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Is usenet just a malware minefield now?

D

dwell

pics?
First rule of usenet...

But seriously, what happened? It seems like the whole place is just 4k .exe files named to scam idiots into downloading viruses/malware. IIRC this was never the case before. Is the RIAA/MPAA/SPA turning it into a virus minefield or what?!?
 
I always just used a search site and got .nzb's of whatever I was looking for. Hard to get 4k .exe files that way when you are downloading sets of .rars
 
Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Who downloads programs there anyway? Sure it was cool back around 1999 to go to alt.binararies.pictures.tits.small.hairy.tasteless but now you have /b/ so whats the point? 😉

ps. I also loved alt.barney.die.die.die
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I applaud to the veracity of the above.


Plus usenet has been kicked by most ISPs now and torrent is still free.
 
Usenet is the haven of the intelligent, the graveyard of the idiot. Usenet is the most Darwinian facet of the internet. There are no training wheels and nobody suffers fools gladly. If you know what you're doing you can find just about anything quickly, efficiently and safely. If you're a moron you're doomed.
 
NZB's and a good host get you where you need to go. The only limitation for me is my ISP's 60GB cap 🙁
 
Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Usenet is the haven of the intelligent, the graveyard of the idiot. Usenet is the most Darwinian facet of the internet. There are no training wheels and nobody suffers fools gladly. If you know what you're doing you can find just about anything quickly, efficiently and safely. If you're a moron you're doomed.
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Assuming you are paying for a server with good retention and completion of course.
 
Originally posted by: Locut0s
Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Usenet is the haven of the intelligent, the graveyard of the idiot. Usenet is the most Darwinian facet of the internet. There are no training wheels and nobody suffers fools gladly. If you know what you're doing you can find just about anything quickly, efficiently and safely. If you're a moron you're doomed.
Click to expand...

Assuming you are paying for a server with good retention and completion of course.
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I went for years without a pay server. Before I switched away from OOL their usenet service was very very good. Only about a weeks retention in the binary groups, but completion was outstanding. With .pars I never needed a backup server.

Now that I'm on U-Verse I lost usenet entirely and turned to torrents instead. Still no trouble getting anything I need. If you're lucky with your ISP it's entirely possible to have a great usenet experience without paying for a premium service.
 
That's been going on for probably about a year. They post the same virus as a crack or keygen for every program out there. Not sure why the usenet companies don't delete that crap but it's easy enough to stay away from.
 
Originally posted by: MustISO
That's been going on for probably about a year. They post the same virus as a crack or keygen for every program out there. Not sure why the usenet companies don't delete that crap but it's easy enough to stay away from.
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The majority come from .de addresses and are tiny files, so it is easy to filter.
Usenet in years past was heavily policed by isp. Post a binary in a text group and you could lose your isp account.

Easynews used to be one of the better providers that filtered content out, but they were not cheap. Not sure what they do now.

 
There was some of that before, but it has definitely gotten worse. It seems like half the cracks I download have trojans embedded in them. The filenames are not as blatantly obvious as they were when it was just daily postings of Britney-Nude.scr.

Still, I have yet to get infected by anything from usenet in 10 years. I've had by far worse luck following links to shady image/file hosting sites, last year I was browser hijacked and infected twice, before I learned about using NoScript.
 
Usenet is way under the radar of the piratebays, napsters, etc of the world....and I love it. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Chris
First rule of usenet...

But seriously, what happened? It seems like the whole place is just 4k .exe files named to scam idiots into downloading viruses/malware. IIRC this was never the case before. Is the RIAA/MPAA/SPA turning it into a virus minefield or what?!?
Click to expand...

welcome to at least a decade ago.
 
Originally posted by: Chris
First rule of usenet...

But seriously, what happened? It seems like the whole place is just 4k .exe files named to scam idiots into downloading viruses/malware. IIRC this was never the case before. Is the RIAA/MPAA/SPA turning it into a virus minefield or what?!?
Click to expand...

Only the stupid fall for all those small .exe viruses.
 
Originally posted by: coloumb
Usenet is way under the radar of the piratebays, napsters, etc of the world....and I love it. 🙂
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Not anymore really. Link

That company was pretty stupid what they did though. What did they think would happen lol ?
 
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