• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Droid Incredible browser comes pre-installed with spyware?

If Google bases these suggestions off traffic stats then they might be reluctant to edit their lists, as they don't want to be responsible for what's on the list. It's worth noting that hotmail.com does not appear on your list, apparently regardless of how often you visit it. Even now, I'm typing this post in chromium (open source chrome) and hotmail is being underlined as a misspelling.
 
I get the exact same website suggestions as chimpy. Is this an issue that is only affecting some DIncs? While I can understand that these are some of the most visited websites (intentionally or unintentionally visited), it is irresponsible to suggest these sites in the stock browser.
 
davidnc said:
none of those sites popped up when i typed them in either on mine
Click to expand...
After clearing cookies/history/local data I still have those sites showing up.

To replicate:
Open browser
Go to link bar and type 'M'
scroll down, and you should see mail.ru, which according to wiki is ok, same w/ miki.jp and other sites like that


I doubt it's spyware, but I still want to know why it's showing up in the browser... My theory is it shows up from the in app ads accessing the internet etc for those ads...

Edit: I'm not gonna worry too hard about it, because some of the sites that show up include craigslist, cnn, and cnet... I don't think any of the sites are malicious, but seeing foreign sites like that make you wonder...
 
cougar618 said:
After clearing cookies/history/local data I still have those sites showing up.

To replicate:
Open browser
Go to link bar and type 'M'
scroll down, and you should see mail.ru, which according to wiki is ok, same w/ miki.jp and other sites like that


I doubt it's spyware, but I still want to know why it's showing up in the browser... My theory is it shows up from the in app ads accessing the internet etc for those ads...

Edit: I'm not gonna worry too hard about it, because some of the sites that show up include craigslist, cnn, and cnet... I don't think any of the sites are malicious, but seeing foreign sites like that make you wonder...
Click to expand...
I to wonder, following your example ,I went through first 3 pages of hits, none of the ones you list were there.
Google can be a strange and mysterious beast.
 
For those of you concerned that this is a security threat, read up a bit on how Google works. It's not spyware, it's just search suggestions presented in order of popularity based on PageRank algorithms:

PageRank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nothing to see here, move along...
 
I get the same suggestions as the OP.
Slightly off topic:
How do you get rid of the suggestion bar when you have already been to a site? For example, I go to a specific page on Newegg but when I want to go to newegg.com it forces me to go to that specific page because I can't close out the suggestion bar. Is there any way around this?
 
cwa107 said:
For those of you concerned that this is a security threat, read up a bit on how Google works. It's not spyware, it's just search suggestions presented in order of popularity based on PageRank algorithms:

PageRank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nothing to see here, move along...
Click to expand...

Just for funnies , take the op's list to an IT or pc security adviser and ask if he would have any probs with you going to those sites.
After looking at those sites you can say that the large number of questionable ones are basically the most popular?
If you got those on your pc, knowledgeable or paranoid :o people would run a scan of system and a hijackThis log.
Again all I'm saying is those should not be the "hits" for a normal search from a "fresh,clean" (as in no prior searches in those subjects) browser.
 
waynester said:
Just for funnies , take the op's list to an IT or pc security adviser and ask if he would have any probs with you going to those sites.
After looking at those sites you can say that the large number of questionable ones are basically the most popular?
If you got those on your pc, knowledgeable or paranoid :o people would run a scan of system and a hijackThis log.
Again all I'm saying is those should not be the "hits" for a normal search from a "fresh,clean" (as in no prior searches in those subjects) browser.
Click to expand...

If the browser uses page rank, it doesn't matter if it has gone anywhere or not. Other people going to those sites will make it an item. This isn't a malware issue, just an issue of Google not censoring what comes up in its automated population routines. This is a Google OS, after all. Android is built of Linux which requires asking the user if it can install certain things, like malware. There's no way anything was installed to do this without the user's knowledge.

Not sure why this is so hard to understand?
 
sabrewings said:
If the browser uses page rank, it doesn't matter if it has gone anywhere or not. Other people going to those sites will make it an item. This isn't a malware issue, just an issue of Google not censoring what comes up in its automated population routines. This is a Google OS, after all. Android is built of Linux which requires asking the user if it can install certain things, like malware. There's no way anything was installed to do this without the user's knowledge.

Not sure why this is so hard to understand?
Click to expand...

Look to the top sites he got on browser, that is your answer. I just cannot see them being the top sites.
Unless as someone mentioned before , google bases hits on "local" traffic/searches. Then it sounds as if he is in a rough area.
Added to the fact that I have never gotten results like that unless, specifically searching for malware remedies.
If I got results like that once or twice, yeah ok, but if I got them consistently something is out of whack.
This is just my opinion , no better or worse than others.
 
I get a few of them too, and my phone is fine. I've gotten them since I pulled it out of the box new.

Everything Google on these phones is location based. Stop fretting over such a non-issue.
 
waynester said:
ok some general suggestions, again please rem I'm basing this on PC as in windows , no experience in android/linux.

try another browser, dolphin hd, xscope,skyfire.
I have lookout app, on mine its a web based "find my phone" type app, but it comes with a basic anti-virus .

try one of the free anti-virus apps, I dont use them , but I'm not the one having probs

but do rem, 99% of time it's the operator that downloads , views attachments or searches for certain things.
So make sure of your downloads, few weeks back google did pull some apps from market due to malware
Click to expand...

What apps got pulled?
 
the one I had was that google pulled and refunded was add-on password manager for dolphin hd browser

"Thank you for using Google Checkout. In an ongoing effort to provide a safe purchasing environment, Google reviews orders on a regular basis.
For your security, we've cancelled the following order"

"Google Checkout no longer processes orders for this merchant. If you'd still like to make a purchase from Dolphin Browser Add-ons, please contact this merchant directly or feel free to retry your order with another merchant"

received this a few days ago from dolphin

Hi, we just release our add-on Password Manager into Android Market again.
You can download it now, pls download it to take a spin.
any feedback are warmly welcomed! :-)

another re dolphin
http://androidforums.com/htc-incredible/100908-google-pulled-back-app-canceled-my-order.html




others..
Google Pulls Two Android Market Apps | eWEEK Europe UK
Google Pulls Fraudulant Banking Apps From Market | DroidTalk

so yes they can be probs out there
 
@ waynester,

don't type it in the google search, type it in the address bar of the browser.
When you type in http:/www.m, look at the list presented for selection and scroll down. They will be there. Not an issue, just don't click them.
 
pacet911 said:
@ waynester,

don't type it in the google search, type it in the address bar of the browser.
When you type in http:/www.m, look at the list presented for selection and scroll down. They will be there. Not an issue, just don't click them.
Click to expand...



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Ahh...that could make a diff, my concern was that op was getting those hits on google search, not address bar.
I use the address bar only by accident, so I didn't even think of it. I will try it again later , maybe being updated? Not sure where address bar pulls it's suggestions from, if they are preloaded ( which if all Dinc owners have same suggestions, it would seem so), that was indeed an oversight by... htc? Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I just could not imagine people thinking those were valid search results on a google search .
 
Looks like you are not connected to the internet? Don't actually attempt to go to the site, let the suggestion come up as you type, once you have entered http:/www.m, you should be presented with a list of "suggestions", that is what the OP is referring to.
 
Even if these sites contain "spyware" as you are suggesting, most have no affect on mobile browsers as they are mainly targeted at desktop environments
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom