Is Yahoo/Bing breaking the law?

[ezjm427]

This topic is focusing more on Yahoo's spam, but Bing is not innocent with this kind of behavior either.

Let me start by saying I have many years experience fixing computers, software and hardware. I would consider myself almost an expert at clearing up viruses and spyware, using Malwarebytes as a helper of course, but I'm starting to see an annoying pattern that I feel is either an invasion of privacy or possibly even Yahoo and Bing using  viruses to spread their own inferior software.

 

Obviously there are times when Yahoo and Bing toolbars are installed legitimately, annoyingly, but legitimately as companionware when you install other programs, these are not (not all) viruses. However, I've noticed a pattern that whenever a computer has viruses, one or more of the viruses has either: changed default web page to Bing or Yahoo, or installed their crap toolbars or other useless addons from Yahoo and Bing. The same thing happens when I notice a new virus on a computer, to find out Yahoo or Bing crap was installed immediately after, with NO approval, no prompting, just installed without any notice.

 

To me, this is very suspicious, why would someone writing a virus inject Yahoo or Bing software into a computer? What benefit does the software writer get from this, unless they are working for either of the companies? This sounds like conspiracy yes, but to me it is very logical but unethical thing they are doing, and it makes very little sense to me that a software writer for a virus would make such an obvious change like adding toolbars and changing the webpage without any motive.

 

Let me repeat, I am NOT talking about when toolbars and homepages are changed legitimately (although annoying and often very hidden) when you install another program.

What I am talking about is 2 cases:

 1) You install a program, check to make sure nothing is additional is installed, yet Yahoo or Bing took over your browser somehow by adding toolbars and change homepages.

2) You realize a computer has a virus now, before the virus it has no addons and Google as its home page, now after the virus appeared, your home page is Yahoo/Bing and you get all their addons installed unknowingly.

 

Frankly, this type of crap pisses me off more than viruses.

[ezjm427]

The only thing I can thing of is that virus writers are trying to redirect the attention from themselves toward Yahoo/Bing, so once people delete their toolbars and change everything back, they think the virus is all gone.

 

To me this seems unlikely, because of the amount of times I will see Yahoo/Bing spam software installed immediately after I notice a new virus.

[pondus]

what you are talking about is called PUP = not virus / Possible Unwanted Program

 

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/news/2013/07/malwarebytes-adopts-aggressive-pup-policy/

https://www.malwarebytes.org/pup/

[David H. Lipman]

I'm tempted to reply but....  nah.