The Uninvited
This morning I went to check my email, and on my desktop was a friendly little notice that my "Viewpoint Media Player" had been thoughtfully updated.
What Viewpoint Media Player, thinks I? I have never installed anything with that name.
I regularly run anti-spyware software, and this particular item hadn't turned up. But still... I googled Viewpoint Media, and was directed to the developer's website. As you might expect, it's a data miner, disguised as a "marketing" software house, promising to "display the most visually striking and effective rich media-based marketing and advertising available to marketers today." Whoopee. Just what I wanted is more visually stunning ADVERTISING.
But playing visually stunning media isn't quite all that Viewpoint Media Player does.
Heading over to one of my favorite Spyware-watcher sites (www.spywareinfo.com), I learned that Viewpoint Media Player will also "periodically send information to servers at Viewpoint. Each installation of the Viewpoint Media Player is identifiable to Viewpoint via a Customer Unique Identifer (CUID), an alphanumeric identifer embedded in the Viewpoint Media Player." So in other words, Viewpoint Media Player is communicating with its maker, sending it user specific information. Information about you and your habits.
So how did this spy get installed on my system? Viewpoint Media's privacy statement says "If you decide to download the Viewpoint Media Player from the Viewpoint website, Viewpoint will not request your name, email or system information." (Well sure, they don't have to... the software just gathers it once installed!)
According to the folks at Spywareinfo.com, who exchanged emails with the developer, the way this spyware gets installed on your computer is that it comes bundled (don't you love that word) with other, desirable applications, like AOL, AOL Instant Messenger, Netscape 7, and worse, with OEMs such as HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Sony, among others.
Mike Healan at Spywareinfo installed a test copy of AIM and discovered that there was no disclosure that the install included something called Viewpoint Media Player. And, says Mike, "The fact that your media player installed without disclosure or opt-out, and the fact that removing AIM did not reveal or remove your product, your Viewpoint Media Player now qualifies as a legitimate target of adware/spyware removal programs such as Ad-Aware, Spybot, X-Cleaner, etc."
Thanks, Mike, and keep up the good work!
This morning I went to check my email, and on my desktop was a friendly little notice that my "Viewpoint Media Player" had been thoughtfully updated.
What Viewpoint Media Player, thinks I? I have never installed anything with that name.
I regularly run anti-spyware software, and this particular item hadn't turned up. But still... I googled Viewpoint Media, and was directed to the developer's website. As you might expect, it's a data miner, disguised as a "marketing" software house, promising to "display the most visually striking and effective rich media-based marketing and advertising available to marketers today." Whoopee. Just what I wanted is more visually stunning ADVERTISING.
But playing visually stunning media isn't quite all that Viewpoint Media Player does.
Heading over to one of my favorite Spyware-watcher sites (www.spywareinfo.com), I learned that Viewpoint Media Player will also "periodically send information to servers at Viewpoint. Each installation of the Viewpoint Media Player is identifiable to Viewpoint via a Customer Unique Identifer (CUID), an alphanumeric identifer embedded in the Viewpoint Media Player." So in other words, Viewpoint Media Player is communicating with its maker, sending it user specific information. Information about you and your habits.
So how did this spy get installed on my system? Viewpoint Media's privacy statement says "If you decide to download the Viewpoint Media Player from the Viewpoint website, Viewpoint will not request your name, email or system information." (Well sure, they don't have to... the software just gathers it once installed!)
According to the folks at Spywareinfo.com, who exchanged emails with the developer, the way this spyware gets installed on your computer is that it comes bundled (don't you love that word) with other, desirable applications, like AOL, AOL Instant Messenger, Netscape 7, and worse, with OEMs such as HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Sony, among others.
Mike Healan at Spywareinfo installed a test copy of AIM and discovered that there was no disclosure that the install included something called Viewpoint Media Player. And, says Mike, "The fact that your media player installed without disclosure or opt-out, and the fact that removing AIM did not reveal or remove your product, your Viewpoint Media Player now qualifies as a legitimate target of adware/spyware removal programs such as Ad-Aware, Spybot, X-Cleaner, etc."
Thanks, Mike, and keep up the good work!
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