The owner of ERG Ventures has agreed to pay a $330,000 penalty and follow stricter distribution guidelines in the future.
The FTC alleged that ERG used seemingly harmless software downloads, such as screen savers and video files, to mask covert installations of the Media Motor adware program.
The covertly installed software proceeded to disable any antivirus or adware-blocking software installed on the user's computer and initiate a series of malicious installations.
These included tracking software, pop-up generators and other pieces of malware that slowed performance and changed system settings.
The FTC said that the software hid itself in installations performed with user consent, and was loaded even when users declined to have the original piece of software installed.
Once installed, Media Motor was "extremely difficult or impossible" for users to remove, according to the FTC.
one down, millions to go
Thats exactly what I was thinking Talldog. Just another example of why I never let even ring 4 processes onto my system that I dont know and trust. And when it comes to ring 0 with kernel mode processes I am super strict. Direct plug into the kernel = bad blue pill.