The Attorney General of New York, Eliot Spitzer, has sued Direct Revenue, one of the most elusive and hated spyware and adware distributors. He charges the company with illegally installing spyware parasites and adware software that served unsolicited advertisements to users’ computers.
Spitzer said that Direct Revenue bundled spyware with free applications, browser add-ons, games and other downloads. The bundled parasites not only displayed annoying pop-up advertisements, but also tracked victims’ Internet activity and browsing habits.
The Attorney’s General’s office has information on several instances of drive-by downloads installing Direct Revenue spyware without user knowledge and consent. The office also documented 21 web sites that provided malicious software. It is known that Direct Revenue is responsible for pushing the infamous parasites such as Aurora and VX2.
Direct Revenue has already announced a rebuttal to the charges.
