C-NetMedia Spyware Detection Vendor Accused of Deceptive Practices...
- By Grey McKenzie
- Published 02/15/2008
Grey McKenzie
National Cyber Security Founder
Cyber security watchdog & one of the nation's leading cyber security experts, Grey McKenzie is also the Founder of SpyCop Security Software.
His clients include members of the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, State & Local Law Enforcement.
He is regularly consulted by industry leaders regarding cyber security issues.
To schedule a procedural, technical and non-technical network security audit of your company call 902-467-0200
Unfortunately it's much to hard to know if we are being told the truth when we purchase a software product, especially one from a "security vendor".
Forgive my jaded opinion, but being the founder of a security company myself (SpyCop), I have seen blatant lies and deception used over and over again even from big name security vendors in an effort to hawk their wares.
This time Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School
who is, in my opinion, an expert in the field of deceptive practices used by spyware detection vendors.
Targeting a company called C-NetMedia... one of whose products is called SpyWare Bot, he deftly exposes a practice that is used over & over again by unscrupulous software vendors to sell product.
Ben reports...
Some C-NetMedia products are marketed using practices, keywords, labels, and layouts that falsely suggest they come from security industry leaders. This suggestion comes from both the actions of C-Net itself, as well as from the actions of C-Net's marketing partners.
Google Shows Deceptive Ads for C-NetMedia's Products
Consider the top three ads for a Google search for "Spybot",
a popular early anti-spyware program (full name "Spybot Search &
Destroy").
As shown at right, the top three ads each specifically
mention "Spybot" -- the first two, in directory names; the third, in
its domain name.
Furthermore, all three ads also include the
distinctive and original phrase "Search & Destroy" that
specifically describes the genuine Spybot product.
Yet in fact each of
these three ads takes users to the unrelated site spywarebot.com (emphasis added) (screenshots: 1, 2, 3).
Clicking the first ad immediately takes a user to spywarebot.com via
the ClickBank advertising network.
As to the second and third ads,
traffic flows through independent "landing page" sites which in turn
show ClickBank links to promote Spywarebot.
These landing pages are
hosted on the deceptively-named domains named spybot-sd-info.com and
www-spybotcom.com -- each further (but falsely) suggesting an
affiliation with the genuine "spybot" product. Full Story
