Beef Row
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 471
Registered: 12-28-2005
IP: Logged

I use a browser plugin by McAfee called SiteAdvisor. It reports to you based on whether sites have issues like browser security breaches, spyware downloads, malicious code, tendency to send spam, and linkage to sites that have the above problems. This is detemined by automated tests, plus user feedback, and also allows the sites owner to make a comment.

Generally this program is quite good at warning you away from troublesome sites, while marking safe ones. However it is overzealous about sites with mass downloads from users or independant vendors. Plimus.com, the site that handles billing for Caravel, has been marked as red (risky) because it also sells a keylogger program (Net Spy Pro) which is available for download on the site.

So now, because caravelgames.com links to Plimus, it has also been categorized as risky. Links to the relavant pages are below.

Caravelgames page on SiteAdvisor
Plimus page on site advisor

It might be worthwhile to leave an owners comment. Also, its easy enough to register and leave user comments vouching for Caravel's integrity. This category change is recent, by the way... until a few days ago, both Caravel and Plimus were labeled green (safe).

____________________________
"Now I will repeatedly apply the happy-face rule"

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
IP: Logged

I have registered and written a review. If you write a review, you might also want to vote the other reviews as helpful (assuming, of course, you agree with their contents). This will make them more likely to affect the rating.

____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1129
Registered: 06-10-2004
IP: Logged

eytanz wrote:
I have registered and written a review. If you write a review, you might also want to vote the other reviews as helpful (assuming, of course, you agree with their contents). This will make them more likely to affect the rating.

I also reviewed the site. I can't find a link to NetSpy Pro on the Plimus site either.

____________________________
Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Beef Row
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 471
Registered: 12-28-2005
IP: Logged

Pinnacle wrote:

eytanz wrote:
I have registered and written a review. If you write a review, you might also want to vote the other reviews as helpful (assuming, of course, you agree with their contents). This will make them more likely to affect the rating.

I also reviewed the site. I can't find a link to NetSpy Pro on the Plimus site either.

Honestly, neither can I. Maybe they stopped selling it. But, if you do a search on Plimus for 'spy' you find a fair number of other keyloggers though, so I wouldn't be suprised if they sold it at some point.

These are definitely a family of programs open to abuse, but not a spyware threat to people visiting the site. Rather its something that allows THEM to monitor a computer, for legitimate or illegitimage purposes. So still, the red status for Plimus is misplaced.

____________________________
"Now I will repeatedly apply the happy-face rule"

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
IP: Logged

If you go to siteadvisor's page for Plimus, you can see the owner of the Plimus website claiming that they removed the offending program.

Also, if you look at Siteadvisor's policies, than you see that they explictly mention that keyloggers that are advertised as such are not considered a threat by them. I'm assuming the problem with this one program is that it must have had some spyware installed in it in addition to being an overt keylogger.


____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 2708
Registered: 02-05-2003
IP: Logged

Erik - now that you're back, you might want to post a site owner message.

____________________________
I got my avatar back! Yay!