180solutions Shuts Down Software Hacker

BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- 180solutions, Inc., the leading provider of Internet search marketing solutions, today became aware of a publisher with an online name of "Sniper84" who hacked its software in a way that caused the company's notification and consent process to be automatically accepted, denying users the ability to make that choice for themselves.

Despite an unprecedented effort by some industry critics to keep secret the critical information that would have led to a quicker shutdown of the fraudulent behavior, the company, through its own policing mechanisms, was able to track down the nefarious actor responsible and shut him down. This rogue publisher will not receive any payment for these installs and as stated in the Code of Conduct, will be subject to further financial penalties and legal action.

On December 29, 2005, 180solutions forced all distributors to use its "S3-enabled" software which is designed to be more resistant to fraudulent installations. While a non-trivial software hack was used in this instance to subvert the consent process, the S3 functionality enabled the company to go back and re-message every user who received its software from "Sniper84" and provide them a one-click uninstall.

"No software is ever hack-proof," said Keith Smith, co-founder and CEO of 180solutions. "Thanks to our recently-developed S3 technology, we were able to identify the rogue publisher, immediately shut down the channel, and implement our re-messaging efforts in which every user involved in this exploit will be required to re-opt in to the download of our programs if they wish to keep the software."

Similar non-consensual installs have plagued others in the industry including a high-profile case involving WhenU last November. More on that incident can be found at http://netrn.net/spywareblog/archives/2005/11/24/and-lose-the-balloons/ .

A Call for "Responsible Disclosure"

While 180solutions is apologetic that these installations occurred and has taken corrective action, the company is surprised that those who profess to be consumer advocates chose to not practice "responsible disclosure," a common and agreed upon practice in the security industry. Responsible disclosure states that when a software vulnerability is found, the finder reports that to the software maker giving them time to secure the vulnerability before making it known publicly. The principle here is not at all to protect the software maker; it's designed to protect the consumer/computer user from harm. Unfortunately, ignoring this practice is common among "consumer advocates" who monitor the downloadable software industry. To make matters worse, this time, not only was the issue not reported to 180solutions prior to it being made public, but key information, such as the URL visited, was purposely hidden by these "consumer advocates" after the fact, which hindered the company's fraud detection process, exposing more consumers to harm.

About 180solutions, Inc.

180solutions, Inc., headquartered in Bellevue, WA, fuels the creation of the online content economy by creating the tools and marketplace that allow anyone to monetize online content over the Internet. Within this content economy, consumers gain free access to a large catalog of entertaining and informative content sponsored by time-shifted advertising. Publishers and content developers are offered a legitimate and scalable means to monetize their content, and advertisers increase their reach by delivering highly targeted messages to potential customers who were previously inaccessible. 180solutions is committed to creating a content economy built on a foundation of safe and ethical practices by protecting consumer privacy while offering a fulfilling and high-value content experience. For more information, visit http://www.180solutions.com/.

Visit 180solutions' blog at blog.180solutions.com.