TencentTraveler

[GaryK]

TencentTraveler 4.0
125.238.245.nn
125-238-245-nn.broadband-telecom.global-gateway.net.nz
-----
inetnum: 125.238.0.0 - 125.238.255.255
netname: FIPD-XTRA-NZ
descr: Telecom Xtra
country: NZ
-----

ROBOTS.TXT? No

All it took were image files. Page backgrounds, favicons, and photos. Is this the Chinese social networking site? I don't know for sure because the crawl was from New Zealand.

[dstiles]

I've got it down as a browser "suspect browser". Could be a distributed bot, I suppose.

[Pfui]

I thought it was a toolbar somethingorother but Wikipedia sez about Tencent Traveler:

Abbreviated "TT", it is a web browser developed by Tencent, and based on the IE kernel and Trident. In 2008, it was the third most-used browser in China.

(For full annotations/footnotes, see Wikipedia's "Tencent Holdings Ltd [en.wikipedia.org]" page.)

Personally, and regardless of popularity, I think you gotta be nuts to intentionally install anything that's Chinese in origin. On our servers at least, hardly a nanosecond goes by that some Chinese-based Zombie isn't attacking us.

Anyway, back to the UA, a few older sightings. Note the trailing space after TencentTraveler:

dhcp0nnn.nic.resnet.group.upenn.edu
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; TencentTraveler ; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)

202.101.77.n <=China Telecom
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; TencentTraveler )

[GaryK]

I never thought to look at Wikipedia! But a browser shell doesn't seem to make sense given the pattern of files taken. No actual web pages, just image files from a popular Ferrari website that gets ripped all the time--and yet the owner won't let me install any sort of defense mechanisms.

[Pfui]

Well, at least you get an idea of the pure junk that's out there. I've got a few wide-open sites, placeholders mostly; few links in or out. They're very useful for quickly spotting bad bots and ISPs that maraud our Class C by sequential IPs.

Re Wikipedia, etc.: I try to run apparently new/strange UAs through Google, or WW's Google search feature up top, to find out more before posting. (Sometimes I discover I've already posted about them;)

[GaryK]

You know you're a senior member when you start posting about the same bots you first mentioned several years ago! ;)

I appreciate your mention of Wikipedia as I'm going to incorporate it into my research from now on.