Marchingontogether
TK Veteran
Google started warning its users of the possibility that by visiting a popular file-sharing portal Demonoid they could “catch” malware, which is downloaded and installed on their machines. People, searching for Demonoid (which finally relaunched recently after years offline), will see a warning saying "The website ahead contains malware".
The message suggests that users will return to search results and pick another one, though the service allows them to continue at their own risk. In addition, the page points to a diagnostic report explaining why the file-sharing service has been blocked. The report shows that of the 78 site pages tested within the past 3 months, 7 resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent.
In the meantime, the block goes beyond the search engine – for instance, users of Google’s Chrome browser are also being warned off Demonoid. However, the site is still accessible via Apple’s Safari browser. Mozilla's Firefox repeats Google, showing its own "Reported Attack Page”.
Media reports reveal that Demonoid is blaming advertisers on its website for the detected malware. Indeed, the service runs content from many ad networks in its ad banners, and a lot of banners from each. When one of them started serving malware, the site operators disabled all ads until being 100% sure of the culprit and removing it. Demonoid promised to do what it can to get the site out of all the blacklists. This news will for sure please the anti-piracy campaigners. According to a recent report by the UK film, TV and video body named The Industry Trust, about 90% of the top piracy websites in the United Kingdom contain malware or credit card scams.
Demonoid block also comes at a time when the London Police’s intellectual property crime unit, in cooperation with various creative industries, is trying to stop the flow of advertising revenue to “notorious” websites from respectable brands.
In the meantime, Google’s decision to block the popular file-sharing service could bring more pressure on the online giant from the copyright holders, because music bodies have long lobbied Google to remove websites from its search results if they are consistently linked to piracy. However, until now, their strategy was to send tons of takedown notices for infringing links on Google. This news may encourage them to conduct research into malware on pirate portals and present the results to Google to get them blocked.
The message suggests that users will return to search results and pick another one, though the service allows them to continue at their own risk. In addition, the page points to a diagnostic report explaining why the file-sharing service has been blocked. The report shows that of the 78 site pages tested within the past 3 months, 7 resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent.
In the meantime, the block goes beyond the search engine – for instance, users of Google’s Chrome browser are also being warned off Demonoid. However, the site is still accessible via Apple’s Safari browser. Mozilla's Firefox repeats Google, showing its own "Reported Attack Page”.
Media reports reveal that Demonoid is blaming advertisers on its website for the detected malware. Indeed, the service runs content from many ad networks in its ad banners, and a lot of banners from each. When one of them started serving malware, the site operators disabled all ads until being 100% sure of the culprit and removing it. Demonoid promised to do what it can to get the site out of all the blacklists. This news will for sure please the anti-piracy campaigners. According to a recent report by the UK film, TV and video body named The Industry Trust, about 90% of the top piracy websites in the United Kingdom contain malware or credit card scams.
Demonoid block also comes at a time when the London Police’s intellectual property crime unit, in cooperation with various creative industries, is trying to stop the flow of advertising revenue to “notorious” websites from respectable brands.
In the meantime, Google’s decision to block the popular file-sharing service could bring more pressure on the online giant from the copyright holders, because music bodies have long lobbied Google to remove websites from its search results if they are consistently linked to piracy. However, until now, their strategy was to send tons of takedown notices for infringing links on Google. This news may encourage them to conduct research into malware on pirate portals and present the results to Google to get them blocked.