[answered] Who are anvisoft?

cfr · 2013-09-08 20:36:43

Does anybody know if http://www.anvisoft.com/ is a legitimate company or not?

The reason I ask is because right after changing my mother's default search engine to ixquick.com/startpage.com, I found a bunch of stuff on the web claiming that startpage.com is some sort of trojan. For example, anvisoft claims that it is very dangerous (http://www.anvisoft.com/resources/how-t … -browsers/). I'm dubious about this both because of ixquick/startpage's reputation and because lots of what they claim sounds like scaremongering. (e.g. it is very dangerous to keep the domain startpage.com in your computer - whatever that means.) Moreover, all the search results I can find for anvisoft appear to be self-referential or just download sites. However, given that I just set this as somebody else's default and given that I also recommended this search as an alternative to google to a colleague concerned about the recent NSA revelations, I'd like to check if anybody knows anything about the malware claims. My suspicion is that these are either (1) malicious, or (2) a result of confusing a generic term for a family of trojans which hijack your start/search page and the proper name of startpage.com.

Last edited by cfr (2013-09-08 21:37:59)

2ManyDogs · 2013-09-08 21:09:29

I found this: https://support.startpage.com/index.php … s--malware

I use ixquick (related to startpage) and I don't plan to stop.

SilverOne · 2013-09-08 21:20:08

Hey,

take a look at the wot rating :
https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/anvi … =rw-viewsc

cfr · 2013-09-08 21:37:31

SilverOne wrote:

Hey,
take a look at the wot rating :
https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/anvi … =rw-viewsc

Very interesting indeed - thanks. Not sure how my searches missed this. I guess selling anti-malware products must be a pretty appealing option if you are a cracker...

ANOKNUSA · 2013-09-09 01:52:24

cfr wrote:

Very interesting indeed - thanks. Not sure how my searches missed this. I guess selling anti-malware products must be a pretty appealing option if you are a cracker...

Projects like WOT and StartPage, while totally awesome, often have the effect of bolstering the natural human impulse to seek convenience and easy answers over tangible improvement and fact. While they can be effective tools in keeping people informed, it's all too easy for people to see them as just another stamp of approval for secure browsing, rather than teach themselves reliable security practices. Redirecting one's online search path through these tools may make the path longer, but it's still the path of least resistance. So, no, it's not that surprising that a malware distributors would disguise themselves as ant-malware devs---the definitive trojan horse.

P.S.: I'm just speaking my mind here; I'm not passing judgment on your search skills.

cfr · 2013-09-09 02:11:44

How is the use of StartPage "the path of least resistance"? What exactly would "reliable security practices" put in its place? Unless reliable security practices entail not searching the web at all...

EDIT: Also, who said anything about redirecting search paths through WOT? I know this can be done but I wasn't aware anybody was recommending it here. [I actually do not trust WOT for those purposes at all.]

Last edited by cfr (2013-09-09 02:13:59)

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#1 2013-09-08 20:36:43

[answered] Who are anvisoft?

#2 2013-09-08 21:09:29

Re: [answered] Who are anvisoft?

#3 2013-09-08 21:20:08

Re: [answered] Who are anvisoft?

#4 2013-09-08 21:37:31

Re: [answered] Who are anvisoft?

#5 2013-09-09 01:52:24

Re: [answered] Who are anvisoft?

#6 2013-09-09 02:11:44

Re: [answered] Who are anvisoft?

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