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Trojan Horse targets Google Adsense 84
dorkygeek writes "The Register reports that nogoodniks have developed a Trojan horse program that produces fake Google ads posing as the real thing. The as-yet unnamed Trojan replaces legitimate ads served via Google AdSense with promos for penis pills, porn sites and the like. Techshout says the Google AdSense team confirms 'that these are fake Google ads, formatted to look like legitimate ads. We agree that this phenomenon is likely the result of malicious software installed on your computer.'"
Re:My complaint against Slashdot (Score:3, Funny)
Re:My complaint against Slashdot (Score:2, Informative)
Re:My complaint against Slashdot (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My complaint against Slashdot (Score:1)
Hard to tell if you have the virus if... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Hard to tell if you have the virus if... (Score:1)
Re:Hard to tell if you have the virus if... (Score:1)
As described in TFA (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hard to tell if you have the virus if... (Score:1)
I'm glad (Score:1)
Marketing campaign? (Score:3, Interesting)
The Adsense Trojan Horse attacks small publishers. The premium publishers and ads displayed by Google's websites are apparently unaffected.
Re:Marketing campaign? (Score:5, Informative)
Google also gives many more options to their premium publishers, so most "regular" Adsense publishers would love to become one.
Thus, there is no incentive for Google to create a Trojan Horse because they want "more premium subscribers".
But the Adsense code is highly restricted for regular publishers, meaning you aren't allowed to change it from Google's provided format. Premium publishers have additional variable options and changes to the code that regular publishers don't.
Hence why the Trojan would be able to easily find regular Adsense code in a page, but may not identify a premium publisher's Adsense code as easily in order to replace it with a same-sized ad, for example.
Re:Marketing campaign? (Score:2)
Re:Marketing campaign? (Score:3, Interesting)
Bad Marketing. (Score:2)
That kind of trick only works to force upgrades of monopoly business [microsoft.com]. Even then, it's questionable how many times you can do it. A bad reputation will eventually kill your business. Google is not so stupid.
All this will do for Google is tar their reputation as the clueless click through to porn and think Google sent it to them. Google's good reputation is what makes the trick work in the first place.
In the end, blame will go where blame belongs. It's
More Likely Conspiracy (Score:2, Troll)
History. Can you find a dirtier bunch outside jail? Start with an OS made by people who consider your desktop something they can use to sell advertising space to the highest bidder. Couple that with M$'s notorious efforts to discredit previous competitors and penchant for lying about it with very expensive PR campaigns. From bogus error messages for competitor's programs to fake lett
Note to self (Score:2)
Re:In other words... (Score:1)
How long... (Score:5, Funny)
Spyware (Score:1)
Does this mean? (Score:5, Funny)
no surprise, Windows problem, again, (Score:5, Informative)
Re: no surprise, Windows problem, again, (Score:2, Informative)
Re: no surprise, Windows problem, again, (Score:5, Insightful)
It's somewhat refreshing that google seems to just fix problems instead of accepting any sort of blame. It's also sad to see that many google-haters take this as an acceptance of blame.
I'm a programmer, and I have to say, I probably would have just said "tough". I used to try and help the users of my sites with malware, but it just became a pointless battle. They didn't care and seem to put forth any effort. At one point I even forced them to do get scanned (forced is harsh. Automatically redirected to a anti-spyware online scan is better. They could close out the window at any time). I ended up supporting end users asking how to get the spyware off their computer and ended up taking blame for their spyware.
And sadly, I feel like a slashbot saying the same statements as 5 years ago, however... If users would get pissed and proactive at Microsoft instead of everyone but them, maybe something would happen. But so many people are complacent and keep buying their garbage and accept this bullshit as normal. Nothing will ever happen as long as the majority of users don't care. That is, until their credit card gets stolen. Then they get pissed at their bank.
Re: no surprise, Windows problem, again, (Score:2)
Automatically, I did that as well. Is that the case though? There seems to be little in the way of technical information on this - does it act as a proxy that is installed via the "internet options" control panel, a browser "helper" object or what?
I suspect that Google will simply change the format of the Adsense ads, perhaps breaking current adblocking software, as well as the trojan.
Heh... (Score:2)
Mac vs Microsoft (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem with Windows is that it took over the business world and forced a lot of us to work with it. We quickly found out that its quality was dreadful, and yet we could not make money with Unix because everyone was running pell-mell towards Windows. Thus, a HUGE amount of resentment towards Windows, because it was lousy, and because people were forcing us to use it.
Apple, on the other hand, gave us a deal. "Hey guys," Steve said, "What
Re:Mac vs Microsoft (Score:2)
Please explore those environments a little more: default gnome on powerpc linux distros looks a lot like system 7 and I recall kde on a rocklinux live cd allowing the user to have a mac like setting with one menubar at the top of the screen instead of one in every window.
I have enough experience
Re:Mac vs Microsoft (Score:2)
What's the difference? (Score:2, Interesting)
Why does it matter to the user whether it's a 'legitimate' Google advert or not?
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:1)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:1)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2, Insightful)
You should have a look. (Score:3, Informative)
Some quick differences between a Google and Porn Ad:
Re:You should have a look. (Score:2)
2. Google ads fund the bank accounts of Google's already rich hangers-on and shareholders, at least the trojans are innovative.
3. Read my original post: I don't click on any links, why do I care whether it's a Google one or a trojan one? and I don't use Windows anyway.
Re:What's the difference? (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyway, your attitude towards advertising is brainless. Lots of media — newspapers, magazines, TV — have always depended on it. It can be obnoxious, but it isn't the great evil that so many economically illiterate netizens think it is.
And if you actually buy stuff, which some of us overprivileged types have been known to do from time to time, advertising can be something you seek out. Recently I decided to buy a USB hard disk. I Googled those words because I wanted to see the Adsense ads. Does that make me a mindless slave of the advertisers? No, it makes me somebody who needed information, and used the most efficient way to get it.
Re:What's the difference? (Score:1)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:1)
Re:What's the difference? (Score:2)
A simple HOSTS modification could allow this (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A simple HOSTS modification could allow this (Score:1)
Not really. You could serve your own google ads to yourself. Big deal.
Re:A simple HOSTS modification could allow this (Score:2, Insightful)
>Not really. You could serve your own google ads to yourself. Big deal.
You wouldn't eant to do that to yourself, but if you could do that to 500,000 other peoples' machines, then you can make them see the ads that you want them to see. Add an understanding of the AdSense API, and theoretically you could even target the ads, although I don't use AdS
Re:A simple HOSTS modification could allow this (Score:1)
By making their software check the host file every time it loads?
A word of advice (Score:4, Funny)
Google.
People who want penis enlargements (Score:2)
after all, would you want some cowboy flybynight popup-advertising malware-spreading criminals enlarging YOUR penis?
I have seen something like this before (Score:3, Informative)
Terrible! (Score:2)
Missing The Beauty (Score:1)
I submitted this story on Thursday... (Score:3, Interesting)