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Blog Asianet(ISP) injecting javascript code(ads) in every webpage requested by the customer

Asianet(ISP) injecting javascript code(ads) in every webpage requested by the customer


Update: Asianet(ISP) now showing Interstitial ads (intad.pag2p.co) along with their javascript injection.

 
Some of you out there, using Asianet, might have noticed that an ad is shown on the right side of each webpage you pull from the internet.

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What i am seeing is an ad that is generated by the javascript, but i am deeply concerned about the other activities it might be doing. The javascript can take(hack) any data we type in a website( the username and password that we type in, to enter into a website can easily be hacked). This a cyber crime and a major security breach.

Unauthorized access & Hacking:-

Access means gaining entry into, instructing or communicating with the logical, arithmetical, or memory function resources of a computer, computer system or computer network.

Unauthorized access would therefore mean any kind of access without the permission of either the rightful owner or the person in charge of a computer, computer system or computer network.

Here asianet is injecting a javascript code into a website without the permission of the website owner and that’s against law.

This is the piece of code they are inserting

I have informed the authorities about this, i don’t know whether they will take take any action against it or not.

Anyway here’s a small tip on how to prevent the ad from appearing on the webpages.
In windows:
Edit the file C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
and add the following line at the bottom of the file –
127.0.0.1 streamride.net ui.streamride.net

In Linux:
Edit the file
/etc/hosts
and add the same line to bottom of the file.
127.0.0.1 streamride.net ui.streamride.net
Now clear your browser cache or just shift+refresh a page.

Hoping for the authorities to take an action.

 

All those who are facing this, it will be helpfull if you please comment below. Thanks! 

51 thoughts on “Asianet(ISP) injecting javascript code(ads) in every webpage requested by the customer”

  1. hey dipin.. i cant edit that line into C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc hosts. I am the administrator of that pc and its showing “Access to C:\\..hosts is denied”. Can you help me? I tried using notepad and wordpad for editing

  2. Hey hi, this is Saikrishna, I happened to stop by this blog when I surfing about wifi advertising. We are working on a project which provides free internet and the user has to go through some ads.

    It would be great if you guys can help me understand what kind of free internet services, or how the user experience has to be designed in terms of advertisement… such that it will disappoint or frustrate the user.

    If you guys think my questions are too vague, I can come up with a short survey. I am reachable at saikrishna@windowsquare.com

  3. I am facing the same problems! Used the hots blocking method and it worked but some websites became slow after that like Hotmail etc!
    🙁

  4. Alright, I did a bit more digging into this. I was wrong about DNS hijacking – they’re not doing that. Instead, like Augy mentioned above, they’re using a proxy. In this case, a transparent squid proxy server which occasionally direct you to a landing ad page before sending you to the address typed.

    It also seems like they’re only messing with http traffic. By the nature of it, it’s not easy to tamper with https. Other protocols work fine.

    I’m working around this for now by using a private VPN. Those requests go directly from the client PC to the VPN server, then go out to the internet and Asianet can’t mess with those pages. The only downsides are that sites think you’re in a different location, and that it uses the upload bandwidth of my other internet connection. But since Asianet’s “moderate to high” download speeds are still below the upload speeds of my connection on the other end, it works well for now.

  5. Hi Akash,
    If you are in trivandrum, you can approach Cybercell or Hitech cell located in Vazhuthacaud.
    Since i had contacted them,and was of no use, What i would prefer you to do is to file a complaint at consumer court.

  6. I have the same problem. I’m visiting my (aged) parents in Trivandrum and was appalled at how bad the internet service was around here, and on top of that was extremely ticked off to see that the service that they PAY for does DNS hijacking and ad injection.

    Did anyone else notice that occasionally when you type in a URL, you get redirected to an ad site (something called “flipkart” shows up for me) then it immediately redirects to the site that you asked for?

    To check whether this has happened to you, type in “intad” in your browser bar. The ad site is intad.pag2p.co and I think Asianet is hijacking our DNS queries, then redirect us to this site (with our original site’s URL in the QUERY STRING for crying out loud – this means the ad site can know and track all the sites we visit), then after a few seconds – maybe enough to get them the ad revenue – redirect us to the actual site we wanted.

    I’m not sure whether complaining to the actual ad site would help… I’m pretty sure that this is highly illegal even for ad sites. If Google knows someone is milking ad revenue off them without serving legitimate ads, they’d ban the client. But I don’t know if pag2p.co is a legit site.

    My poor parents aren’t tech savvy and don’t know anything about any of this. Can anyone recommend an always-on (no login required), reasonably priced cable broadband provider in Trivandrum? I’m willing to pay more to get similar speeds if the connection is reliable, has a bit more download speeds and has a reasonable usage limit (25 GB/month or so). Are Tata Indicom or Reliance any better?

    I’m tired of troubleshooting these problems from afar and couldn’t believe how bad this was when I actually saw things in action.

  7. Dipin,

    I spoke to the Asianet folks and they say they are inserting ads based on company policy [sic].

    You have said that you have informed the authorities — can you give me more details? I also want to complain, but I have no idea whom to approach.

    Regards,
    Akash.

  8. I am seeing this since yesterday. What more, the connection is terribley slow now and obviously the proxy used is the problem.

    Some very reliable indian sites are getting timed out as well, error message says”
    The remote host or network may be down. Please try the request again.Your cache administrator is webmaster@streamride.net.”

    That itself says it. I guess the solution is to complain first and if they don;t stop, find a better ISP.

  9. I used the trick explained here on the etc/host and the ads do not show up. But the problem is that the code is not removed. Just that the ad does not load.

    And how many people know how to do this trick explained here except those who are experts.

    Ads are not irritating. Infact the ads make a curious visitor to click on them. This is a great invention by who ever is doing it. I initially kept wondering how is this ad loading when I never coded it in to my website matsclock.com

    Let us hope the culprit is caught and made to pay all his profits for this crime.

  10. I’m one of the developers of Netalyzr ( http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/ ), a network testing tool, and I found this page because we noticed the Streamride injected script in a user’s session.

    If people affected could contact me at nweaver@gmail.com I’d appreciate it, we’d like to get some more insight into this and more data concerning this behavior.

  11. Yes, you are right of course.
    But at least I will not see my websites hacked and/or worse used to address my visitors to other websites.
    In any case, do not underestimate the viral power of the ‘word-of-mouth’ on the web.. especially in front of illegal abuses like this one.

  12. …and, of course, to remove the itself..

    $(document).ready(function(){
    jQuery(“#sTREAMrIDE”).remove();
    jQuery(‘script[src*=”http://ui.streamride.net/newer/ui.min.js”]’).remove();
    });

    ..as soon as possible I’ll contact the lawyer to analyse this issue and, in case, start the legal action.

  13. ..by the way, where is the difference between hackers intruding into a company website and the same company intruding into your thousand of browsers and/or your website?
    I am definitely writing to Google: let’s see whether they like to pay for a computer fraud or not.

  14. ..well? ..what are we waiting for a lavish class action? I do not think the guys who are paying for this cheat are so happy. I am talking about Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc., who pay for every click coming from “real” ads.
    Now somebody has found the way to make big and easy and dishonest money using your websites and your browser.

    Anyway, other than stop your computer from visualizing this unsolicited and crooked ads (through system32.., you can just add into your possible website a short jQuery statement:

    $(document).ready(function(){
    $(“sTREAMrIDE”).remove();
    });

  15. Hi,

    No, We can’t do anything to prevent the script from getting inserting into the source. Its done by the ISPs, they should stop doing it. What we can do is, nullify the effect of the script, and that’s what we have done now. And, you should complain about this to your ISP.
    Which is your ISP?

  16. you are right Dipin, its a crime but i never filed any case. I called the spectranet support team at my office and told them to remove it asap. They will respond on Monday. let’s see… but this a shameful what they are doing with their users. I never saw any unwanted ads in my life as I am using the net for last 10+ years.

  17. Pingback: ISPs Hijacking Web Traffic To Insert Their Ads | Techno Carte | Techno Carte

  18. Yaar, what’s happening in India? Unwanted ads in browsers. I was getting the problem today so I was going to format my pc. I thought it was an virus or something but thank god, I searched the google and found this page. I added the link in hosts and now the ads are not displaying. I also thought that this was cos of firefox or windows update.

    BTW, I am using spectranet broadband in New Delhi, Okhla. I called them and to told to remove it from my useris/account. Let’s see what they will do.

    Well, You saved my Life n PC Dipin. Thanks a lot for useful info 🙂

    Satnam

  19. I was also having the same issue. And I used your technique for blocking it. It works fine and I have enquired about this issue via an email to the Asianet customercare team. But there wasn’t any reply for several days.

    So I called them (04712575222) and asked about the mail. The cust.care. executive asked me about the mail ! He claimed that, they don’t have access to those mails as it is dealt by a separate team. When I asked whether Asianet is responsible for this ads, they said their team will check it and will reply me via phone or manually mail me the response.

    I’m subscribed to an unlimited broadband connection. So, Asianet’s login page wouldn’t be shown or asked to login for me (this seems to be applicable for all unlimited connections) and it was same for several months. But, after some days of filing the complaint about this insertion of ads, everytime I try to use my net, Asianet’s login page appears. Only after logging in, I was able to use the net. But also found that the code for ads are now not inserted in the webpages.

    Today, I called them asking why they haven’t mailed me a response for my complaint(regarding ads). And also asked why I am getting a login page everytime. They told me that, since you will get login page, the ad won’t be inserted. But if I opt for no login page, they would be displaying the ads !!!
    So, I asked why they are doing this eventhough we are paying for the service. And he said it’s company policy ! And he is arguing me what’s relation of displaying ads with this !! So, I just ended the call and was angry.
    They were one of the best services. Now they are getting worse ! What’s happening to these people !!!

  20. Many are having such issues. Its a real crime. I had informed the cyber cell on the first day itself, but i don’t think anything has happened.
    I am quoting what a guy from Hi-tech cell told me when i complained to them,
    “Did anything happen due to this? Any data loss? Money loss? Anything? We will take action only if anything major happens.”
    I am wondering whether it is better to ‘prevent something from happening’ or ‘find a remedy for something that has happened’. These cops are having a really bad mindset. I think they really not understanding the problem, or they are not trying to.

  21. 127.0.0.1 streamride.net ui.streamride.net
    this solution is fine, greate,
    but there also some code injecting in my website page with js, when viewing page source.

  22. Dear Dipin,

    you wrote:
    > “THEY ARE INSERTING JAVASCRIPT CODE INTO EVERY PAGE”. What we see is just an ad, but that script might be doing many other things.

    Yes, that’s why on secure sites (https:) those scripts don’t work (only there I don’t get those “Javascript pop-ups”). A https:-site (like Internetbanking) would not at all be secure anymore!

    Now what about things like my own website? I have urgend works to do on my website, though the “backend” of Joomla-CMS. I don’t dare to do it. Can they enter my website while I work on it and plant their cunning malware? I very much fear so! And how to work at all when my every Klick brings a horrible Pop-Up in front of my working-aera?

    I paid Asianet for 15 months of which 12 months are still left. And I feel very much cheated. – Yesterday they even send me a bill for an AMC (annual maintenance contract) for the modem. But the modem belongs to them not me and I haven’t signed any new contract which they falsely claim.

    Greetings, Jürgen

  23. i was wondering about this. It started even showing in iTunes. thanks for the information. right away contacting asianet!!!

  24. Its against law. Its not just about showing ads, “THEY ARE INSERTING JAVASCRIPT CODE INTO EVERYPAGE”. What we see is just an ad, but that script might be doing many other things. It can even hack all the information we type into a website.

  25. I had reported this to cyber cell and hitech cell.
    I had got a call from hitech cell the next day evening asking wht the issue is and they will forward to some other deprtmnt. Haven’t heard from them since……

  26. It is happening with all browsers. I tested Mozilla (very latest), Opera Safari, MS IE.
    And it happens also with on my Mac with Appel’s “Snow Leopard” OS, where I use 2 different browsers.
    They are using “ui.streamride.net” (USA) together with Google’s Ad-System for which they get paid. – I could find after much research lot’s of scripts etc. of those two on each opened page that I got.
    It’s a most disgusting crime!!! To think alone of the many hours many of us spent to find out what is going on.

    A criminal law suite should be brought forward through at least the consumer court, with demands for compensations !!!!

    Unfortunately my Reliance USB-Internet ist now not paid for, and I can’t confirm if the problem doesn’t exist there.

  27. no they still showing ads , its from asianet guyss . maiking lots of money in this way .. This is not fair

  28. Have you got any kind of confirmation regarding this issue from the ISP side? I have already contacted the ISP and waiting for there replay.

  29. After adding the line to your hosts file, the ad server never comes into the scene.
    But, the ISP(who ever is inserting this piece of code) is doing a crime and should be sued for this. How can we trust a service provider who is doing such a thing.

  30. Hi,
    Thanks for the replay,issue has got resolved,but my concern is like by adding the code are directly allowing that ad server to at-least sneak into our activities.Am right?

  31. Are you sure that this is done by asianet ? I think this is done by google because this happens only in chrome browser.
    There is no such ad’s in IE.
    My android phone is also getting such sorts of ad’s.

  32. I have also faced the same problem today in my asianet broadband. I have added the above code to it and now no adds

  33. Hi,

    Did you add the line
    “127.0.0.1 streamride.net ui.streamride.net”
    to
    C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

    If yes, then just clear your browser cache or just refresh a page with the shift key pressed.

  34. Hi,
    I was also facing the same issue from yesterday onward`s,it really is annoying and also i have tried get rid of it by changing the host value but unfortunately it doesn`t came out well.Please do keep informed about this irrational behaviors,and its really sad that Asianet Isp is doing all these bullshit.

    Thanks

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