Is MySpace's Parent Company Still Serving Up Adware?

Scams

from the well,-look-at-that dept

While some security companies are warning people about supposed videos on MySpace that actually trigger adware/spyware downloads (something that’s been discussed for many months), adware/spyware researcher Ben Edelman has turned up what’s potentially an even bigger issue: Intermix may still be serving up adware itself. If you don’t recall, Intermix was the original parent company of MySpace, but before they started MySpace, they were one of the bigger adware/spyware companies out there — even paying a huge fine and promising to get out of the business just as News Corp bought the company (obviously to focus on the social networking side and not the adware). Everybody pretty much assumed that after the purchase there was obviously no reason for Intermix to keep focusing on adware, since MySpace was growing like crazy. Edelman notes that the company agreed to another fine covering people in California impacted by the company’s adware, but was surprised to find that some sites are still distributing Intermix’s adware including finding some of the files directly on Intermix’s (read: News Corps’) servers with absolutely no disclosure. In other words, it appears the company didn’t completely abandon the adware business after all. Update: Ben updates us to clarify. The full installations (with no disclosure) come from other third party sites. Intermix is still hosting some files, but not doing current installs.