March 7th, 2006
Anti-spyware program installs adware from BestOffersNetwork
Yesterday I found a Google AdWords ad (using the words Spy Sweeper) for a new anti-spyware app called Spy-Shield. It looked suspicious right away because the homepage shows a supposed scan in progress that appears to find spyware. The front page also says the application is free "with the help of integrated ads that are displayed periodically through Spy-Shield." Sure enough - the app will not install unless the user agrees to install software from the BestOffersNetwork, which is Direct-Revenue renamed.
I’ve blogged the details including screenshots and results of testing Spy-Shield here.
