"According to Chris Boyd, a renowned security researcher who runs the VitalSecurity.org nonprofit resource center, the warm and fuzzy world of BitTorrent has been invaded by a massive software distribution campaign linked to New York-based adware purveyor Direct Revenue LLC," reports eWeek.
Because BitTorrent strips digital files into tiny shreds and reassembles them locally once a user completes a download, it has emerged as the perfect place to bundle adware programs among the bits, without the end user ever knowing.
A BitTorrent user downloading a movie clip only becomes aware of the associated adware after the files are reassembled. At that stage, when the user attempts to load the reassembled file, he or she is greeted by an installation notice for an adware bundle distributed by MMG (Marketing Metrix Group), a Canadian company that specializes in P2P network marketing.
Officials from MMG did not respond to queries for comment. On its Web site, the company lists BitTorrent as a lucrative adware distribution vehicle.
Which now gives a 404.... The compny's response, in the article, includes:
"The user is downloading something through BitTorrent that is ad-supported and [Boyd's screenshot] shows the disclosure that is provided. The idea that somehow the download is surreptitious is wrong. It's very apparent that if the BitTorrent user goes through with the MMG download, they agree to install the ad-supported software."
