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Topic: «Actual Windows Manager calls home a LOT, reason? » on forum: Technical Support   Views: 3724
 
A Murder of Crows
Registered user
 
 Posts: 5
Joined: 09.05.2020
Posted: 09.05.2020 07:01:54
 
 
 I figure the only requirement for AWM to have to use the internet for is an update check.

I purposefully blocked AWM from accessing the internet and i started getting constant notices that it was trying to connect.

I just checked today and saw that the automatic update check option was still enabled. I updated to the latest version and disabled that check, so i'm hoping it won't attempt to connect to the internet any longer.

Question is, if an internet connection is not available to AWM, it seems to want to hammer networking without informing the user. Is this the intended design? How many checks does AWM make and how often?
 
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Syrinx
Registered user
 
 Posts: 27
Joined: 16.12.2016
Posted: 11.05.2020 04:49:05
 
 
 My firewall is set to block all outbound and inbound connections by default. I've never made any allowed rules rules for AWM but can't find a single block and it starts shortly after login and remains running. I even tried launching the configuration tool as well, nothing even trying to make a peep out on this end. Note I do have Auto update checks and beta version checks disabled. I'm using 8.14.3 downloaded from https://www.actualtools.com/files/aimsetup.exe, maybe grab that again and re-install to see if it helps on your end?
 
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A Murder of Crows
Registered user
 
 Posts: 5
Joined: 09.05.2020
Posted: 14.05.2020 02:44:23
 
 
 I'm using ZoneAlarm Free and have it configured to alert me when any program tries to connect out, and then i choose if i want to let it out or not, and can choose to remember that setting. i have it configured to tell me whenever it blocks a program from connecting out.

outside of a couple of new steam games, the last 200 lines of the firewall log are filled with attempts from this program to reach home.

it is checking once an hour at hh:03:26-32 (so, 01:03:26 or 20:03:28, etc)

all going to 208.76.175.79 using HTTP.  plugging that ip addy into a web browser leads to a 404. Whois provides the following:


ISP CIFNet Inc.
Usage Type Data Center/Web Hosting/Transit
Hostname actualtools.com
Domain Name cifnet.net
Country
City Vernon Hills, Illinois

so, it is a phone home for sure. What is interesting to me is that since i wrote this post originally i've turned off automatic update checks.

so why is this program phoning home?
 
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A Murder of Crows
Registered user
 
 Posts: 5
Joined: 09.05.2020
Posted: 14.05.2020 02:51:26
 
 
 So doing more looking, it seems that the actualtools domain name was registered using GoDaddy with the country of origin being Russia.

actualtools.com Updated 1 day ago
Domain Information
Domain:
actualtools.com
Registrar:
GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registered On:
2002-04-25
Expires On:
2024-09-12
Updated On:
2019-07-31
Status:
clientDeleteProhibited
clientRenewProhibited
clientTransferProhibited
clientUpdateProhibited
Name Servers:
ns1.cifnet.com
ns2.cifnet.com
Registrant Contact
Country:
RU
Email:
Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=ACTUALTOOLS.COM
Administrative Contact
Email:
Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=ACTUALTOOLS.COM
Technical Contact
Email:
Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=ACTUALTOOLS.COM
 
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A Murder of Crows
Registered user
 
 Posts: 5
Joined: 09.05.2020
Posted: 14.05.2020 02:52:39
 
 
 Hitting that godaddy link provides the following:

Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: Mira 52-15
Registrant City: Krasnoyarsk
Registrant State/Province:
Registrant Postal Code: 660049
Registrant Country: RU
Registrant Phone: 3912271375
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax: 3912271375
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: actualtools@actualtools.com
Registry Admin ID: Not Available From Registry
Admin Name: Michael Tretyakov
Admin Organization:
Admin Street: Mira 52-15
Admin City: Krasnoyarsk
Admin State/Province:
Admin Postal Code: 660049
Admin Country: RU
Admin Phone: 3912271375
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax: 3912271375
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: actualtools@actualtools.com
Registry Tech ID: Not Available From Registry
Tech Name: Michael Tretyakov
Tech Organization:
Tech Street: Mira 52-15
Tech City: Krasnoyarsk
Tech State/Province:
Tech Postal Code: 660049
Tech Country: RU
Tech Phone: 3912271375
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax: 3912271375
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email: actualtools@actualtools.com
Name Server: NS1.CIFNET.COM
Name Server: NS2.CIFNET.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2020-05-13T19:00:00Z <<<
 
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A Murder of Crows
Registered user
 
 Posts: 5
Joined: 09.05.2020
Posted: 14.05.2020 03:04:35
 
 
 also, i was wrong about it only checking once an hour. it checks once every 10 minutes
 
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Alex Fadeyev
Administrator

Moderator
 
 Posts: 1398
Joined: 30.09.2005
Posted: 15.05.2020 01:01:18
 
 
 Our products try to connect automatically to our web server in two cases:

1) to check if a new version available (controlled by the Automatically option)

2) to upload collected telemetry data (controlled by the Collect usage statistics option)

If the options are disabled then the program should not attempt to connect to the Internet.

If you disabled to auto-updating but the program still tries to connect to our website then it's probably a bug. Please send us your configuration for analysis.
 
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