Spyware found in (Coral) IE Tab Plus (3.6) - 1.95

[ersotz]

The IE Tab 2 add-on download is working. I uninstalled IE Tab Plus and now am using IE Tab 2:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/92382/

[boersenfeger]

Go to the Website von IETAB Plus.
http://coralietab.mozdev.org/installation.html
You can grab a NEW clean Version.
Lastest release v1.96.20101021 (Clean version, NO Window Shopper plugin)

[Daifne]

IMHO, once they pull garbage like this, they have lost me for good. I use IE Tab 2 on all machines now. I was using IE Tab Plus on one machine until they did this. Fool me once...

[L.A.R. Grizzly]

IMHO, once they pull garbage like this, they have lost me for good. I use IE Tab 2 on all machines now. I was using IE Tab Plus on one machine until they did this. Fool me once...

Ditto, ditto, double ditto!

[USER101810]

One thing I have not seen discussed, Does AMO receive any monetary benefit from endorsing these questionable type extensions?
I would assume the author does, otherwise why bother, but how about AMO?
If not why put their reputation in doubt by approving (endorsing?) questionable extensions.

[patrickjdempsey]

Mozilla wants to diversify the developer environment by adding monetization. I think there are still plans for AMO to host actual for-pay (not just for-donation) addons.... but the first step is to allow developers to hook their addons into schemes like this one.

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

After having posted and gotten that reply, it seems that Mozilla is indeed starting to pander to the adware crowd now. This whole experience has been quite an eyeopener to me as it's shown that Firefox isn't as secure as I previously thought.

From what I've gathered, others that were less fortunate than me and didn't spot the BS when the extension updated, were at the very least saved by noScript. I'm going to email the makers of that extension and report this issue as well and recommend they develop some kind of warning system too which alerts users to the fact that they have a spyware bundeled extension installed. The reason for this is that Mozilla themselves obviously won't even lift a finger to even remove the shills that are constantly rating up the extensions, however they were pretty damned quick in removing some reviews that called out these fake reviewers, something I find to be very hilarious myself.

Also, please note that this is by no means the first adware that's hit Firefox through extensions. There a numerous so called "price comparisons" extensions which all send your URLs to other sites with the meek excuse that this is required in order to "help" you find better offers. Yeah right, next you'll tell me there's an extension that helps me find Nigerian royalty that need their money moved :/ If you don't believe me, check this out:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/13780/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9661/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12715/

I would recommend that everyone that dislikes this adware take the time to write a review describing your experiences with this new version of IE tab Plus and also take the time to review at least four of your other favourite extensions as well. Why? That way you make a legit statement against IE tab Plus and it's shady practices while simultaneously showing everyone that you're not an anti-shill either. (does that term even exist? Anti-shill? haha)

Anyway, I created a Reddit article of this as well to spread the word that FF extensions now can contain spyware, but so far it seems it's garnered little attention. Hopefully that'll change soon enough. Link:

http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comm ... xtensions/

I've really loved how far Firefox and it's extension community has gotten over the years. But now as Mozilla seems hell-bent on allowing spyware for it, that means that soon enough the adware crowd will infest it competely with their "full version" extension . And as I wrote before in the Mozilla addons forum, I won't stick around and wait for that to happen to me, because the main reason I left IE behind in the dust was that I spent more time clearing spyware off my computer than actually using it.

[windowz]

Sorry, forgot to login, but the above post was written by me

[rarig]

If AMO really starts promoting spyware (and an addon that sends information to a third party is the very definition of spyware), they are putting the entire future of Firefox at risk. If the addons become suspect, we don't have a chance.

[LoudNoise]

windowz-
I edited your post for language issues. faq.php?mode=rules#f4r1

[patrickjdempsey]

If AMO really starts promoting spyware (and an addon that sends information to a third party is the very definition of spyware), they are putting the entire future of Firefox at risk. If the addons become suspect, we don't have a chance.

By your fast and loose definition the business model that MOST of the internet runs on is "spyware". There have been and are other extensions that do similar data collection as SuperFish. The issue is not what SuperFish does, the issue is whether or not extensions that have absolutely ZERO to do with "shopping metrics" should bundle this kind of software into their product to make a quick buck. And that the maker of SuperFish is actually trolling AMO *seeking out* authors of popular extensions and offering this "service" right under Mozilla's nose is troubling as well.

[windowz]

LoudNoise, thanks for the edit, my apologies for missing that obvious rule. I would recommend however that you re-edit the post again as there is another "BS" at the top too. I would recommend you replace that with "deception" or something similar. I'll watch my language in the future.

[neurohax]

I'll be uninstalling any addons from those devs and actively ensuring people I work with do the same.

While you're in process of suggesting/uninstalling junk "add-ons", you might have a look at that notably troublesome Google Toolbar that you have installed.

I'm going to assume this was how you thought you could add something useful to the conversation and not just someone jumping at the chance to be an internet drama queen. Fail either way. Like I said, I love addons. I use Google toolbar regularly and figure it's worth the privacy trade off. I came to peace with the big G commanding my life choices when I got sick of fly by night and half-cocked solutions from 20 different vendors. That's one of about 30 addons I use. After the IE Tab Plus intrusion I decided to give Chrome a serious look. Lots of nice extensions, but unfortunately after about 10-15, I was just drifting along in waves crashed pages.

[patrickjdempsey]

I use Google toolbar regularly and figure it's worth the privacy trade off.

He wasn't talking about privacy issues, he was talking about the fact that we get people on here almost daily complaining about crashes, pages not loading, sluggish UI, memory issues (it goes on and on) that end up being fixed by removing Google Toolbar.

[malliz]

What GTryder means is Google toolbar in all it's various versions has been bug ridden. We answer a lot of support questions on the forum and unfortunately google toolbar comes along regularly as a problem causer. That is why it is on this list
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Problematic_extensions