Dear Vivaldi web browser users,

1) How to PREVENT Proton installing

Right-click, do not left-click, but right-click the VPN Button and click REMOVE.

2) How to REMOVE Proton VPN if installed.

Click on the Vivaldi logo, click on tools, click on extensions. This will list ALL your installed browser extensions, and you can click on REMOVE for Proton VPN.

3) How to PREVENT Vivaldi from doing this in the future (see screenshots, alt text included).

#Vivaldi #VivaldiBrowser #VivaldiWebBrowser #Adware

2 things for Vivaldi Browser.

1) How to PREVENT Proton installing

Right-click, do not left-click, but right-click the VPN Button and click REMOVE.

2) How to REMOVE Proton VPN if installed.

Click on the Vivaldi logo, click on tools, click on extensions. This will list ALL your installed browser extensions, and you can click on REMOVE for Proton VPN.

#Vivaldi #VivaldiBrowser #VivaldiWebBrowser #Adware

Právě mi na firemním počítači s #Windows vyskočila nevyžádaná pop-up #notifikace

Nestihl jsem to vyfotit vyskočenou, tak aspoň v liště, ale - sakra lidi, to někdo tenhle #adware opravdu dobrovolně používá?

Have you ever wondered what happens if you say yes to every request to receive push notifications from sketchy websites?
For the past few months we have done exactly that, exposing an old phone to an endless barrage of scareware and malicious ads.
Find out more here: https://blogs.infoblox.com/threat-intelligence/pushed-down-the-rabbit-hole/

#dns #threatintel #adtech #adware #malware #scam #phishing #cybercrime #cybersecurity #vextrio #infoblox #infobloxthreatintel #malvertising #tds

Apps That Are Spying on Your Location

404 Media is reporting on all the apps that are spying on your location, based on a hack of the location data company... https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/01/apps-that-are-spying-on-your-location.html

Several commercial #VPN services, many of which are often sponsored by YouTubers and such, and even some VPN review websites are owned by the same company, Kape Technologies (formerly Crossrider), which has a history of distributing #malware and #adware with ties to a former Israeli intelligence agent. The VPNs they own are ExpressVPN, CyberGhost VPN, Private Internet Access and ZenMate VPN.

Full article by Cyber Insider (2021 but still relevant): https://cyberinsider.com/kape-technologies-owns-expressvpn-cyberghost-pia-zenmate-vpn-review-sites/

Software with ads isn't "free" (as in not paid for). We long have a term for that, it's called "#adware". And if it's spying on you while at it, we call it "spyware", or "malicious software" more generally, and remove it.

And programs with paid features aren't "free" either, nor "#freemium" — they're just glorified demo versions.

Let's not let marketing folk manipulate us, and create a world where "shit 2025 hd pro premium+" is the best we can do. Support #FreeSoftware (as in libre), rather than con people.

Programy z reklamami nie są "darmowe". Od dawna mamy już termin na takie programy: nazywamy je "#adware". A jeżeli dodać do tego szpiegowanie użytkownika, to nazywamy to "spyware", albo ogólniej "złośliwym oprogramowaniem", i usuwamy.

A programy z płatnymi funkcjami też nie są "darmowe", ani "#freemium" — to po prostu gloryfikowane wersje demo.

Nie dajmy marketingowcom sobą manipulować, i tworzyć realia, w których ładnie zapakowane "gówno 2025 hd pro premium+" to najlepsze, na co możemy sobie pozwolić. Wspierajmy #WolneOprogramowanie, nie cwaniaczków.

I'm about 10 weeks into a "user experience" experiment with #vextrio - starting with compromised sites and accepting all push notifications. I posted several of those already on the team account @InfobloxThreatIntel

VexTrio User Experience 5/N

Fake news is another consequences of VexTrio and similar actors. Qurium connected VexTrio to Russian disinformation in October.

In my sacrificial phone I've run into numerous "news" sites that are a complex mix of clickbait, ads, and disinformation. I think I have a pretty good BS detector, but I've found myself on fairly complex fact checking missions since I started this experience.

The other problem is once you visit a compromised website you are immediately thrown into a world where even the major news feed, say from Google, is filled with trash that wasn't there before. It's easy to see how people's beliefs can be manipulated simply by making the wrong click at the wrong time.

Most of the fake news or alarmist headlines I've seen came after visiting the initial infected website… meaning,
* I went to a compromised site,
* Was asked to accept push notifications,
* was redirected to something like a "your machine is infected" scareware,
* Had a polluted new feed and follow on push notifications with disinformation

I have had a few cases where the compromised site redirected immediately to a "news" site. These are filled with undated articles that can be difficult to fact check. Here's a few images from a recent one.
* Did Putin say he couldn't win the war? I doubt it.
* Is the US going to cancel the $20 and $50 bills. Nope. That was easy to check.

#dns #infoblox #threatintel #cybercrime #fakenews #cybersecurity #adtech #adware #infosec

It's been a long, slow slide, so it's not always obvious how much #Mozilla has abandoned the primacy of the #user's wants over the companies #spying on and #advertising to us.

But I'm pretty sure we passed a #knee in the curve not long ago. How do I know?

Because now, every time I get a "a new version of #Firefox is available, click to #update" dialog, I shudder in dread, and after applying the update I go through the entire preferences/settings to double-check that they haven't added any more user-hostile #antifeatures garbage (cryptocurrency, blockchain, "#privacy-preserving ad #surveillance", "AI", on and on the garbage they've tried cramming into Firefox).

User's shouldn't dread simple #software updates. At least not open-source users.

But here we are.

Whoda thunk. The Bing wallpaper app is adware.

https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/microsoft-is-up-to-some-shady-old-tricks-again-with-the-new-bing-wallpaper-app

I had my first ever malware/adware incident on Mac OS X this morning (though I’ve only been using OS X since Jaguar—version 10.2, from 2002). (Well, first ever that I know about, obvs.)

It was quite tricky/tricksy, so I wrote it up, with some disgressions about box plots (‘cos, honestly, who doesn’t love a good box plot?)

https://www.tdda.info/an-adware-malware-story-featuring-safari-notification-centre-and-box-plots

If you use a Mac, you might find this useful.

Sometimes people ask us to remove a domain from our blocklists that are part of a malicious traffic distribution system (TDS) because they "visited the url" and didn't get malware. This is like saying "I walked past the armed robber and didn't get robbed." Count yourself lucky. Say no to TDS. #dns #threatintel #cybercrime #malware #phishing #scam #infoblox #cybersecurity #infosec #tds #vextrio #socgholish #clearfake #404tds #adware

Youtube blocks NewPipe, SmartTube and other 3rd party apps

https://www.androidsage.com/2024/07/10/youtubes-crackdown-on-third-party-apps-is-in-full-swing/

#google #youtube #enshittification #adware

Oh je, ich bin das erste Mal seit wirklich sehr sehr lange auf ein Adware reingefallen... Zum Glück noch rechtzeitig entfernt. https://malwaretips.com/blogs/baseauthenticity-co-in/#windows
#baseauthenticity #adware #malware