Neowin News Feed for: Adware

YouTube improving viewer experience by showing fewer disruptive mid-roll ads

Jay Kakade — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 07:14:01 +0000

To enhance viewer experience and retain more viewers to a video, YouTube is improving the quality of mid-roll ads by showing fewer ads that may feel disruptive to the viewer. Read more...

Microsoft seemingly admits "ads" on Windows 11 Start menu are in the works

Sayan Sen — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 06:06:01 +0000

Microsoft may finally be coming clean. With a new hidden change, the tech giant seems to acknowledge that "ads" on the Windows 11 Start menu are real, though it could also mean more ads are coming. Read more...

Another ex-Windows head denounces Microsoft after it got slammed for "bad" performance

Sayan Sen — Sat, 13 Apr 2024 15:20:01 +0000

Microsoft recently got slammed by an ex-engineer for the "comically bad" performance of Windows 11. Following that, another former Windows guru has now criticized the company with a dose of sarcasm. Read more...

Microsoft starts stuffing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Sat, 13 Apr 2024 05:50:01 +0000

Microsoft has started testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu. Notably, the Start menu shows ads in the form of app recommendations and comes hot off the heels of the latest insider build update. Read more...

Microsoft may want to add a dedicated Windows 11 button for ads and promos

Sayan Sen — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 07:54:02 +0000

Microsoft has been making lots of changes to the recommended section where it promotes apps and websites. The company may now be looking to add a dedicated button on Windows 11 just for that. Read more...

Microsoft's Windows 11 Copilot experience gets worse with it now showing ads on desktop

Sayan Sen — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:24:01 +0000

Microsoft recently debuted its Copilot feature on Windows 11 as a preview. However, users have faced some issues related to wallpapers and GPUs. And the experience is set to get worse now with ads. Read more...

Microsoft now showing ads for Teams when you try to "Get Help" on Windows

Sayan Sen — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 09:30:01 +0000

Microsoft loves placing ads and promos for its products and services in various places across its OS. The latest place where it is placing ads for Teams Essentials is inside the Get Help app. Read more...

Microsoft tries to steal users with Bing ads when they visit Google Bard in Edge

Taras Buria — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 12:00:01 +0000

When visiting Google Bard's website, users noticed that Microsoft Edge Canary and Dev now show a large Bing AI ad in the browser's address bar, offering to compare the two AI-powered chatbots. Read more...

Microsoft is now pushing ads and promos in Windows 11 Start menu, but you can disable them

Sayan Sen — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 21:40:01 +0000

For a while now, Microsoft has been testing ads and promos for its products and features on Windows 11 with tidbits seen in File Explorer, Microsoft Store, and now in the Start menu also. Read more...

Beware: Microsoft Edge found serving malicious tech support scam ads

Sayan Sen — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 22:34:01 +0000

Microsoft Edge has been found to be serving malicious tech support scam ads. While the ads appear harmless from a distance, they are designed to redirect targets to malicious domains. Read more...

Columbia Univ builds breakthrough algorithm that stops spying microphones from listening

Sayan Sen — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 05:18:02 +0000

The Columbia University's computer science department has developed a new algorithm that can be used to stop microphones and automatic speech recognition systems from spying on the public. Read more...

Beware: Powershell Windows Toolbox that helped install Google Play on Windows 11 is malware

Sayan Sen — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 17:24:01 +0000

The Powershell Windows Toolbox that was hosted on GitHub was found to contain malicious files. This third-party Windows tool claimed to install Google Play Store, debloat Windows 11, and more. Read more...

A new ad from Microsoft for the Bing Wallpaper App shows up on Edge

Sayan Sen — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 15:16:01 +0000

Microsoft's Bing will now serve you some ads for its Bing Wallpaper App when you use the search engine on the company's Edge browser. The ad can be a banner or a pop-up that asks you to try the app. Read more...

Microsoft reportedly considers adding more ads to File Explorer in Windows 11 [Update]

Taras Buria — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:20:01 +0000

Alongside some much-needed features and quality improvements, Microsoft appears to be testing new ads in Windows 11. Users report seeing Microsoft Editor banners directly in File Explorer. Read more...

Fake Windows 11 installers are being used to distribute malware

Usama Jawad — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 06:02:01 +0000

Kaspersky has issued an advisory about people getting their machines infected with malware by downloading fake Windows 11 installers like "86307_windows 11 build 21996.1 x64 + activator.exe". Read more...

Unchecky 1.2

Razvan Serea — Sun, 08 Apr 2018 22:22:02 +0000

Unchecky's primary feature is automatic unchecking of unrelated offers, such as potentially unwanted programs, offers to change your homepage or your search engine. Read more...

Unchecky 1.1

Razvan Serea — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 07:56:01 +0000

Unchecky's primary feature is automatic unchecking of unrelated offers, such as potentially unwanted programs, offers to change your homepage or your search engine. Read more...

Lenovo's adware push will cost it $3.5 million in fines

John Keefer — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 20:32:01 +0000

The FTC and 32 different states sued the laptop maker over its pre-installation of adware that could have compromised the security of its users. Several FTC stipulations go along with the fine. Read more...

Facebook malware adapts to your web browser, operating system [Update]

Justin Luna — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 16:04:01 +0000

A security researcher recently discovered a new malware attack on Facebook that uses social engineering. It can even detect a user's system settings so they can be targeted with appropriate adware. Read more...

Mughthesec adware for macOS masquerades as Flash Player installer

Justin Luna — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 15:48:01 +0000

An adware called Mughthesec has been recently discovered. It masquerades as an installer for Flash Player, which comes bundled with three other programs. These will then modify browser settings. Read more...

Unchecky 1.0.3

Razvan Serea — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 08:18:01 +0000

Unchecky's primary feature is automatic unchecking of unrelated offers, such as potentially unwanted programs, offers to change your homepage or your search engine. Read more...

Crypto ransomware hits major websites through banner ads in past 24 hours

John Devon — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 03:20:01 +0000

The massive “malvertising” campaign is targeting users on popular sites including the BBC, MSN, AOL, The New York Times, and nfl.com. Vulnerabilities in Flash and Silverlight are being exploited. Read more...

Microsoft announces advertising policy to protect users from man-in-the-middle attacks

Shreyas Gandhe — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 12:52:01 +0000

Microsoft has announced a new policy regarding adware to protect users from man-in-the-middle attacks, and developers will need to ensure that their software is compliant before March 31, 2016. Read more...

Google takes action against ad injectors after 300K complaints from Chrome users

John Devon — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 03:18:01 +0000

In light of Lenovo's “Superfish” scandal, Google is taking action to filter potentially malicious ads presented to Chrome users. Read more...

SpywareBlaster 5.2

Razvan Serea — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 08:42:01 +0000

SpywareBlaster can help keep your system secure, without interfering with the "good side" of the web. And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to remain running in the background. Read more...

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac released for download

Razvan Serea — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 11:40:01 +0000

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac scans for and removes code that degrades system performance or attacks your system. Making your Mac, once again, your Mac. Read more...

Skype used for spreading adware but Microsoft and Amazon are on the case

Vlad Dudau — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 08:52:01 +0000

Security researchers discovered that Skype was being used to spread adware to unsuspecting victims, but Microsoft and Amazon are now working to disrupt this scheme by blocking domains and IPs. Read more...

Lenovo pre-installs adware on its systems, which could also steal your private data

Vlad Dudau — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 09:18:01 +0000

Lenovo has seemingly been caught pushing known adware to its users. Pre-installed on a number of Lenovo systems, the software inserts ads, and has the potential to steal private encrypted data. Read more...

Adware-infected apps in Google Play Store were downloaded 'millions of times'

Andy Weir — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 15:54:01 +0000

Google has pulled numerous apps from its Play Store that had been directing users to install more software, which secretly collected their personal data and sent premium-rate text messages. Read more...

Fake Evernote extension injects ads into webpages

Steven Johns — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:10:00 +0000

Adware posing as the official Evernote extension for Google Chrome has been discovered by the security firm Malwarebytes, fortunately the removal is extremely simple and straight forward. Read more...

Microsoft's anti-malware team to have new adware rules July 1

John Callaham — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 18:45:51 +0000

The Microsoft Malware Protection Center team has announced some new criteria to define when an online ad crosses over into the adware side, along with how their security products will deal with it. Read more...

FBI announces arrest of 10 people over Butterfly Botnet

Paul Ferson — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:13:10 +0000

The FBI has confirmed the arrest of 10 people over the Butterfly Botnet; a botnet that, peaking at more than 11 million machines infected, harvesting details on bank accounts and passwords. Read more...

Neowin Guide: Avoiding Adware in Installers

Steven Parker — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 09:21:17 +0000

This week we have selected a guide from our Selection of Essential Guides posted by Xinok . This guide provides several real examples of installers which contain adware. The intent is to show... Read more...

Adware Purveyor Withdraws PC Tools Complaint

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:56:58 +0000

Zango, a controversial maker of adware software, has withdrawn its legal complaint against PC Tools. The adware maker had previously demanded that PC Tools' security software stop removing its software as these removals allegedly happened... Read more...

Adware Zango sues maker of antispyware tool

Fri, 18 May 2007 18:27:59 +0000

Adware maker Zango Incorporated has sued PC Tools Pty Limited, makers of the popular Spyware Doctor software, in a dispute over the way the antispyware program flags and removes Zango's technology. The Spyware Doctor Starter... Read more...

Gator adware tops 2006 spyware chart

Daniel Fleshbourne — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:18:49 +0000

Gator, a type of adware that offers free use of an application if users agree to view a series of pop-up messages tops the list of spyware most frequently detected by PandaLabs in 2006. Some... Read more...

Proof of concept adware program for OS X announced

Michael Stanclift — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 04:55:14 +0000

Online fraudsters may be ready to put Mac users in their sights. On Thursday, antivirus firm F-Secure published a brief analysis of a proof-of-concept adware program for the Mac OS X that could theoretically hook... Read more...

Battlefield 2142 In-Game Ads - Adware or Spyware or Neither?

Todd Tanner — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:53:25 +0000

I thought this was a very interesting topic to come up today. I was browsing Gamespot's forums earlier and came upon this thread which is taken from a Shacknews discussion topic originally. In these two... Read more...

Microsoft give MVP Award to Adware Pusher

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 08:10:53 +0000

A guy named paperghost over at Vital Security has written a scathing editorial on Patchous recent MVP award status. I'd like to point out that the opinion expressed herein is not that of Neowin, so... Read more...

Threats, Adware and Phising, Growing in Numbers

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:24:53 +0000

The number of phishing sites increased and beat a new record. Adware and spyware are increasing at an exponential rate. Web users are poorly informed about threats. They happily go out, purchase a copy of... Read more...