C2.LOP
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LOP, or Live Online Portal, is an adware component that is installed on computers.
Lop.com is a web site owned by C2Media (NOTE: C2 Media is the name of a totally unrelated company from C2Media LTD which owns LOP.com). It is a pay-per-click search portal where other websites will pay for each click to their sites via LOP. This was never a bad idea, but a method they used to get people to their site was to install an adware component on people's computers which would advertise their site through pop-ups. The installer could turn the user's web browser into a device with a links to lop.com.
Older variants of LOP were quite predictable and installed Browser Helper Objects and startup entries with known names. Lately, LOP variants have been using random English words strung together in a phrase as their executable names and have been placing these executables in the user's application data directory. For example, there are LOP variants which call their file "meal dog house bone.exe".
LOP can usually be easily removed using Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D (as well as various other spyware removal programs). You may also ask the support forums below for help on how to remove LOP.
[edit] Known programs that bundle LOP
[edit] References
- Healan, M. (2004). Lop.com. Retrieved Jun. 13, 2005, from SpywareInfo Web site: http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/lop/.
- Clover, A. (n.d.). lop. Retrieved Jun. 13, 2005, from doxdesk.com Web site: http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/lop.html.
