What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#231

Post by squeaky-clean » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:46 PM UTC

e40 wrote: post #207

petecooper wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Addendum: I save a ninite.com installer to their desktops, renaming it to `Run this every Wednesday`. If they see any `You need to update Flash Player` dialogues, I advise them to close them and only run the desktop icon - this in and of itself saves most people from reinfection. Edit: typo and formatting.

I cannot say enough about ninite. They are brilliant. I moved to the Mac a year ago, and I miss it dearly. I wish they had a Mac version. It's so convenient. And safe. And easy. I paid them for something just because I wanted them to be successful. Single best product I used on Windows!

Have you tried GetMacApps? http://www.getmacapps.com/ I have a coworker who uses it, and it seems to be exactly like a Ninite for Mac.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#232

Post by TheLoneWolfling » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:47 PM UTC

nhaehnle wrote: post #184

TheLoneWolfling wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...Piping wget into bash? Really? NO. (I mean, at least it's HTTPS, but still.)

Funny how people complain about piping wget into bash, but will happily install and run random node/ruby/whatever packages downloaded from a random github repository.[1] The truth is that program isolation sucks terribly on all operating systems that one might reasonably use for a development machine. Fixing that would be so great, but a lot of work. [1] Perhaps you're the lone wolfling who doesn't do that, but I hav…

Certificate pinning helps with Github, but doesn't help with .

(Still doesn't help if the software package itself - that is the canonical copy - is malicious - but prevents MITMing from anyone that doesn't have that particular certificate, at least.)

That being said, you have a (very) valid point. Modern OSes are... not exactly secure.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#233

Post by drzaiusapelord » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:49 PM UTC

tdicola wrote: post #6

I had to install the DirectX user runtime recently and was pretty shocked to see Microsoft has loaded it up with lots of crapware. First when you click download from its page at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35 you're prompted to set MSN as your homepage, download the malicious software removal tool, and download IE11 (if you're on Windows). Then after you skip that you get the download and…

The homepage change is a pretty low move, but the other items make sense. DirectX is most likely used by gamers, who are often fairly young, have risky internet habits, and not very security conscious. Using an old version of IE isn't good from a security pov and the malicious software remover tool is a great way to lower the number of botnet hosts.

I really wish MS would give up on pushing MSN and Bing. They're just terrible products. Shame their good products get mixed in with them.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#234

Post by towelguy » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:51 PM UTC

serf wrote: post #26

psykovsky wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the #1 reason ALL the computers in my house aren't windows but Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is bundled with crap-ware , too; it's just more subtle. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.html http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/09/ubuntu-bakes-amazon-...

That's the #1 reason ALL the computers in my house aren't Ubuntu but Debian.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#235

Post by cdr » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:51 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #214

cdr wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, there's a few contenders. Scribd was pretty bad. RapGenius was pretty bad in terms of the people. Edit: Oh, and Quora, even if that wasn't much more than YC lending its name.

Impossible to have so many investments and not have a few bad apples. Still surprised PG did not distance himself further from installmonetizer, otoh props for standing by his investment and doing damage control for them at the expense of the YC cachet.

PG defended scribd (much as InstallMonetizer), including automated scribed links on HN, even as it was hijacking people's content and widely loathed.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#236

Post by ptaffs » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:51 PM UTC

This timely article appears the weekend I erase & install OSX having clicked the wrong download button on CyberDuck. The Google DoubleClick banner is prominent on the page, the actual software download is "below the fold". I should know better, but I clicked the big green "Download Now" next to the big Yellow duck, and underneath the same-Green Donate button. I ended-up downloading something wrapped in Genieo's InstallMac software, nothing to do with CyberDuck, who I wouldn't even mention except the banner is so prominent on the page. I also, dumbly, entered my admin credentials before aborting the install when it started downloading more components. Within seconds my search engine on all browsers was changed, start-page reset and other configuration including a process left running.

The installed files and modified files were not easy to find, apple provide good help but it's hard to trust the computer once it's executed malicious deceptive code with root privilege.

Clearly this was all my own fault and poor decision making.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#237

Post by squeaky-clean » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:52 PM UTC

mcx wrote: post #46

jenscow wrote: post #2

This is the #1 reason Windows is no longer on my kid's computers; it's too easy to install crap-ware no matter what security package you use.

Recently I visited my dad and his laptop was just full of crapware. I noticed the only thing he uses is the web browser, maybe editing the occasional word doc. So I just wiped the machine, put on ElementaryOS and hopefully there will be less problems. Haven't heard any complaints so far.

I did this for my sister this Christmas. Every holiday she visits and hands me her laptop to be fixed or reformated. So I got fed up, installed eOS and the tweaks plugin, got Netflix and mp3/aac support working, and told her I had installed Mac OSX on her laptop.

If I had told her it was Linux, she would be too scared to touch the thing, but she honestly believes she has a Mac now (in a Dell laptop), and hasn't complained at all so far.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#238

Post by josteink » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:52 PM UTC

I see a lot of comments here about Mac & Ubuntu. I run Ubuntu myself, so no disrespect intended.

That said: If we all do and make everyone else do as we say, replace Windows with Ubuntu & Mac, guess what happens next? The next shitwave of shitware will come to our favourite platforms, and they will find new exploits and new creative ways to fuck us over too.

This is a social problem and technology alone wont solve it. Either users must be taught to avoid things like this (flying pigs be damned) or it must be banned by law. Law which unfortunately knows geographical limits and universal lack of uniformity & coherence.

What's the general opinion on that? I'm obviously all for banning crapware, but lets say the majority was for banning it, and we found a solution for the "global" laws thing... How would you define it, where would you draw the line for what is just poor software and what is actively harmful?

What about remote-control/support-tools? Obviously they can be used for good, but in the wrong hands they can be used for espionage and surveillance and ransomware.

I suspect such a ban would cause quite some debate, even among techies.

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#239

Post by sp332 » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:54 PM UTC

petecooper wrote: post #145

petecooper wrote: post #143

Mobile computer tech, here. War story follows. I handle high single-figures of these adware and/or potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) infestations every week. Mostly it's Windows 7 and 90% adware/PUPs-centric, occasionally ransomware. In the huge majority of cases, the following will get a computer back up and sorted in a sensible amount of (billable) time: First, bring known-good copies of AdwCleaner, Junkware Rem…

Addendum: I save a ninite.com installer to their desktops, renaming it to `Run this every Wednesday`. If they see any `You need to update Flash Player` dialogues, I advise them to close them and only run the desktop icon - this in and of itself saves most people from reinfection. Edit: typo and formatting.

Adobe forced ninite to remove the Flash installer, so that won't help. You can set Flash to auto-update in Control Panel > Flash Player > Advanced > Automatic Updates. (I've heard it's more complex in Win8 though.)

Re: What Happens When You Install the Top Download.com Apps

#240

Post by squeaky-clean » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:56 PM UTC

shaurz wrote: post #101

mcx wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recently I visited my dad and his laptop was just full of crapware. I noticed the only thing he uses is the web browser, maybe editing the occasional word doc. So I just wiped the machine, put on ElementaryOS and hopefully there will be less problems. Haven't heard any complaints so far.

He sounds like the perfect user for Chrome OS.

A lot of the time the perfect user for Chrome OS is too scared by how different it is. I tried it with my father and sister, and they both wouldn't use it. They were too confused by it and how cloud-based it was (even though they stream all their music and keep all their photos only on Facebook), and stopped using it. I tried Ubuntu, and just telling them it was Linux was enough for them to be scared, and blame that for any problems. I eventually settled on Elementary OS for my sister, and told her it was Mac OSX, while my father still uses Windows XP. (Sigh.)