Linux Format forums

towy71 · Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 11:47 am Post subject: weird cookies from this site

As I have been looking at the various pages here I am getting cookie requests from various .ru places
They look like

lok1950 · Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:10 pm Post subject: RE: weird cookies from this site

Been noticing the .ru in firefox's status bar for a couple of days now haven't checked the cookies though with all malware associated with .ru they do become problematic.

Enjoy the Choice Smile

Rhakios · Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject: RE: weird cookies from this site

Hmm, odd, I'm not getting anything like that in Konqueror. I have it set up to ask me about cookies and I don't see any .ru domains set to accept or reject and I have no such cookies stored. Confused

_________________
Bye, Rhakios

george84 · Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:43 pm Post subject: RE: weird cookies from this site

I am not technical. Running Firefox/Noscript.

Noscript is blocking "richtraffic.ru". No .ru cookies placed.

Is this an example of Noscript doing its job?

RedWillow · LXF regular Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 2:05 pm Posts: 716

Unticking "Accept third-party cookies" in firefox preferences stopped the blizzard of Russian cookies for me, but I've just experienced something more worrying. I left my computer (running Ubuntu 8.10) with firefox on this thread. I came back to it about 20 minutes later and firefox was displaying the auiofind DOT ru page instead. (I'm not posting a hyperlink.) I found my way back to the thread and it auto-forwarded to auiofind DOT ru again (and again). So I disabled JavaScript and it stopped autoforwarding. When I re-enabled JavaScript, it didn't autoforward anymore, but I found a cookie from auiofind (presumably from when it autoforwarded) in the cookie list.

Can anyone explain what's going on? This feels sinister.

(Note to self: remember not to visit this site while using Windows. Sad

)

Edit: I've just added '*.ru' as a filter in Adblock Plus and now not only do I get no "Waiting for... various Russian URLs" in the Firefox status bar, but the pages on this website now load faster. Smile

Rhakios

lok1950 · Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 6:54 pm Post subject:

Dutch_Master · LXF regular Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:49 am Posts: 2354

I too found the cookies and they bother me. The message to Future is plain and simple: remove all questionable cookies of non-UK sources (or at least block those from outside the EU, including Russia, Nigeria and other known scam-countries) and take more care on who you allow on your site as advertisers in the Future, or loose a subscriber. And probably more then just me.... Evil or Very Mad

Mind you, LXF is a great mag, but not the only one. Future is fishing in a small pond named Linux, I think you can figure out the rest.... Rolling Eyes

Rhakios · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 2:56 pm Post subject:

I've e-mailed Mike about it, but he's very likely enjoying a well-earned rest at the moment.
_________________
Bye, Rhakios

ethernet · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:56 pm Post subject:

A lot of these things seem to be out of the direct control of the LXF folk but rather come down to Future, whether it be the dodgy manhood drug adverts (two of them!) in the mag a while back or these cookies, or the Windows ads on the site. Don't mind too much as, like george84, am running NoScript.

george84 · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject:

NoScript..... as recommended by LXF! That's why I have it installed.

lok1950 · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:16 pm Post subject:

As george said NoScript. does the trick Very Happy

Enjoy the Choice Smile

Rhakios · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject:

Not really the point if they're not supposed to be there in the first place.

I've just set Opera to its most promiscuous mode and while I am picking up some cookies from .ru domains, they don't seem to be the same as the ones towy is getting. Hmm, just refreshed the page and got two more from other domains. Definitely something odd, they don't seem to be related to any other advertsing content I can see on the front page.
Also, I have emptied Opera of all cookies, then clicked on each ad to see what new cookies are being offered. It's only when loading pages from the LXF site itself that I pick up the .ru cookies, but oddly, not the blog page Confused

. I don't like it at all.
_________________
Bye, Rhakios

lok1950 · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject:

I would not be surprised if one of the sub-contractor's in the the ad chain got there server hacked as the behavior we are seeing fits.Would not want to work in that shop when the e-mails start to fly Wink

Enjoy the Choice Smile

kpmilburn · Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:21 pm Posts: 2

I find a good companion to NoScript is CookieSafe, it provides more fine grained control than the blanket accept or reject of cookies, or third party cookies..