Security Alert: Redirect of web traffic to Marketscore lifted (5/10/05)
Effective Wednesday, May 11, 2005, Cornell Information Technologies will stop redirecting campus computers bound for marketscore.com sites to a Cornell web page warning of the threat posed by Marketscore.
Marketscore is a Windows application that claims to speed up Internet access. Once installed, Marketscore reroutes the computer's web traffic -- even secure transactions -- through its own servers, so that the traffic can be analyzed for marketing purposes.
From Oct. 2004 through early May 2005, the IT Security Office had taken measures to prevent Marketscore from gathering web traffic details from campus computers. Initially, connections to Marketscore sites were blocked. Later on, connections were redirected to a Cornell page warning about this threat.
We are now removing all restrictions on access to the Marketscore sites because:
1) The community now has greater awareness of the risks involved with Marketscore.
2) Since the beginning of the spring semester, CIT's Contact Center has been supporting two anti-spyware software packages, Spybot S&D and AdAware SE Personal, that can detect the Marketscore software and remove it. Moreover, a new version of Symantec AntiVirus, to be distributed with this June's release of Bear Access, will include real-time protection against spyware, as well as the ability to detect and uninstall it.
3) Recently, there have been numerous changes to the Internet addresses used by Marketscore. Each time this happens, CIT needs to adjust the list of addresses being redirected, and in the meanwhile people are being incorrectly directed to our warning page (especially via banner ads embedded in a legitimate web page).
Please continue to exercise extreme caution about installing software that collects data about your online activity. Such software can put both valuable personal information and institutional data at risk. Of course, if you are on departmental network, you should consult with your local technical support personnel before installing any new software on your computer.
- Most recent previous communication about Marketscore:
- http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/security/alerts/marketscore-jan05.html
- More detailed description and analysis of this threat:
- http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/security/alerts/marketscore-oct04.html
- About spyware and the detection and removal tools supported by CIT:
- http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/security/spyware/
Additional information about Cornell's experience with Marketscore is provided in two papers:
- White paper: Blocking Marketscore: Why Cornell Did It, 3/31/2005
- Technical document: An Analysis of the New Marketscore Proxy, 3/31/2005
Thank you for your attention to this message. We hope it has proven useful.
Cornell Information Technologies
IT Security Office
If you need help and don't have access to local technical support personnel for assistance, please contact the CIT Contact Center (HelpDesk) by calling 255-8990, by sending e-mail to helpdesk@cornell.edu, or by visiting 119 CCC. The Contact Center is open Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with extended phone hours Monday-Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. during the academic year. If the Contact Center is closed and your problem is urgent, contact the Network Operations Center at 255-9900.
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Last modified: June 04, 2007