Spying on Users...

June 2008

Digital rights groups hit ISP ad firm for spying on users. A targeted advertising vendor being used by several U.S. broadband providers hijacks browsers, spies on users and employs man-in-the-middle attacks, according to a report released Thursday by two advocacy groups. NebuAd Inc., a behavioral advertising vendor being used by Charter Communications Inc., WideOpenWest Holdings LLC and other Internet service providers, also uses packet forgery, modifies the content of TCP/IP packets and loads subscribers’ computers with unwanted cookies, according to the report by Public Knowledge and Free Press, two Washington-based organizations focused on digital rights. “NebuAd exploits several forms of ‘attack’ on users’ and applications’ security,” the chief technology consultant for the two groups. “These practices – committed upon users with the paid-for cooperation of ISPs – violate several fundamental expectations of Internet privacy, security and standards-based interoperability.” NebuAd violates Internet Engineering Task Force standards that “created today’s Internet, where the network operators transmit packets between end users without inspecting or interfering with them,” he said.