Don’t Download the Wrong VLC!
I love VLC. It is one of the programs I install on all my systems, whether Windows, or Linux. BUT, some evil, nasty dewds are making the good name of VLC a “hook” to get you to download a modified mailware infested version! Grrrr!
VLC media player suffering in face of crapware and uncaring Google
“Ask any geek for a media player recommendation that runs on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and you’re guaranteed to hear VLC mentioned quite often. It’s free to download and use, includes support for just about any video format you’d want to watch, and has a dedicated team of developers behind it.
The problem is, while VLC is developed as a not-for-profit open source project, other companies are taking advantage of its popularity to distribute adware and spyware.
If you want to download VLC then the official versions are available at the VideoLan website–the organization composed of volunteers who develop the media player. However, if you do a search for VLC on the top two search engines: Google or Bing, a number of malicious links appear alongside the official VideoLan page.
These other links are put there by companies that want you to download their modified version of VLC that includes adware and spyware. They trade on the good name of VLC in order to infect your system and then start earning money from you and your machine.
The VideoLan team faces two major problems because of this: the first is their software being associated with malicious activity and being flagged by antivirus software as such, and the second being the search engines apparently not willing to do much about it.”
Even though the search engines have been informed about the bogus links, they aren’t removing them. Sigh! Watch out, out there!
Due to the repository system in Linux (which pre-dates Apple’s AppStore model by over a decade), this isn’t an issue for Linux users.
Excellent point!
Sad….can you believe that some people don’t trust me when I tell them about linux for the same reasons…windows viruses actually make people trust windows more! go figure…..
yes I’ve been drinking….but what I said is true!!!! if you are scared of windows viruses you end up trusting windows more because you want to “protect” the system. windows only seems more “secure” while programs like VLC end up seeming like “spyware” or whatever……so now windows gained the upper hand and VLC lost a few points. thanks for your excellent point author…you rock….k I will quit rambling.