Spyware, viruses, & security forum: CNET TechTracker-Adware:Win32/opencandy

Please refer to cnet.aaron's above post which states intent to use OpenCandy's services. From other readings, I had already decided that OpenCandy is not a service that I want to have anything to do with, by my own doings or someone else's. I am angry at what malware is doing and condemn anything that falls into that category, including spyware and adware, both of which this is. Here's a nice blog post that reveals what OpenCandy is: http://cranialsoup.blogspot.com/2009/05/opencandy-new-kind-of-adwarespyware.html.

I just received an e-mail from cnet advertising tech tracker. I tried to download it and ESET Smart Security 4 immediately detected OpenCandy, quarantined and deleted it.I am really angry about this as I thought CNET could be trusted. I will never have anything to do with CNET again. I am disgusted by dishonest companies that say there products are spyware/adware free and aren't.I am going to make sure none my friends has anything to do with CNET. In my opinion the people who run CNET are pond scum.

Possibly a false positive. ESET NOD32 also detects the Cheat Engine setup as Win32/OpenCandy, which I know is a false positive. Oh and ESET detects the Cnet installer as a PUP (potentially unwanted program), so it may have been that causing you the trouble.

Hello TechTracker Users!

We've recently become aware of another issue with part of the TechTracker installer that is causing the software to be detected by some security applications as adware. We believe this is a false-positive, and may be connected to the previous issues we've had with the OpenCandy offer system that is included in the TechTracker installer.

Different adware security products regularly change the way they identify adware and this can cause some software to be incorrectly identified. We are again working with our partners at OpenCandy on a resolution.

We continue take the privacy and security of our users very seriously and will provide additional information about this issue as it becomes available. In addition, we find these issues to be just as frustrating as our users do. We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work on a solution.

- CNET TechTracker Support

We have been able to verify that the latest version of TechTracker was being flagged by AVG. A false positive submission was immediately filed and as of last night the software appears to be undetected. A subsequent scan of the software this morning similarly returned no threat. As AVG is a partner of OpenCandy's, we will escalate if we don't hear back confirmation soon.

<div>It should be noted that online virus scanners such as VirusTotal were not detecting the AVG threat definition in the application and that the definition may have been an error on AVG's part. Additionally, we performed a spot check and were unable to identify other OpenCandy integrated installers with the same threat definition. Users who have quarantined their software installers will need to update their definitions and restore the software. </div>
<div>We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or unnecessary alarm this may have caused. We will continue to investigate the issue and will work to prevent its occurrence in the future. </div>
Thanks,
Aaron Smith
Product Manager
CNET TechTracker