Bit Torrent targeted

Trolling around [again]
found these details re :- Bit Torrent

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BitTorrent, the beloved file-sharing client and protocol that provides a way around bandwidth bottlenecks, has become the newest distribution vehicle for adware/spyware bundles.

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"This is the marketing campaign to end all marketing campaigns," said Boyd, the Microsoft Security MVP (most valuable professional) known throughout the security industry by the "Paperghost" moniker.

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Boyd said he got the first inkling that BitTorrent was a major adware distribution vehicle while searching for the source of Direct Revenue's Aurora, an adware program that includes the prevalent "nail.exe" component. Sifting through mountains of HijackThis logs posted on security forums, Boyd said the answer was staring him in the face. (HijackThis is a popular freeware spyware removal tool that keeps detailed logs of Windows PC scans).

In the logs, he found that "nail.exe" and "aurora.exe" were always listed alongside "btdownloadgui.exe," the user interface that downloads/uploads when using BitTorrent.

"I checked hundreds of those logs, and more often than not, [btdownloadgui.exe] was chugging away in the background. No wonder none of the victims (or spyware experts) seemed to know what site Aurora was coming from—there was no site. It would have never occurred to the end users that it could have crept in by another means altogether," he said.

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Is this the end of Bit Torrent ?

link to comments on this

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Anybody who has any sensitivity to security could tell you BitTorrent is inherently insecure. Besides most of the traffic is illicit even though RCIAA and MPA haven't figured out how to deal with it. My suggestion is if you don't want to get sued stay away, or don't if you want to be a knucklehead.

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And in there, found the link to just WHY Kazaa is SO well loved :)

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Computer Associates International Inc. has launched a list of the worst spyware threats as part of a new program to combat unwanted software "pests." At the top of that list: the peer-to-peer application Kazaa.

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Kazaa has a high "clot factor" of 50, a measurement of how many registry entries, files and directories an application adds. The higher the clot factor, the more difficult a pest is to remove.

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Doesn't look good until you see GAMESPY Arcade !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The highest clot factor in the top five is GameSpy Arcade, at 128

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Been using Bittorrent for over a year, no malware detected as yet.

As for," is this the end"..................I don't think so. Its far to usefull for legitamate content providers. It will just adapt and change.

The BBC are already looking at the technology to distribute there own content via an adaptation of BT.

Doesn't bittorrent provide MD5-sum checking ? I know if you posted a spywre laced app on bittorrent, the MD5 sum would include that, but wouldn't you need a fresh version of the app? Not downloaded from a torrent ?

All this is is a marketing group putting its mal/spyware in a torrent and upping it to a public server, big deal , although marketingmetrix (the perpetrators) got defaced,
http://www.marketingmetrixgroup.com/ all day its been defaced , go Fatal Error , heheheheh

How is this any different then all those other ftp/http downloads that have malware/virusses in them instead of what you wanted or both.

Why do they have to make a fuss out of it now ?

wasnt "exeem", a bittorrent/kazzaa hybred, laced with spyware.. as well it runs the btdownloadgui.exe.. mind I hear it is dead in the water..

I use BT for my d/l's of linux distro's- well those I cant get un metered via my ISP.... hmmm reminds me Fedora core 4 is now there

This is a typical FUD. Its just a BS. "Official BT" client has no malware.
Of course if you go to BT network to download "MS Office 2009" you deserve to be infected.
They are trying to mix in the same **** the pirates and all other users that transfers files thru BT (such as *nix distros).
Since they are loosing the battle against the "BT & ED2K pirates" they are trying to scare everybody with "if you use a p2p software, you can be arrested. Its illegal".

I haven't gotten any spyware from any BT client EXCEPT for from Exeem.

I just wanted to try that out anyway... I liked that they had all the torrents cataloged and you could just search for them. Then you could post comments about the torrent... etc. That turend out to be a waste of time anyway... took a half hour to hour to download the friggin catalog... not to mention refreshes...

I'm not quite sure I understand what they are trying to say... Bittorrent Clients are coming with spyware/adware? Or, adware/spyware are being distributed via the bittorrent protocol?

If spyware is being distributed via torrent... its simple. Only download legit torrents. If you're downloading warez or movies or music or pr0n... then it serves you right. That is no different from other p2p networks.

This isn't about an infected bittorrent client.

It's about downloading an executable file through BT, and installing it. (One reason why uploaders of rar files are frowned upon on BT trackers) And then being flooded by spyware and other nasties for being so senseless to try such a dangerous thing, especially since this article addresses spyware that requires you to accept an agreement from MMG before it installs itself.


See http://www.vitalsecurity.org/2005/06...d-and-175.html for the article that article talks about.