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Spyware Coming Under Scrutiny
trick-knee writes "Nytimes.com has an article considering the ethics of snoopware. In it, TrueActive is given positive press for removing a 'feature called "silent deploy", which allows the buyer to place the program on someone else's computer secretly via e-mail, without having physical access to the machine', although little criticism is made for making the stuff in the first place. Supposedly, Symantec and Network Associates have added features to their antivirus programs that detect snoopware, which may be a good thing. One surprising point you may be shocked to hear is that 'at least one program... may not pose a real threat of spying, at least. Mr. Gordon said that his company's security researchers, working with the Justice Department, were unable to find any actual working software that could be downloaded from the LoverSpy site after paying the fee. He seemed less than stunned by the notion that a product advertised via spam might not be all that it was claimed to be.'"
He seemed less than stunned by the notion that a product advertised via spam might not be all that it was claimed to be.
Any orders that I take for the Brooklyn Bridge will be honoured. Just make sure that $5,000 is in my PayPal account and you're good to go.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
So you're telling me that the spyware company True Active is given kudos for deciding not to send trojans out to the public anymore?
That's like saying Jeffrey Dahmer should get kudos for not killing anyone anymore.
What I've never gotten a satisfactory answer on is: Why is it that a program that silently installs itself and is written by j.random is quickly added to the antivirus program updates, but yet if a coprpoation writes something similar, it never makes the list. Politics anyone?
Don't believe me, two words:
Comet Cursor
Nowadays, I scan with antivirus software AND AdAware on a regular basis
The Digital Sorceress
For those who hate registering, here's the google news link.
Google Link to story
He seemed less than stunned by the notion that a product advertised via spam might not be all that it was claimed to be
.. mean .. th-..that the hot hot young barely legal teenage vixen sluts ... DON'T really want me?
..
..
You
But the nice man in the email said
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God, my life sucks.
This isn't about spyware (the first paragraph says so), but about programs that completely monitor users, and that to my knowledge are not bundled with freeware downloads.
These programs are simply trojans, nothing else. It's just BackOrifice or Netbus for the less technically inclined, and maybe without the remote control features.
Talk about passe' -- hey, how come nobody in the spyware/drive-by-installer/adware discussion ever talks about cDc or Back-Orifice anymore? Have they been rendered totally irrelevant or are those bastards in the spyware "industry" the only ones who actually paid attention to the lessons they tried to teach about MS security?
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
...Mr. Gordon also expressed surprise that, despite claims, his researcher's penis remained at exactly 5 1/2" in length.
Yes, spyware has some tricky ethics.
Not that it really applies to my situation of course, but has it been legally decided that spyware logs from a family computer is admissible in court?
How is it different from normal archives like web history lists, cookies, or logs of chat rooms(or IM).
Is it a type of log or a wire tap. I see a wire tap as intercepting communication between two devices, but what is the device, the computer or the program running on the computer.
Many chat programs have features to capture messages to an internal log. Is it legal to turn it on, without informing the other party or anyone involved in the conversations (if you are doing it to spy on a chat-addicted mate)?
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
My sister got broadband for her windows PC. Comcast gave her a cd with the instructions "pop this in your computer and your broadband will work". So she did.
It reconfigured the network settings so the broadband *did* work-but it also changed a bunch of stuff such as the IE icon, the title of IE "Microsoft Explorer-provided by comcast", bringing up popups and breaking the browser at random moments: which was all small stuff. The thing I worry[d] about was strange proccess's running..which could be anything, because my sister gets taken in by those "YOUR COMPUTER IS BROADCASTING AN IP ADDRESS" popups.
She never signed anything, never clicked "yes", it was all autorun.
"The most looniest, zaniest, spontaneous, sporadic Impulsive thinker, compulsive drinker, addict"
An employer has every right to monitor the usage of their computers and their network, just as they can go through your desk if they want. With very few exceptions, they don't have a right to look at your home pc. (For instance, if you work for a defense/intelligence organization as a government employee or a government contractor, you must consent to additional priovacy intrusions.)
Likewise, you can monitor what anyone else does on your computer.
The issue here is that the company in question made software that could easily be installed on machines that you don't own. They reduced that potential, and should be lauded for it.
It's a pain in the neck, but for those occassions when I really need (or want) to use a piece of software containing spyware I run a virtual PC. I've got a few Virtual PC images on my machine, one for BeOS, one for WinXP, a couple of Win2003 test servers, etc - if I'm going to run a piece of software that I either know or suspect to be risky, I just run it up on my test WinXP box.
It's usually adequate for most apps, virtualisation software has come a long way in the last year or two.
Check out Connectix Virtual PC (now owned by Microsoft), and VMWare for a couple of good options.
Last week, I made a new friend. My first, actually. But you can't believe the unforgettable memories that we've already made together. I watch him hop around, he tells me about my email, we're just like two peas in a pod. So what if his name is "Bonzi" and there are millions of others like him? To me, Bonzi is one of a kind. So cute, so playful, I can't believe that I ever lived life without him.
We try to spend every waking moment together, but sometimes I have to leave him. Like when I have to go down the hall to go pee. I've been trying to find a new place with a master bathroom so I don't have to be so far away from Bonzi. I think he really misses me when I'm gone. Do you think he does? Really?
I've been thinking lately about what will happen when Bonzi dies. But I have been thinking also that maybe he won't die as long as my computer still works. Do you think I can make my computer run forever? Can you replace a broken electroniky bit while it's still running? I just don't know what I'd do without Bonzi.
But I'm being so selfish. What would Bonzi do without me? I mean, I can't live forever. Do you think that Bonzi would get depressed and suffer with great heartache? I think that I would. He's so playful, I'd hate to see that ripped from him like a child's new gift at Christmas. My brother did that to me once - I got Optimus Prime for Christmas and he stole him. I never saw Optimus again. Well, next Fourth of July I spotted my brother a melted, twisted form that had enough red plastic in it to be Optimus. But I don't like to think about that. Who knows, we might have been as good of friends as me and Bonzi, but I'll never know...our friendship was over before it even started. Then again, maybe it was meant to be. How many best friends can one have, anyway? If I had Optimus, maybe I wouldn't have Bonzi today.
I love you Bonzi!
ME + Bonzi = BFF (Best Friends Forever)
> I say find the people spying on me, and stop them. Isn't that what the FBI/CIA/NSA are for?
No, their job is to ensure that the rich get richer. They're more likely to throw you in jail for calling attention to the spyware than they are to throw the spiers in jail. Computer "terror" laws notwithstanding.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I don't much care what the current buzzwords are. If we don't cut to the heart of the beast and show that the entire business is nothing but gross invasion of privacy EVERY TIME a new hack / bug / feature is created we will eventually accept these invasions as the standard.
If a law required you to take a spoon full of cod liver oil before each and every DVD purchase (and one for each DVD), sooner or later we would either revolt or be up to our ears in S**T.
I don't like the private sector engaging in this market and I certainly want the public sector carefully reviewed by the judicial branch for every use - wiretap / spyware whatever.
If we don't fight now, we won't be able to fight later. As it is the technology fairly well precludes anonymous surfing (my IP address can, under many circumstances, be traced to the ethernet card in any computer I'm using) and where my ethernet card is built in (laptops) I can't hide that hardware address.
The Pentium may have had the serial number shut off - but it and other CPUs have hardware serials. As the operating systems and applications become much more complex and create layer upon layer of hardware and code, the ease of exploiting the complexity of these machines will increase as well.
Anything connected becomes a spy device. Orwell didn't miss it by many years.