference.

    I did try FlashGet once but for some reason i always went back to Download Accelerator.

    I used DA (Download Accelerator) from 2000 - 2008 when i got a decent DSL speed. (I think it was 512K . . . LOL)
    Currently i have JDownloader installed because its UBER SUPER DUPER ULTRA convenient when downloading zillions of files from hosts.
     
    Noob, Sep 18, 2013
    #19
  20. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    It isn't adware these days. I remember back in the day when there was a paid version you could input your serial number when you installed it so I would install without adware.
     
    roger_m, Sep 18, 2013
    #20
  21. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    I makes a big difference for me with my slow internet conntection.
     
    roger_m, Sep 18, 2013
    #21
  22. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    I stopped using orbit a couple of years ago. Good for me.:)

    @Noob
    Looking at JDownloader website right now. Nice find.:thumb:
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2013
    ams963, Sep 18, 2013
    #22
  23. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    siljaline, Sep 18, 2013
    #23
  24. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    Yeah, the only downside is that it needs Java but aside from that its very very very good and its free!
    Makes downloading multiple files a breeze.
     
    Noob, Sep 19, 2013
    #24
  25. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    ESET podcast: Popular Orbit Downloader Goes Rogue
    -http://go.eset.com/us/resources/podcasts/092013_ESET_Orbit.mp3-
     
    siljaline, Sep 21, 2013
    #25
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