by: ricochetrabbit69 May 23, 2011 6:24 PM PDT
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Total posts: 18 (Showing page 1 of 1)
Did you find Open Candy?
by R. Proffitt 
- 5/24/11 7:06 AM
In Reply to: CNET TechTracker - Malware Warning by ricochetrabbit69
If so you may want to research this a little bit more.
MEDIAINFO an open source app is using Open Candy as well.
Open Candy is not Malware.
Bob
Win32/OpenCandy
by ricochetrabbit69 - 5/24/11 6:34 PM
In Reply to: Did you find Open Candy? by R. Proffitt
Thanks Bob, I found two instances of Win32/OpenCandy relating to TechTracker. I will see what I can find using the information you have given me.
Regards Ricochet
Possibly a false postive
by MarkFlax - 6/20/11 6:21 AM
In Reply to: Re-Open Candy/win 32-amsn has Open Candy spyware warning- by andreaborman
as I reported and discussed in your other thread here;
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-19411_102-5151623.html
However, I have sent an alert of your psot to the Download.com team to make them aware of your concerns.
Mark
Thank you for your help Mark-
by andreaborman - 6/20/11 7:06 AM
In Reply to: Possibly a false postive by MarkFlax
Thanks for your help in this matter. I tried to report it to C.Net managers but there was no link to do this. But I am glad you have done this for me. And in another thread someone said that their anti-virus product which was not a Microsoft product did not detect it. But Microsoft is what runs our Windows operating system.So they would not lie about some thing like this.
And by the way from what I read on the web it is not the actual amesn messenger that is spyware but the software Open Candy that they bundled it with that is spyware. And also a lot of other software such as media players and other chat messengers is bundled with Open Candy.Making it unsafe to use and, while Windows Defender is not a high security tool like other anti-virus products are. (That's why I use it instead of anti-virus products, as Windows Defender does not impose security settings or do anything you do not want it to,or take over your computer.)Windows Defender is honest software so it would not lie about this security threat.
And if you do get such an alert from Windows Defender or MRT, then that is warning enough that what you have just downloaded it not safe.And anyway Microsoft has condemned Open Candy as spyware. And that is enough for me and anyone else to remove the offending software-Open Candy and any other software that contains it- such as amsn and others.
You just cannot take chances with your computer.Andrea Borman.
A few notes...
by John.Wilkinson - 6/20/11 8:04 PM
In Reply to: Thank you for your help Mark- by andreaborman
1.) Open Candy is actually adware, not spyware. Neither is desired, though adware displays ads while spyware collects information about you, your computer, usage, et cetera. The takeaway is that adware is annoying while spyware is dangerous.
2.) Windows Defender has been replaced by Microsoft Security Essentials, a newer and more complete free security application from Microsoft. Both have had their share of low ratings from independent security analysts, though, and are best when paired with additional security software.
3.) There is a "Help Center" link at the bottom of every CNET page. From there, you can send an email (open a help desk ticket) to CNET customer support to ask questions, raise potential issues, et cetera.
Hope this helps,
John
Where's the mal in this ware?
by R. Proffitt - 6/20/11 10:46 AM
In Reply to: Re-what I found- by andreaborman
I didn't find any malicious activity in OpenCandy. Tell more.
I define malicious as hijacking web pages, deleting or hiding my files, etc.
Bob
Depends on how you define it
by TWB404 - 6/20/11 11:06 AM
In Reply to: Where's the mal in this ware? by R. Proffitt
I define malicious as anything that gets installed on my hard drive without my knowledge or permission and does what ever it chooses. Now, what this program searches for is what programs you have installed and then compares this to a list it has generated and then transmits information back to its servers. When it does this, does it ask you first if you want this to happen. My only encounter with this program was it did not inform me that it was going to be installed. It was my firewall that told me it had been installed and was trying to phone home. It does boil down to how you define what is malicious.
If someone gave you a new couch, would you allow them to come over to your house while you where not home and without your permission and go thru it to see what other pieces of furniture you had. I bet not.
Then this does not qualify?
by R. Proffitt - 6/20/11 11:11 AM
In Reply to: Depends on how you define it by TWB404
There are no registry entries, one DLL that vanishes after the install and no other software other than what you installed.
As to the transmission, some want absolute privacy so why didn't your firewall step in here?
Bob
My Firewall did step in
by TWB404 - 6/20/11 2:21 PM
In Reply to: Then this does not qualify? by R. Proffitt
Let me paste what i said.
It was my firewall that told me it had been installed and was trying to phone home. It does boil down to how
you define what is malicious.
The DLL was placed on my hard drive and then ran without my knowledge or permission. I call that installed even if they intend on deleting it later. Their own website even states this. Please refer to my reply titled what I found. If my memory serves me correctly it was in a temp folder. This I will not swear to because it has been about a month and at the time I just wrote it off as just another attempt to use what I call approved spyware to gather information on what programs people are using. I know that people who profit from this kind of spyware will defend it and it will not be flagged by to many malware programs. Some companies call it customer experience improvement. That is a great piece of marketing.
This is why people should have their firewall set to flag things and not depend on auto set white and black list. The funny thing about this discussion is I can now use this as an example when teaching people the importance about not letting firewalls use auto learn or auto approve when it comes to what goes in or out of your puter.
Good but why are not upset with MSI installs?
by R. Proffitt - 6/20/11 2:27 PM
In Reply to: My Firewall did step in by TWB404
They work the same and you seem to want to call this one very bad when I've seen far worse with... Let's pick on Office 2010, Windows 7 and more.
If you don't let them call home, they don't run!
Bob
Just for clarity. ANY other installer has to do this.
by R. Proffitt - 6/20/11 2:29 PM
In Reply to: Good but why are not upset with MSI installs? by R. Proffitt
Let's hear your answer to what to do about installing software today.
I'm referring to running some exe, dll, msi to do the install.
You have not made a case about the "mal" in what you are calling malware.
Bob
WOW your fast
by TWB404 - 6/20/11 2:49 PM
In Reply to: Just for clarity. ANY other installer has to do this. by R. Proffitt
My Windows 7 works fine and it does not call home until I allow it to get updates. It has to phone home to activate, but I know ahead of time it is going to happen. Nothing was placed in secret and tried to phone home will out permission.
The real truth is your trying to compare apples to oranges. The programs you mentioned have no bearing on Open Candy installer. I have install thousand maybe hundred of thousand of programs using MSI and none of them search my hard drive and phoned home to compare my programs to a generated list.
The mal in this is that it does it without asking the person who owns the puter if they want this done. It is trying to do this in secret to push other programs on the poor guy or gal.
Also let me paste this from their web site.
Non-personally identifiable statistics about the developer's software installation, the recommendation process, and the installation of recommended software, are collected.
I under lined the most important part. To me that again demonstrates the mal part. They are collecting info on what goes on everything that occured during the install, the search of your, hard drive, and if any recommended software was installed. I, myself and me never believe the part about the non-personally identifiable part.
So it's not malware? And it does not "install" OpenCandy.
by R. Proffitt - 6/21/11 8:47 AM
In Reply to: WOW your fast by TWB404
You've come a long way to understanding what it is.
At least you won't lose time in your next discussion over what it is not.
Bob
Lets take this discussion to a better forum
by TWB404 - 6/21/11 9:13 AM
In Reply to: So it's not malware? And it does not "install" OpenCandy. by R. Proffitt
I have started a new discussion at this link to better understand what malware is.
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6132_102-530771.html
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