[Full-Disclosure] Question about the new Xupiter toolbar

From: Richard M. Smith (rms@computerbytesman.com)
Date: 01/30/03

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    From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms@computerbytesman.com>
To: <full-disclosure@lists.netsys.com>, "'Richard M. Smith'" <rms@computerbytesman.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 12:40:20 -0500

    Hi,

    Has anyone looked into this new Xupiter toolbar to see how it is being
    installed on people's computer? In particular is it using some IE
    security hole for the install or does it just use the standard ActiveX
    drive-by download mechanism?

    Here's more info about Xupiter from Slashdot:

    World's Most Annoying IE Toolbar
    Posted by michael on Thursday January 30, @09:02AM
    from the someone-will-surpass-it-soon dept.

    nautical9 writes "Following the same devious footsteps of the infamous
    Bonzi Buddy, Gator, and Comet Cursor "enhancements", Xupiter now has
    their own self-installing toolbar for IE. There are many claims that if
    you leave your security preferences at their default level, it will
    install itself without your express permission. And once on your system,
    it's gracious enough to reset your homepage to xupiter.com, forward all
    your searches to their search engine, download and automatically launch
    applications (like gambling applets), and blocks all attempts to set
    these back to normal. Removing it isn't trivial either - it
    automatically checks for updates upon reboot, where it constantly
    changes the registry settings it uses, making the jobs of spyware
    removal programs like AdAware or Spybot Search & Destroy much harder. No
    word yet if it collects and forwards personal data."

    http://slashdot.org/articles/03/01/30/1314236.shtml?tid=113

    Richard M. Smith
    http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com

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