Hotspot Spyware
February 16th, 2009 by David Bradley >> 9 Comments
In the past, I’ve recommended Hotspot Shield from Anchor Free as a great virtual private network (VPN) application that allows you to securely run an internet connection even if you’re on an open wireless network. It spoofs your computer’s internet address (IP) making it look as if you are somewhere else and essentially hiding you from you everyone else on the wireless network. It also encrypts the information you send and receive via the VPN.
It has a couple of flaws, first and not so important, it won’t allow me to edit a WordPress blog while it’s connected, although I still get half-decent download speeds for everything else. Secondly, the latest version comes with more spyware than before, which is a far more worrying situation.
How do I know? Well, I reinstalled the operating system on my laptop and so had to reinstall programs too, including HotspotShield. I downloaded the latest version from the site, scanned it for viruses (none) and fired up the installation. ZoneAlarm firewall immediately alerted me to an attempt to start up another installer from freeze.com. A quick google revealed this to be associated with various spyware applications. I denied the program access and the next dialog box, a license agreement, from Hotspot confirmed my suspicions:
After clicking “Accept” you will be offered additional useful, quality software provided by reputable partners blah, blah, blah…”
Usual spyware disclaimer. AnchorFree always had the community toolbar, which looked dodgy, but has now opted for more spyware than before, but at least with ZoneAlarm running and a mouse hovering over the deny button it is still possible to install and run it without it injecting your computer with those programs.
Of course Hotspot has always been advertiser driven, it creates a frame at the top of every web page you visit while using it that displays ads, after all. These can be disabled using NoScript in Firefox. I discovered after starting this post that Hotspot previously offered the Dealio spyware browser toolbar and gave you the option not to install that.
My recommendation? HotspotShield is apparently upfront about installing extra applications and seems to give you the opportunity to deny the installation. However, even if you deny those installations, ZoneAlarm pops up an alert asking that freeze.com be allowed to install. Now, this may actually just be the installer for Hotspot itself, but I’m not so sure now.
I have also had some test results back from a Sciencetext reader who suggests that Hotspot is pushing cookies for ad revenue that most users would prefer not to have. Time to abandon Hotspot and find an alternative preferably more secure and open VPN system.
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Leave a comment ↓
Anonymous // Feb 17, 2009 at 3:22 am
Yes- it appears also now that they are intercepting search queries and redirecting through Yahoo?
I thought I was supposed to be anonymous? Why are they spying on my searches – just for Yahoo ad revenue?
this is low – real low…
J. Anony // Feb 18, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Hmm, only version of hotspot shield i seen/used was with toolbar. Otherwise haven’t seen anything ‘freeze’ like. It lets me access curtain pages, and i’m thankful for that.
PS: I also have ZoneAlarm 07 with updates. Then again, i found that zonealarm is a hustle itself with all ‘control’ its trying to have over my computer.
Spock // Feb 20, 2009 at 7:07 am
By chance I installed PeerGuardian before installing Hotspot shield. I found out that PeerGuardian blocks all of the ads that Hotspot shild is trying to display…
David Bradley // Apr 7, 2009 at 10:49 am
It seems that Hotspot may have cleaned up its act. I’ve not done any full testing, but if one blocks toolbar installation and runs NoScript in Firefox I have not so far seen any malicious issues…anyone else got any thoughts on security, safety and malware?
Nerd // Jun 2, 2009 at 10:43 am
I strongly suspect hotspot shield of acting as a keylogger, activating after around 2 weeks of installation. Some of the outbound traffic from hotspot shield is suspicious and consistent with keylogging software that has been well hidden. I also noticed that after removal from a clean pc several different processes attempt to make a connection, rather urgently. I just don’t trust it at all, a service like this takes quite a lot of work to keep running. More than you’d make from giving the user the option to install a few rubbish bits of optional spyware. If it worked at a tolerable speed I would be torn as to whether or not to keep it but as it is slow and barely functional it isn’t worth keeping. I certainly don’t trust it one bit.
David // Jul 13, 2009 at 9:29 am
My CPU has gone very funny since installing hotspot shield it has taken me well over 60 seconds just to type this. Use at your own risk, I am doing a systems restore. To bad I didn’t listen to Kaspersky during the install.
David Bradley // Jul 13, 2009 at 11:58 am
That slooooow typing thing might be to do with duplicate favorites/bookmarks in Firefox and Chrome…did you re-import at some point recently? What warning did Kaspersky offer?
David // Jul 16, 2009 at 7:34 pm
No I haven’t installed anything but hotspot shield and have had firefox for ages. Kaspersky said it could not control driver if installed along with a bunch of other things that I had monitored. But even uninstalling and a systems restore has not solved the problem.
David M // Aug 27, 2009 at 6:15 pm
While key logging could be an issue if it’s used to acquire passwords for identity theft, almost any amount of spyware would be acceptable provided that the infomation skimmed is not being used for hot identity theft.
Just keep a spare system image with hot spot software and restore clean system image after trips and change passwords used while away.