BrotherSoft's Downloaders

[TechDud]

Here's one example:

http://www.brothersoft.com/system-information-viewer-62536.html

http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=dbd83b98cd22f5ad95ebacff17b5cd17
http://www.threatexpert.com/files/stub.exe.html

How many authors have they been ripping off? Only they know. One could ask how much they are paid to 'wrap' an honest author's software in 'crap'. They must be making more than their fair share. Why not contact some of the affected authors to inquire their thoughts. (Start with this one in question, mr/mrs/ms MOD)

Why do they need to communicate with Google to install Conduit? Why do they have to force Conduit upon the user when one simply wants to download a freeware program?
I know the usual response - download it from the author; we're not stupid. The sad thing is that many lack technical savvy in this respect.

Help end this example of 'scumbag economics'.

 

[nickW]

Hi,


See also:

C|Net Download.Com is now bundling Nmap with malware!


Cheers,

 

[TechDud]

Il ne rend pas justice personne! :sad:

Pardonnez mon mauvais français, je suis un anglophone.

Best to start a new topic with examples of independent authors TOA/EULA's not being respected & wrapping with the same trojans.
http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Download-com-apologises-for-bundling-1392501.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/12/06/cnet_nmap_toolbar_wrapping_row/
http://forums.untangle.com/spyware-blocker/27910-ut-blocked-download-com-2.html#post156378

I note that these are NOT the only companies utilizing this malpractice! Nor is this the ONLY program author in effect blatantly slandered by this company.
eg: http://download.cnet.com/ImgBurn/3000-2646_4-11673524.html
See Softonic http://siv.softonic.com/
See Tucows http://www.tucows.com/preview/854560/System-Information-View?q=system+information+viewer

(Shameless rant warning)
Take a look in the Association of Shareware Professionals site, specifically the comments section. Any company that wraps will have some nasty notes. Looks like an author would have been better served taking that $100 per annum & wiping his or her a$$ with it, rather than suffer ASP's navel-gazing. At least the pain of a papercut would soon fade.
Why is it an author is forced to do his or her own leg work on this front? How much money have these pirate sites raped from original software authors in toolbar & other commissions?
http://padsites.asp-software.org/

I would like SaferNetworking to start going after Brothersoft first, specifically, because they seem to patently refuse to reverse this hijacking of software author's good names (guilt by association).

Il est criminel!

I would think it more effective that others start such topics versus the other offending companies. Support your favorite freeware & shareware authors. If not financially, at least stamp out the abuse targeting them.

 

[TechDud]

Brothersoft is still wrapping Safer Networking's Spybot S&D, too.

http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-download-61667.html?bottom
http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-61667.html lists 79100 downloads in total!

 

[tashi]

See also:

C|Net Download.Com is now bundling Nmap with malware!

CNET's 'offers' AFAIK are not under investigation by the FTC. This offer is displayed by an installer with a large green accept button and a large red decline button.

Comments at WOT regarding Brothersoft: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/brothersoft.com

Personal responsibility is certainly a factor, myself I do download trusted programs which use CNET at this time but avoid 'some' sites.

 

[TechDud]

I thank Microsoft for making inroads against the wrapping of nmap & other opensource authors by CNET. However; that is not the specific 'request for additions' that i'm writing about.

I note that Brothersoft is currently 'wrapping' 2 SaferNetworking programs with the Brothersoft Extreme Toolbar & Conduit:
http://publisher.brothersoft.com/safer-networking-ltd..html ???

ThreatExpert analyses*: - granted the spybot 'threats' appear to be false positives - just here for additional info
1) Spybot1.6.2 downloader (Brothersoftdownloader_for_SpyBot_Search_Destroy.exe - no dig cert. incl.) http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=923c9b086b75ac4edd744f1e67fb9191
2) Spybot2.0 beta4 downloader (Brothersoftdownloader_for_SpyBot_Search_Destroy.exe - no dig cert. incl.) http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=427206e7d547b82476cda356426f1bb6
3) Brothersoft Extreme Toolbar (11CT2776682_BrotherSoft_Extreme.exe) http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=366aca3ace9f8f388bb831f0f1cbb015
4) ConduitInstaller.exe http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=9a5e999c90861ce9b7906dbf429d4238 (note: ConduitInetc.dll & nsExec.dll were not included in the report ???)
5) ConduitInetc.dll http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=cde6b5a14b902c89dcc24abbf655398f
6) nsExec.dll http://www.threatexpert.com/report.aspx?md5=acc2b699edfea5bf5aae45aba3a41e96

I do note that if one tries to cancel by x-ing out, the file download still completes & executes the resultant download without any user intervention possible other than to disconnect the internet, stop a related service, or Shutdown/Restart, AFIK.

I know the usual response - download it from the author; we're not stupid. The sad thing is that many lack technical savvy in this respect.

Help end this example of 'scumbag economics'.

from: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/brothersoft.com*** link by tashi; thank you. **
What is most telling about that page is when you click the 'Comment statistics' button.
33 - Good site
24 - Informative
6 - Good customer experience
40 - Spam
5 - Annoying ads or popups
66 - Bad customer experience
81 - Phishing or other scams
558 - Malicious content, viruses
26 - Browser exploit
290 - Spyware or adware
9 - Ethical issues
6 - Useless
24 - Other

From the negative responses: sorted by date (most recent first)

http://safeweb.norton.com/report/show_mobile?url=Brothersoft.com
http://www.browserdefender.com/site/brothersoft.com/
http://amada.abuse.ch/?search=brothersoft.com

"Not to mention the fact that the owner is starting to spam WOT users with the same message (full of Broken English), I have a feeling that Brothersoft has become criminally insane. "

"Auf dieser Seite sind 5 Viren enthalten:

-Spyware.KeystrokeSpy
-Trojan.ADH
-Spyware.ADH
-Spyware.NetVizor
-WS.Reputation.1

Diese Seite Bitte nicht Betreten, wenn euch euer Computer lieb ist !!! "

"Has anyone noticed something funny? Every comment has been replied by the brothersoft team saying please delete this comment and we scan uploads. Geez, for this amount of viruses to get through, they must be scanning it with Norton 1998 for windows 3.1!

"Strona wspiera fałszywe oprogramowanie. Witryna niebezpieczna.

"Involved with direct or indirect distribution of illegal software keys known as "Cracks" for full version copyrighted software (non-trial) known as "warez. "

"Brothersoft is a website where you can download lots of your favourite software, but please be aware that it is not as innocent as you think. I once downloaded the Brothersoft Downloader and gracious, wasn't it a baddie! It didn't just install the downloader itself, it clogged up my Firefox with unwanted toolbars and junk like that, and tried to make my homepage the Brothersoft website. I always had a feeling they were spying on me and tracking my Internet activity.

"Almost every program on this site contains spyware/adware. Be cautious when downloading a program. "

"Toolbars + Annoying "Brothersoft Downloader" + Spam, Scams and Spy = DANGEROUS WEBSITE. Even they spied over my old MyWOT account... "

"This site does not appear to adequately check software for malicious content before it's made available for download. Additionally, this site has been known to host content without the legal permission (i.e. software licence violations). "

"Most downloads are rated red. there are very few good downloads. be careful when visiting this site.
Also, the owners of brothersoft have bad ethics-they create multiple accounts on safeweb and rate the site green. "

"Some Software are good but most are Infected
Watch Out "

"Downloads often contain trojans, whether intentionally or not.

"Tenez éloigné votre PC de ce site: Arrrgh! "

From the positive responses: sorted by date (most recent first)

"This site is truthful. They removed all viruses and malware and Norton says that the site is safe
Good work! "

"Very good software downloads resource, clearly underrated. The fact that software has adware is not the fault of the download directory, but that of the software producer.

"Very informative site and capable. friendly staff in the company! "

"a good site, but i am still worried when my boy use it . "

Good luck, & happy hunting!

* content was created by ThreatExpert @ www.threatexpert.com "Reprinted with permission from ThreatExpert."
** WOT stands up in court of law in the USA. http://www.mywot.com/en/press/safe-surfing-tool-web-of-trust-wins-in-court I hope you recover court costs +++!!!
*** all quotes created on & quoted from www.myot.com in accordance with their Terms of Service http://www.mywot.com/en/terms

 

[tashi]

FYI. While WOT is a good indicator, which has proven useful when using search engines, bear in mind that not all commentators may be equal.

Some may leave ratings for various sites boosting their post count but not their own credibility. A link to the comment page may suffice.

 

[TechDud]

Just wondering if there's any progress on this proposed addition.

Thank you.

 

[Yodama]

Thank you for reporting this issue,
we will take steps to stop Brothersoft from at least doing this with our software.
The toolbar they provide does not appear to be harmful but it is adware and with most other toolbars the benefit for the user is questionable.

 

[TechDud]

They are still violating your Terms, for at least a dozen different versions of Spybot S&D.

http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-download-75319-s2.html
http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-download-61667-s4.html
http://spybot-search-and-destroy.brothersoft.com/spybot-search-and-destroy1.5.1.15

This should be a slam-dunk, that's a total of at least a dozen infractions; if they continue to refuse to reverse this practice on Safer-Networking's Intellectual Property, they should be seriously considered to be added to the detections at least for their blatantly illegal & predatory behavior. Inaction has allowed more new users of Spybot to be conned into installing malware, and to furthermore associate that malware with Spybot & perhaps Safer Networking. Note that i had reported this matter internally on or around October of 2011.

I still must ask how much money they receive for every download; I can certainly see that they are not doing this for anything less than monetary gain (off of Spybot's hard work, et al).

I know you have bigger fish to fry, yet Microsoft should take a look at their assisting piracy of Windows here --> http://www.brothersoft.com/wga-remover-443901.html

EditByBSEditor: Windows Genuine Advantage Notification is a system of notification of the results of Windows authentication. If authentication finds out that the key installed in the system is not genuine, then a Star will appear in system tray which will be constantly annoying you with messages about the necessity to buy the license.

You can plainly see that at least one "BS Editor" has indeed acknowledged a need for an edit, after viewing the original Red website.

Edit: your mobile app is being 'ripped', too. http://www.brothersoft.fr/Spybot-151584.html

 

[TechDud]

& the violations continue assumingly uncontested.

 

[TechDud]

Thank you for reporting this issue,
we will take steps to stop Brothersoft from at least doing this with our software.
The toolbar they provide does not appear to be harmful but it is adware and with most other toolbars the benefit for the user is questionable.

Who cares what it does; this patently violates your Terms. SaferNetworking is now 'guilty by association'. How many users have been turned off by this, now that Spybot 'comes with toolbars'?

I would hold my breath for this, though i fear suffocation!
from http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.php?p=421376&postcount=10

http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-download-75319-s2.html
http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-download-61667-s4.html
http://spybot-search-and-destroy.brothersoft.com/spybot-search-and-destroy1.5.1.15
http://www.brothersoft.fr/Spybot-151584.html[/quote]Add to this list Spybot Beta 2.06b4 & 1.62.46
http://www.brothersoft.com/spybot---search--destroy-download-61667.html?bottom


nmap 5.51 has been victimized, too.http://nmap.brothersoft.com/nmap5.51-freedownload
This shows me that MS has overlooked this site.


FAIL

 

[TechDud]

bump, bump