• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Cisco Umbrella

Enterprise network security

  • Contact Sales
  • Login
    • Umbrella Login
    • Cloudlock Login
  • Why Us
    • Why Cisco Umbrella
      • Why Try Umbrella
      • Why DNS Security
      • Why Umbrella SASE
      • Our Customers
      • Customer Stories
      • Why Cisco Secure
    • Fast Reliable Cloud
      • Global Cloud Architecture
      • Cloud Network Status
      • Global Cloud Network Activity
    • Unmatched Intelligence
      • A New Approach to Cybersecurity
      • Interactive Intelligence
      • Cyber Attack Prevention
      • Umbrella and Cisco Talos Threat Intelligence
    • Extensive Integrations
      • IT Security Integrations
      • Hardware Integrations
      • Meraki Integration
      • Cisco Umbrella and SecureX
  • Products
    • Cisco Umbrella Products
      • Cisco Umbrella Cloud Security Service
      • Recursive DNS Services
      • Cisco Umbrella SIG
      • Umbrella Investigate
      • What’s New
    • Product Packages
      • Cisco Umbrella Package Comparison
      • – DNS Security Essentials Package
      • – DNS Security Advantage Package
      • – SIG Essentials Package
      • – SIG Advantage Package
      • Umbrella Support Packages
    • Functionality
      • DNS-Layer Security
      • Secure Web Gateway
      • Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
      • Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
      • Cloud-Delivered Firewall
      • Cloud Malware Protection
      • Remote Browser Isolation (RBI)
    • Man on a laptop with headphones on. He is attending a Cisco Umbrella Live Demo
  • Solutions
    • SASE & SSE Solutions
      • Cisco Umbrella SASE
      • Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
      • What is SASE
      • What is Security Service Edge (SSE)
    • Functionality Solutions
      • Web Content Filtering
      • Secure Direct Internet Access
      • Shadow IT Discovery & App Blocking
      • Fast Incident Response
      • Unified Threat Management
      • Protect Mobile Users
      • Securing Remote and Roaming Users
    • Network Solutions
      • Guest Wi-Fi Security
      • SD-WAN Security
      • Off-Network Endpoint Security
    • Industry Solutions
      • Government and Public Sector Cybersecurity
      • Financial Services Security
      • Cybersecurity for Manufacturing
      • Higher Education Security
      • K-12 Schools Security
      • Healthcare, Retail and Hospitality Security
      • Enterprise Cloud Security
      • Small Business Cybersecurity
  • Resources
    • Content Library
      • Top Resources
      • Cybersecurity Webinars
      • Events
      • Research Reports
      • Case Studies
      • Videos
      • Datasheets
      • eBooks
      • Solution Briefs
    • International Documents
      • Deutsch/German
      • Español/Spanish
      • Français/French
      • Italiano/Italian
      • 日本語/Japanese
    • Security Definitions
      • What is Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
      • What is Security Service Edge (SSE)
      • What is a Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
      • Cyber Threat Categories and Definitions
    • For Customers
      • Support
      • Customer Success Webinars
      • Cisco Umbrella Studio
  • Trends & Threats
    • Market Trends
      • Hybrid Workforce
      • Rise of Remote Workers
      • Secure Internet Gateway (SIG)
    • Security Threats
      • How to Stop Phishing Attacks
      • Malware Detection and Protection
      • Ransomware is on the Rise
      • Cryptomining Malware Protection
      • Cybersecurity Threat Landscape
      • Global Cyber Threat Intelligence
    •  
    • Woman connecting confidently to any device anywhere
  • Partners
    • Channel Partners
      • Partner Program
      • Become a Partner
    • Service Providers
      • Secure Connectivity
      • Managed Security for MSSPs
      • Managed IT for MSPs
    •  
    • Person looking down at laptop. They are connecting and working securely
  • Blog
    • News & Product Posts
      • Latest Posts
      • Products & Services
      • Customer Focus
      • Feature Spotlight
    • Cybersecurity Posts
      • Security
      • Threats
      • Cybersecurity Threat Spotlight
      • Research
    •  
    • Register for a webinar - with illustration of connecting securely to the cloud
  • Contact Us
  • Umbrella Login
  • Cloudlock Login
  • Free Trial
Spotlight

Why do we pay Internet Bad Guys?

Author avatar of David UlevitchDavid Ulevitch
Updated — April 8, 2020 • 3 minute read
View blog >

Courtesy of Matt Marshall, I was asked to contribute an article to VentureBeat. You can read my article, “Why do we pay Internet Bad Guys?,” in its entirety over there or below. Matt has some really great stuff on VentureBeat, so go check it out!


David Ulevitch, OpenDNS CEO

Two weeks ago Auren wrote a dead-on post about the Black Hat Tax that really struck a chord with me. I’ve been paying the Tax for five years with my first company, EveryDNS, and for a few months now with my current start-up, OpenDNS. The problem has become much worse in the last few years. Why? Simply put, bad guys are getting paid. Moreover, the Tax is on users as much as its on businesses. Today we see phishing sites, malware and spyware sites growing at an astounding rate.

Consider the example I cite often when discussing the issue with friends: goggle.com (see image below; not providing a link, bad site), the site that might be the most insidious of all typo squatting and malware sites on the Internet. Goggle.com, an obvious typo of google.com, offers an anti-spyware product called SpyBouncer in addition to being filled with pop-up ads (nb: SpyBouncer claims the copyright on the bottom of goggle.com). The website makes a user believe that their computer is currently infected with spyware and that installing SpyBouncer will get rid of it. They say it’s free to try and the program conveniently finds spyware which it will remove for a price, of course.

Symantec and others all claim that this product is a total scam and that it neither detects nor repairs spyware with any accuracy. Thanks to the accidental traffic that lands on goggle.com by unsuspecting users, SpyBouncer has no incentive to make a good product, they can just fool a new batch of users everyday.

Thumbnail of goggle.com screenshot, a bad site. Click through for larger image.

Why does a site like goggle.com exist? Because crime pays, but that’s hardly news. Why it doesn’t get shut down by its webhost (DataPipe) is a good question for another time. What I do want to know is… why is SpyBouncer allowed to run Google ads on its Web site (as they do on the top)? Why are these kinds of abusive software programs allowed to purchase AdWords campaigns luring even more users into this trap? Why is Revenue.net paying SpyBouncer to show ads on goggle.com? Why is Google accepting money from fraudulent advertisers which continues the cycle of malware and spyware? This is why users react so negatively to online advertising. It’s not the relevant and unoffensive advertising that they bemoan, it’s the scams and tricks the advertisers and advertising networks spread around the seedier neighborhoods of the Internet.

These kinds of abuse are pretty bad, but what bothers me more is that much of it is being facilitated by companies I respect and admire. People like Ben Edelman have done a lot of research showing the connections between companies like Yahoo and fraudulent advertising practices but that’s not enough. There are so many layers and levels of misdirection that it becomes hard to tell who is paying who and why. As the CEO of a company operating on the Internet, I’m spending money dealing with Internet bad guys who are getting paid to annoy me, my employees and my users. Everyone is wasting their time dealing with this crap while the folks in the money trail keep taking their cut and passing on the buck. When I asked my users what they thought about goggle.com I saw a nearly unanimous response of outrage and frustration. Hundreds of users spoke out on our corporate blog and on sites like Digg.com venting at the absurdity of a site like goggle.com.

It’s time that ad networks cleaned up their act and started being more transparent about fraud and abuse. It’s time security companies started fighting the causes of network abuse and not simply the symptoms. There will always be a Black Hat Tax but right now legitimate companies are making it more expensive. That has to stop.

Suggested Blogs

  • Hitachi’s SASE: How Umbrella & Duo Delivered Identity and Security December 13, 2022 2 minute read
  • Why Using DNS for Protection Should Be Your First Line of Defense September 1, 2022 2 minute read
  • New Security for a World Where Everyone and Everything Are Connecting August 30, 2022 3 minute read

Share this blog

FacebookTweetLinkedIn

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Footer Sections

What we make

  • Cloud Security Service
  • DNS-Layer Network Security
  • Secure Web Gateway
  • Security Packages

Who we are

  • Global Cloud Architecture
  • Cloud Network Status
  • Cloud Network Activity
  • OpenDNS is now Umbrella
  • Cisco Umbrella Blog

Learn more

  • Webinars
  • Careers
  • Support
  • Cisco Umbrella Live Demo
  • Contact Sales
Umbrella by Cisco
208.67.222.222+208.67.220.220
2620:119:35::35+2620:119:53::53
Sign up for a Free Trial
  • Cisco Online Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Sitemap

© 2023 Cisco Umbrella