After a dark and uneasy truce between scumware pedlars and webmasters, a new predatory advertiser - KeenValue.COM - has emerged. They're in sync with their previous brethren, their site plainly tells you that you can get your ads on most any page based on your priorities and budget. They fail to mention that their scumware is bundled with many freeware (and adware) applications and that the installation of the KeenValue.COM advertising core is hidden in pages of small print. This too is old-school scumware thinking.

Unlike many predatory advertisers in the past, it is possible to uninstall the KeenValue.COM core. Many popular scumware removers (SpyBlaster, AdAware and others) all easily find and remove it also, though the package that the core came bundled with may stop working if the scumware modules are removed.

The look of the advertising is reminiscent of Gator's banner covering techniques, though a skilled surfer might notice that the ads have a small X in the upper left corner and can be closed by clicking this X. The ads do not purposefully mimic the size nor location of other ads on the page, though they do alter the page's appearance.

As always with scumware, the privacy policy of KeenValue.COM is a surfer's worst nightmare. While claiming that all information is kept confidential, virtually any sensitive data on the surfer's computer is catalogued and sent back to KeenValue.COM's servers:

• Web sites and pages viewed.


• The amount of time spent at some Web sites.


• Response to the Advertisements displayed.


• Standard web log information including IP address and system settings.


• What software is on your personal computer.


• Your first and last name, country, and five digit ZIP code.


• Your usage characteristics and preferences.

What makes much of the above collected data so damaging is that many companies have previously made such claims, only to renege on them during times of money troubles. DoubleClick infamously did it in 2000 just to make money before a Federal judge ordered them to stop it and several Federal agencies sued.

A complete list of software that bundles the KeenValue.COM scumware isn't currently available, though the following list all contain the core. These are mostly desktop managers of a puerile and sexist nature:

• Kahli


• TeeCee


• Tahni


• FatB


• Maeka


• Oska


• Groovin' Granny


• Poopy Pavarotti


• Bugging You Serenade

Obviously, not installing any software that contains the keyword KeenValue would largely protect surfers, but (again) like previous scumware pedlars, KeenValue.COM has an affiliate program that pays 14 cents for each successful and unique download. They recommend an ActiveX automatic download (an ActiveX driveby) as the best method. Ensuring that ActiveX controls are set to always need approval before installation can solve this problem.

Another method is to purposefully instruct the firewall to disallow connections to certain URL's. Firewall blocking combined with high ActiveX security should block all installation attempts. The known list of URL's to block is:

• bd12.com


• www.bd12.com


• ads.euniverseads.com


• popups.ad-logics.com


• keenvalue.com


• www.keenvalue.com


• myfreecursors.com


• www.myfreecursors.com


• thunderdownloads.com


• www.thunderdownloads.com


• crazymates.com


• www.crazymates.com


• euniverse.com

This time around, there are excellent visual aids to spot how the different ads actually look. Click any of the links in the next sentence to see the basic versions. The ads come in skyscraper, slider and panorama versions.

Happy and safe surfing!