Stealth P2P network hides inside Kazaa
Posted on 02/04/02 13:58 by Jan Willem                             
Stealth P2P network hides inside Kazaa

fb- used our newssubmit to tell us that just when you might think you got rid of all the spy and adware in KaZaA, another newsposting on Yahoo pops up.

According to Yahoo reports, KaZaA also installs software that is able to use your computing power and storage space on your computer and/or bandwidth. The power and space would be used for the benefits of a company called Brilliant Digital Entertaiment.


The Brilliant network is based on a piece of software called "Altnet Secureinstall," which is bundled with the Kazaa software. That technology can connect to other peer-to-peer networks, ad servers or file servers independently of the Kazaa software and can be automatically updated to add new features, according to Brilliant's filing.

When the software is "turned on," computers running the Brilliant software will form a new peer-to-peer network separate from but connected to Kazaa, the filing said. A few computers with fast connections will form the early core of the network and be asked to join first. Other ordinary computers and Net connections will be invited later, Bermeister said.

Brilliant's software will be able to understand and respond to searches inside Kazaa, since it is based on the same technology. But if it is successful, Brilliant will be able to host content and run "distributed computing" applications over the new network that is entirely separate from Kazaa or other file-swapping networks based on the same technology.


According to KaZaA the software will only work when you agreed to, but if you take a look at the terms of service you will find out that when you have accepted it, you also accepted to use the software of Brilliant.

fb- adds that maybe the wonderful folks at http://www.refosearch.tk/, that make KaZaA Lite, have already removed this.

Source: Yahoo.com

Reactions
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By Guest, Tuesday 02 April 2002 14:36
Had it on my system. Here's how to remove it. These files are scattered around your drive, often in c:bde, c:, c:winntbde, c:windowsbde and c:windowssystem32 Files bde3d_ref2.dll bde3d_refk7.dll bde3d_refp3.dll bde3d_refp4.dll bdeengine2.dll bdeinstall.exe bdeplayer2.dll bdeimage.dll bderastdx6_30002.dll bderastmmx_30001.dll bdesac10.dll bdesac24.dll bdesacs48.dll dopat30n.dll npbdplay2.dll Then carefully search your registry for: "Brilliant Digital Entertainment" "c:bde" "bde" "b3d"
By Guest, Tuesday 02 April 2002 14:49
More details on the "p2p" network. Brilliant Digital Entertainment appears to be part of our friends at Double Click. This "p2p" network is designed to serve ads throught sites and to others so that the ads can't be blocked by host files or other means.
By Guest, Tuesday 02 April 2002 16:05
this is go gay man, i hate this shit, i was infected too i hope i cleaned it well enough
By TBZ, Tuesday 02 April 2002 16:06
TBZI have kazaa lite and don't seem to have any of those files. Smilie
By Alien_X, Tuesday 02 April 2002 19:31
luckily grokster doesnt include any of that crap Smilie
By Wiccabilly, Tuesday 02 April 2002 21:49
Hey, OpenFT guys... I beg of you, PLEASE hurry. This is getting out of hand and we desperately need an open source solution to avoid this B$.
By Guest, Tuesday 02 April 2002 23:43
No wonder I was getting hits in my firwall from Korea and points elsewhere that had no business connecting. Thanks for the info!
By Everitt, Wednesday 03 April 2002 01:26
ahh i found Brilliant Digital Entertainment on my computer and i have kazaa lite!!!! but i only have some of the files listed above kazaa lite didn't get them all!
By Guest, Wednesday 03 April 2002 13:50
actually those filed are supposed to be there.. they're fake files designed to keep kazaa happy Wink
By Guest, Wednesday 03 April 2002 14:50
am i the only one quitting Kazaa for other filesharing communities ? I go for Direct connection :8
By ploegercr, Wednesday 03 April 2002 16:17
ploegercri never used kazaa. Even the lite version i don't like. I use for music Audio Galaxy and for movies i use Edonkey2k. (there are some websites with a direct link for a movie in edonkey, which is better than searching in edonkey2k Smilie.
By Guest, Thursday 04 April 2002 11:32
How to uninstall Brilliant Digital's software Wed Apr 3,10:30 PM ET John Borland CNET News.com Executives from Brilliant Digital and Kazaa's parent company say people can uninstall the Brilliant Digital or Altnet software from their computers without interfering with the Kazaa program itself. This is true, but it's not an easy process. These three steps will remove most traces of the Brilliant Digital software from most machines. CNET News.com did it using a computer running Windows 2000 (news - web sites), but the same process should work for other Windows operating systems. Please be aware, however, that these instructions represent just one uninstall method and may not be suitable for all machines and software configurations. CNET Networks assumes no liability in publishing these instructions, which people may choose to follow at their own risk. As always, it's a good idea to make a backup of any critical files before proceeding. 1. In the Windows Control Panel, select an option called "Add/Remove Programs." One of the options will be "b3d Projector." Highlight this and click the "Change/Remove" button. You may get a message that the uninstall has been successful. Search your computer for a "BDE" folder, which most likely will be found in the "WinNT" or "Windows" directory. In this folder will be a file called "bdeclean.exe". Run this to finish the first part of the process. Delete the BDE folder. Caution: An unrelated piece of software called Borland Database Engine also creates a BDE directory. If you think you may have this software installed, or if there is any confusion whatsoever, do not delete this directory. 2. In the "Temp" directory (this will normally be found inside the "Windows" or "WinNT" directory) is a folder called "Brilliant." This contains many files. Delete the entire folder. 3. After performing steps 1 and 2, you will need to locate and remove some additional Brilliant Digital files that have been placed in critical system-level computer directories. CAUTION: Deleting the wrong files could interfere with the normal functioning of your computer. These files will most likely be in the "WindowsSystem" or "WinNTSystem32" folder: bdedownloader.dll bdedata2.dll bdefdi.dll bdeinsta2.dll bdeinstall.exe bdesecureinstall.cab bdesecureinstall.exe bdeverify.exe bdeverify.dll Delete these files.
By Guest, Thursday 04 April 2002 16:11
I made the mistake of installing Kazaa on my system. I thought I could install the use a spyware removal programme to delete the and then use it without all the shit. Ah! Kazza wouldnt run without all it's associated spyware crap so got rid of it and all its trappings. I have been using audiogalaxy however can't log on at the present time does anyone know what has happened to it. I never see it mentioned in these pages but I have found it useful.
By Guest, Tuesday 16 April 2002 09:48
Ohh my god ! ONLINE GAMERS NOTE !!!! I used to get quite good ping times when playing Halflife TFC and Counterstrike online. I noticed alot of jumpiness, and lagging, becoming impossible to play, and ALSO I noticed my internet PC icon (in windows taskbar) flashing all the time even though I wasnt requesting or using my internet connection! I have done alot of research on why this is so, and behold, MY PC IS SERVING UP advertising to other internet users, This co-incided with the activation of the STEALTH P2P portion of Kazaa... NET GAMERS BEWARE... use any means of spyware eradication! Smilie hope this helps !
By Guest, Friday 19 April 2002 22:42
TERMS OF USE: (b) You hereby grant BDE the right to access and use the unused computing power and storage space on your computer/s and/or internet access or bandwidth for the aggregation of content and use in distributed computing. The user acknowledges and authorizes this use without the right of compensation. Notwithstanding the above, in the event usage of your computer is initiated by a party other than you, BDE will grant you the ability to deny access.
By Guest, Monday 22 April 2002 01:54
fly don't run to www.lavasoft.de and down load the current version of ad-aware. It will remove all reg keys and files for BDE and B3D. It found over 200 on my machine alone. It does leave some empty folders. :7 hope this also helps!
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