Is download.cnet.com Safe?

When I downloaded some software for my Mac from this site my Intego software flashed up a warning to say that it contained a 'malware' file named OSX/Spigot.A Because of this warning I did not install the software on my Mac and instead browsed for more information as I had previously trusted download.cnet.com for several years. Contributors to a number of Mac-user forums have commented that the behaviour of their computers has been adversely affected when they have installed software from this site. According to several contributors, the site is wrapping this file in the download installer from where it is installed on the user's computer.

Do a search for cnet's downloads regarding bundled malware and you come up with dozens of examples of infected computers. As of January 2014 they still have software available for download that is bundled with malware and spyware with users SCREAMING for them to take it down but they haven't. AVOID CNET DOWNLOADS. THIS page has a program that downloads malware http://download.cnet.com/inSSIDer/3000-18508_4-10848357.html

Somehow this site still remains a perfect green even with over 30 pages of bad reviews. This site is a perfect example of a site that offers it's "DOWNLOADER" to download programs which happens to have a little side effect of downloading unwanted and potentially dangerous programs. Some more known malware/adware is: Conduit toolbar which itself hijacks browsers and some other software which adds ads to sites which trick you into downloading more malware. AVOID THIS SITE.

When will CNET finally learn about its download manager and STOP allowing all this malware, viruses and phishing shortcuts to be installed. just like many of you i have to continually repair computers where my clients trust CNET and its shady download manager.

***** has been knowingly allowing spyware and malware to hook a ride in it's download manager. Conduit for example. Unless you read the terms of use and options very very carefully you'll also find yourself installing this crud. You even have to double check the "custom installation" boxes. They INTENTIONALLY make the "disagree" button grey in color to make inexperienced users think they cant select it. I've removed countless browser hijackers such as conduit from my clients computers. After coming to the site today i now know why. ***** is taking advantage of the ignorance of inexperienced users on what USED to be a safe and reputable site and excepts money from third part vendors and malware distributors in exchange for peddling this dangerous software in the download manager. THAT in addition to numerous "download" buttons meant to confuse people as to what to select in order to get the real download make this whole site a scam. These "download" buttons are unrelated to the desired software and lead to applications and "free virus scans" which will infect any machine running windows. If you visit this site do so at your own risk.

Downloaded a "Free" game and got more than i wanted. Even though the install process allow me opt out of unwanted programs. I still found at least three ( that i could find afterwards ) programs I didn't want. Once they were uninstalled. I ran an anti-male ware program which ( i hope the found the rest .) I used to trust cnet. Now not as much.

Downloaded a few programs from this site, which installed quite a few PUPs & hijackers on my system. It took me hours and a ton of research to remove a few of them. If you need a program, download it from the developer's site or better yet, download them from Ninight.

Be wary of some of these downloads. The program/company in the title is probably not the actual programmer. I downloaded what I thought was Dell software and ended up with a suspicious program with tons of add-ons I didn't want. Every time I started up my browser, I was directed to a website to buy this program when it was advertised on Cnet as "free". The very worst part was that it took over Internet Explorer with a virus. I had just recently wiped my computer, so I just re-did that to get rid of it. I'm definitely not using Cnet's download site ever again. The program I really wanted actually took some digging. Search engines kept sending me to third party sites like Cnet instead of Dell's.

USED To Be a Good Site. But now: SOME Mac Programs are offered to Macintosh Users with a WINDOWS .EXE "Installer Helper" that is Nothing but a bundle of Spyware Installers (and .EXE files CAN'T BE RUN On Macintosh Systems anyway)! All users should beware of Installer Wrappers offered by this site. Use the Direct Download Link ONLY!

Be careful when installing, slowly go through the download procedure, or else you risk getting add-ons and other P.U.P. added to your browser. also watch out for the correct links , some are ads that add things like optimiseyourpc (that's what i got) to your PC, be careful when installing.

Don't download programs here or trust any reviews. Firstly, CNET makes their own installers for everything & puts adware in them. Secondly, most of the reviews are either completely untrustworthy & by competitors or the creators/partners of the program, or by complete retards who know nothing about using a computer & don't have any business writing a review (specifically a bad one) on something they couldn't even figure out how to use correctly, or didn't realize the program was utter spam. Stick with Softpedia. They never shove crap into installers & even if there are never as many reviews for programs, it's usually a lot less likely you'll find fake ones. Plus their site is put together in a nice way that makes it easy to find specific types of software.