ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 In my job, I deal with spyware attacks on computers around here almost every single day. One of the most notorious that sneaks in while you are browsing the Web is ASK, the search engine, which is associated with Mindspark Interactive... another outfit pretending to offer interesting gadgets and masquerading as a front for the "bad guys". Imagine my surprise, then, at my recent discovery that every new installation of Google Chrome includes a link to ASK in its search-engine setup. ASK and Mindspark sit in the background, waiting for a chance to "phone home" and link up with hundreds, maybe thousands, of active web robots just waiting to send junk down to your computer. There isn't a single company that has provided a tool that is effective in blocking these ****ards, not AVG, Avast, Norton, none of them. So for Google to actually invite these people in is mind-boggling. These spywares can try to steal your email settings and get your Contacts, or they start popping up ads for all kinds of junk... and some even cripple your computer or make it impossible to get to any websites. One of the worst offences is that they take over your search engine, often using graphics that resemble Google's, but display their results, most of which are related to their spyware clients, and all of them causing a payment to be sent to someone with every click. You can go into the Chrome settings and remove Ask from the search engines. I know Google is working hard at taking over the world, but this is ridiculous. I wonder what financial deal they made? You can search the Web for info on this, but no one seems to have discovered it yet. But if you go into your settings, there she be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldyfeliz Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Thanks I have never liked Google Chrome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeViews Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Safari and an updated mac or iOS device should do the trick with the least amount of BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Very few people willing to give up their PC computer familiarity for a whole new world for the sake of a browser issue. And Chrome is just as easily available on iOS. One major problem with Google is they relentlessly pop up messages saying "You should upgrade your browser", leading the unwary into assuming when you "click here" you will upgrade IE or Firefox or whichever... and instead suddenly Chrome is now your default browser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gringal Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 If you want a humorous take on Google taking over the world, read "Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore." Meanwhile, be suspicious of everything Google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony_In_Mexico Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 I've never even been tempted to use Chrome. I don't use the browser either. Been sayin for years - Google is da debil. Of course, I'm very distrusting of the interwebs in general. I use NoScript, a vpn, Adblock Plus, Ghostery, and Tor, as well as a few other things I probably can't recall at the moment. I use a fake name on Facebook and every other site that I can. I don't use toolbars. I don't open an email unless there is a certain key phrase from friends and family in the subject line. I try to be as paranoid as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REC Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Are you getting new Google install files directly from Google or through somewhere else like CNET, Brothersoft or Softonic? Does this happen with Google updates or only with a new clean install? If you say it is bundled in the Google install I believe you but it seems strange that Google would intentionally include something that would replace THEIR search engine - one of their key features and source of a BIG chunk of their revenue. Wow - seems like ASK would have to pay Google a fortune to get Google to replace its own search engine (and revenue) with something else. ASK is definitely embedded in lots of install and update packages and it is easy to miss the opportunity to NOT install it. It can certainly be nasty once it gets onto your system. Definitely something to watch for. Here is an article on dealing with ASK after the fact. No fun but not all that bad or time consuming. The free version of MalwareBytes seems to work pretty well for this and other issues when I have used it. http://malwaretips.com/blogs/mindspark-toolbar-removal/ One more question on your comment "all of them causing a payment to be sent to someone with every click". You are not saying that this causes US to send a payment when this happens - or are you? The payment is from one company to another - correct? Not a payment that we make? Just want to be sure we understand that issue. Thanks again for posting the warning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 These are brand-new installs from Google, not from any of the software download sites (which as you imply are often full of this kind of crap). I've used both the offline install and the "downloading now" install with the same result. So since it's in there from the get-go, I don't really know about updates. Note that Ask is not installed as the default, but is included in the set of engines, along with AOL and others. I'm not sure what would be required to have it kick in as the default search engine, but the fact that it is included at all is enough to raise my ire. Because you are absolutely right, Google makes a main portion of its living off its own search engine. And I imagine some really sweet deal went down to get Ask installed along with Chrome. And no, we are not paying for click-throughs... the sponsoring spyware companies provide a kickback to whoever allowed them to be set up in the first place. In fact, many software companies (probably including sources like CNet) hire advertising brokers to bring in more ad money, and they look the other way as to exactly which advertisers are brought on board. So they have "plausible deniability" ( another BS term created by the powers-that-be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 If you want a humorous take on Google taking over the world, read "Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore." Meanwhile, be suspicious of everything Google. Thanks for the tip. Downloading it now. Also check out Dave Egger's The Circle: It chronicles tech worker Mae Holland as she joins a powerful Google-like Internet company which starts out as an incredibly rewarding experience, but as she works there longer things start to fall apart. A company beningly taking over the world... unlike Google who are very NOT benign... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnMama Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 As an old techie, I admit I am a lot more afraid of Microsoft than Google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcscats Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Funny as an old techie I admit I am a lot more afraid of Google than Microsoft. Microsoft is pretty tame these days. Too many people watching them. Google is still in the "EGO" phase of growth thus my fear of Google over Microsoft. But it is like picking best of two evils or in this case worst of two evils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Only time I've seen Ask is when you install a program that wants to install add on's and you don't say no. Never been asked to upgrade Chrome either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappysmarket Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 My Google Chromebook uses Google as the default search engine but I could enable ASK if I so desired but will not. Thanks, I have never had any of the above problems on this nice little device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Only time I've seen Ask is when you install a program that wants to install add on's and you don't say no. Never been asked to upgrade Chrome either The "upgrade" to which I refer only shows in IE, Firefox, Safari... because it is an ad by Google. Google of course upgrades Chrome automatically, and Chromebooks default to Chrome as the operating system anyway. Should you happen to go to your Settings in Chrome, and check the Search Engines, you will almost definitely see that Ask is one of them.... unless you already removed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Ask is there but so is every other possible search engine .... everything disabled but Google Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Yes, lots of other search engines, but Ask is the only one that is criminal by nature... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rod.collins Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Very few people willing to give up their PC computer familiarity for a whole new world for the sake of a browser issue. And Chrome is just as easily available on iOS. One major problem with Google is they relentlessly pop up messages saying "You should upgrade your browser", leading the unwary into assuming when you "click here" you will upgrade IE or Firefox or whichever... and instead suddenly Chrome is now your default browser. Google continues to be more and more invasive yet more puzzling to me is the amount of people who actually use Google products including Gmail, Google Maps, Android lots of alternatives out there but it can be a learning curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbviajero Posted September 18, 2014 Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 I'm a computer dummy,but I've never had a had a problem with Google chrome,most of the services Google provides work just fine for me,an exception might be Google translate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 Perhaps some of us are missing the point of my original post; my apologies if I wasn't clear. There is nothing wrong with Google Chrome, per se. Simply the fact that they feel free to install a SPYWARE search engine on your computer without your permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbviajero Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 CG,almost all of what you techies talk about goes way over my head,my point was just that Google seems to be providing some very good products for little or no cost to me.I do get those SPYWARE pop ups all the time,should I not click on them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Can't tell if you are being facetious or not. MY point was, again (while Google does have some good products) that it is dirty rotten pool to include any kind of GD malware or other crap in any product that goes onto your computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakeViews Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 There are many privacy issues with Google. Google gathers information about you from all of their "free" applications so they can sell it to advertisers. They read your emails, track your location, search history, and chrome browsing history - google is definitely watching. It's basically a spyware company, far creepier than Microsoft IMHO. That said I use google search google earth. From Tim Cook a couple of days ago, "...A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you're not the customer. You're the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn't come at the expense of your privacy. Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don't build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don't "monetize" the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don't read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple..." Tim Cook, Apple CEO Complete letter here: http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/09/17/tim-cook-touts-new-apple-privacy-policies-in-open-letter-to-customers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbviajero Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Can't tell if you are being facetious or not. MY point was, again (while Google does have some good products) that it is dirty rotten pool to include any kind of GD malware or other crap in any product that goes onto your computer. I assure you that I was not being facetious,I simply don't know much about this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComputerGuy Posted September 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 I do get those SPYWARE pop ups all the time,should I not click on them? Can you be more specific, please. Are you getting popups from Spyware, or warning you about spyware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbviajero Posted September 19, 2014 Report Share Posted September 19, 2014 Can you be more specific, please. Are you getting popups from Spyware, or warning you about spyware? CG,my PC is turned off but if I'm not mistaken they're from SPYWARE,updates that appear in the corner of the screen on a regular basis,I'll check tomorrow and get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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