[SPYWARE] Maxthon - web browser

[webfork]

I'm annoyed by this statement (paraphrasing):

If you want the fastest-starting, quickest page-loading ... web browser in the world ... [and] don’t want to mess with complicated features like ad blockers...

Ad blockers can dramatically speed up your connection, especially against annoying video, flash, and big graphics/animations. For many webpages, the ads are the biggest thing on the page.

Also, I think the suggestion that all users care about is speed is true but not the whole picture. There are a number of manufactures that make phones cheaper and faster than Apple, but it's the interface and features can sell the phone. In the browser space, Firefox took the speed crown from both Chrome and IE many moons ago but doesn't appear to have drastically impacted their usershare.

Amusingly, the first comment to the post about Nitro back in January was asking for an adblock plugin to which Maxthon said "coming soon!"
http://www.maxthon.com/blog/the-latest- ... available/

Anyway, interesting stuff either way. Thanks Midas.

[webfork]

Edit: Haller already noted this in another thread.

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PAFuser noted this first in the entry comments but multiple sites are reporting on Maxthon's privacy issues.

I'll go ahead and add a cautionary note to the entry. As the Softpedia article notes, this has happened a lot. Joby's comment earlier in the thread echos even louder about Chinese development sources.

For me, this underscores importance of an transparent browser development process via open licenses or some independent verification. Barring some total reversal by the security researchers involved, I won't go near this browser ever again.

[Specular]

Edit: Haller already noted this in another thread.

For those coming here from the database link and who haven't seen the database entry comments as of this date or read the linked thread, it's worth noting this is pretty severe according to the security researchers.

All web history and installed software on a user's machine is reportedly sent to Maxthon's servers in China without any notice or consent. It is spyware behavior.

[Midas]

All web history and installed software on a user's machine is reportedly sent to Maxthon's servers in China without any notice or consent. It is spyware behavior.

• Given the track record of indiscriminate attacks on civil liberties, I think the concern is real and the classification justified. Without even going into the so-called Big Firewal of China and its repressive use, here's another marginally related piece of news to illustrate the magnitude of the issue:
  
  • Chinese government manipulates social media with nearly half a billion fake posts per year
    http://betanews.com/2016/05/20/china-fa ... dia-posts/

[Specular]

Given the track record of indiscriminate attacks on civil liberties, I think the concern is real and the classification justified. Without even going into the so-called Big Firewal of China and its repressive use, here's another marginally related piece of news to illustrate the magnitude of the issue:

Chinese government manipulates social media with nearly half a billion fake posts per year
http://betanews.com/2016/05/20/china-fa ... dia-posts/

Analysis of 43,000 posts suggested that an incredible 99.3 percent of them originated from government employees.... The report's authors estimate that 488 million posts every year are the work of a coordinated government operation.

*Whistles* Incredible.

[webfork]

Chinese government manipulates social media with nearly half a billion fake posts per year

It's not just China, although maybe they're the most active.

http://www.npr.org/2015/06/04/412046928 ... e-internet
http://www.computerworld.com/article/24 ... ganda.html

We should expect most state actors to be doing this going forward. It's a new variant on an old problem. I know there are better historical examples out there, but I recall a documentary on the US involvement on the side of the Allies vs. Central powers was not a foregone conclusion, unlike WWII. A lot of that had to do with the media at the time (and a ship sinking). Now governments can bypass media outlets entirely and speak directly to people in multiple countries? Who *wouldn't* try to keep a handle on that?

Sadly, it makes any honest political discourse in these areas seem impossible and may smudge what could otherwise be a positive dialog by the citizens of many nations.

[smaragdus]

It seems that here where I live this has become an industry- I am sure there is an army of paid trolls obviously hired by political parties (same posts by same trolls in different media). This has also become common in the software world- paid, false reviews are overabundant nowadays.

[Midas]

It's not just China, although maybe they're the most active.

• I agree wholeheartedly. I only singled China here because it was directly relevant to the topic...
  
  Sadly, the "information wants to be free" meme has lately morphed into "all your information are belong to us".

[Specular]

Btw if people want to hide the DB entry they can downvote it. I just did. Thanks to Andrew Lee for the tip.

[webfork]

Btw if people want to hide the DB entry they can downvote it. I just did. Thanks to Andrew Lee for the tip.

Thanks for doing that. The entry is no longer public.

[smaragdus]

I read about a simple solution how to prevent Maxthon browser from sending user data to Maxthon servers- go to Addons and delete Ueip folder which contains MxUeip.dll. However I do not know whether this is an adequate and permanent way to stop Maxthon sending data- perhaps the DLL might be re-downloaded without user consent and knowledge.

source - see the comments section.