Slashdot Mirror
Spyware or Researchware?
prostoalex writes "When the story of Firefox Web site visitors being predominantly male was published, many questioned the methodology used to acquire such research data. This MSNBC article talks about another research company, ComScore Networks, using a free antivirus utility to lure the Web users into downloading a small utility to their hard drives. The catch? The software watches not only sites visited, but even locations of the mouse clicks. ComScore swears the final data does not contain any personal information, but, as the article states, anti-spyware utility manufacturers are still thinking whether to include it on their list."
To find out the gender of a visitor, just create a site which requires visitors to hold one key while moving the mouse.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
The difference between Spyware and Usage Statistics pretty simple: is it clearly stated to the End User and is optionable. Essentially, its not spyware if you know about it up front and have the ability to (actually,) turn it off.
The beef I have with spyware is that it's never given me a choice; it installs without me knowing and lurks like a drooling Rutterkin in the corner -- waiting for me to spill my drink or drop The One Ring. But this research program is optional, right?
I have no problem with optional programs that record data to be used in a study. My wife also participates in allgery studies. So?
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Well, that story had all the right buzzwords to get the pitchforks wavin!
"Derp de derp."
With a name like ScamCore, er, ConScore, woops, I mean ComScore, no wonder people are suspicious!
Isn't that sort of app supposed to be CHECKING for trojans? Sheesh.
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
The software watches not only sites visited, but even locations of the mouse clicks.
add the use of the word "lure" and it makes me think that this is, indeed, spyware.
Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
why? forty-two.
Here's the damn solution include it.
They all pop up a list of software reporting your usage, this list is hand culled by the user.
By not including it they lose some moral authority.
It takes information without my knowing or permission and steals my bandwidth to send it somewhere. It's spyware. Next question?
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Unfortunately, if they give the users a choice to turn it off, you can't qualify the statistics obtained from users who allow information to be logged as good - e.g. who's to say whether guys may be more inclined to turn it off than girls - or conversely, women feel more threatened about privacy... in either case your stats will be skewed.
In any case most users (myself, certainly) would turn it off - I am supremely uncomfortable with some random company knowing anything about what I do on my computer.
I don't want to read
Marketscore is part of an online market research community with over 2 million members worldwide. Marketscore relies on its members to gain valuable insight into Internet trends and behavior. In exchange for having their Internet browsing and purchasing activity observed, members have access to free email virus scanning and other benefits.
You have to draw the line of reasonableness somewhere. If that site isn't clear enough for you to understand what they do, you probably shouldn't be on the Internet (or at least not from a computer configuration you could hurt yourself with).
ROTFLMGDARTFO!!!!
Which way to the riot?
This reminds me of those spam messages in which the spammer swears "this is not spam."
Talk is cheap.
This tool then is cutting out the Mac and Linux users from their tracked demographic; together those users represent about 5-10% of the market. And they represent many early adopters of tech, too.
I would think that the use of a tool of this kind would be enough to skew their information, causing any results to be not credible. I certainly wouldn't use them to research products that I would sell, as I would want to be able to target Mac and Linux users as well.
--
$tar -xvf
the way I see it, if it has a legit use (virus scan) and it let's the user know that it will be doing this. Then even though it may be spyware, it's still acceptable, that's a trade off. but it's still not a valid tool for determining a demographic, since only a certain demographic will download it to begin with.
What shall it be?
Mcaffee.. no
Norton.. no
AVG..no
Oh, wait! Here's one! Marketscore! That sounds reputable! I've never heard of them before, so they must be good, because they stay out of the "eviil media".
--end scathing sarcasm--
The people "lured" into downloading this utility should probably also have their right to vote restricted for lack of ability to critically process information.
And, by the way, if you've feel vicitmized by this software, I have news for you.. they've recently changed the definition of gullible in the dictionary.Interpret that however you please.
quacks like a duck, and smells like a duck, then it must be...spyware seriously, people how cn you record where the mouse is clicked on my screen, and what sites I am visiting without being spyware. Saying that there is no personal information logged sounds like splitting hairs to me. This program should definitely be on the spyware list.
anti-spyware utility manufacturers are still thinking whether to include it on their list
If you use the blackhole dns list of spyware domains from bleedingsnort.com its already included based on this submission from doxdesk. Squid ACLs are a great way to stop these parasites and you don't have to wait for anti-spyware manufacturers to decide whether its spyware or not. Also ClamAV lets you create your own signatures so you can setup rules to detect anything you consider to be spyware.
Anything questionable in the spyware area that's not super obvious during the install, is spyware in my book. I definitely want the anti-spyware ppl to add that kind of thing to the list of ones to get rid of.
Why not just download AVG Anti-virus?
Its free, and has no spyware attached.
Symantec, for example, designates the program as spyware on its Web site.
A major antivirus company saying a free anitvirus program is spyware, that should raise a few red flags right there.
Does this mean that more men download firefox, or more men download this spyware?
Me lost me cookie at the disco.
To the extent that something forthrightly discloses what it does and offers the choice to opt-in (...and to opt-out later easily if one changes one's mind ...), the validity of the data is compromised.
There's nothing *wrong* with giving people the choice of providing information in exchange for an incentive (... I participate in surveys & studies all the time ...) but it is not unlikely that as a result, the sample becomes non-representative (except of itself.)
How likely is it that the genders differ in their willingnes to risk giving away personal information, such as keystrokes that may disclose physical address? I would not trust gender statistics for web usage at all, except for indicating the gender of people who don't worry much about strangers learning their meatspace location.
It may be that some data about semi-anonymous servces such as the web is impossible to get. As Johnny Cash sings, "I don't like it, but I guess things happen that way!"
--- Attorneys Assisting Citizen-Soldiers & Families -
"The difference between Spyware and Usage Statistics pretty simple: is it clearly stated to the End User and is optionable. Essentially, its not spyware if you know about it up front and have the ability to (actually,) turn it off."
There's the "observer" phenomenon. In other words, will the fact that you know your under observation change the behaviour they're trying to observe?
Just Don't Download it, If your stupided enough to do so, you deserve the Spyware.
Insert Pithy Quote here.
Is the single scariest thing I've read, barring the end of the world that will result from the release of Longhorn.
And
ComScore officials said the sensitive data is never at risk.
"We establish two secure communications. One with you, and one with the bank," Lin said.
Is the third sariest. Of course the data is at risk, an information research company has your internet banking password, for crying out load! No one should ever have that.
Besides you.
And the bank has to have an ecrypted copy to check it against.
But that's all.
How secure is the network of a company that sells information going to be compared to a Bank?
Mind you most people will be using windows at home, so most banking passwords are being collected through vulnerabilities at that end anyway.
Anyone remember that common example of bad stats? Some survey was taken by calling people randomly. What's wrong with it? You're excluding everyone without a phone (which is now rare, but the poor didn't have them when this survey was done). Isn't this exactly the same? You're excluding everyone without spyware. Hey, maybe males are more likely to get spyware on their computers than females?
... whether people who voluntarily install their program understand that they are agreeing never to shop or bank online with decent security ever again?
It's one thing to warn someone "If you install our software, we'll monitor your net behavior".
It's entirely another thing to say "If you install our software, you'll be relying on us never to collect your credit card number, bank password, or the birthdate/mother's name information we'd need to empty your bank account ... and you're relying on us never to be hacked."
--- Attorneys Assisting Citizen-Soldiers & Families -
...Sharman Networks have packaged antispyware software with KaZaA.
I don't need no stinking spyware to find that out for me, I just use the user agent to help me with that. Everyone knows that real men use Linux.
Task Mangler
Not only does this study not include Mac or Linux users, but it really only gives useful information about the people who chose to install the program on their computers. Perhaps men are more likely than women to install the program, which would then skew their data heavily in favor of males using firefox. As it stands, the "research" is quite useless for generalizing to the population because an entirely different sample of people would even consider installing this thing. However, it isn't spyware because the user knows what they're getting into and it's not sneaky about what it claims to do.
It started out being marketed as a way to "speed up" web browing, much like AOL is advertising with "Top Speed" now. According to the article, they even have access to encrypted connections. It also says that your passwords and stuff are visible to them. This isn't good, and they don't really state up front that they do this. I believe marketscore has been considered spyware for a while by some people. Also, the program they give you in exchange only scans emails, or so it appears. Definentaly not worth it.
They should've mentioned it on their website what exactly they collect. Not just bury it in their EULA.
Who knows what other kind of monitoring trojans they have in there.
Although I am typically opposed to corporal punishment - I'm all in favour of bringing it back for people who spy on me (and others) through the internet. Maybe a hundred lashes a day for a week would smarten these people up;) Would like to get a list of the companies who are using this data.
This is going to nuke my karma to all Hell, but what the hey...
/. to stop them? If you're concerned about web privacy, don't download it, but it's not like they're trying to trick anyone here.
A lot of Slashdotters are, as usual, not RTFA/web page in question and assuming that this is the usual spyware trick of clandestinely trojanised software pretending to be a legitimate tool - allow me to explain;
The word 'lure' used in the summary is a loaded term - it implies (in the context the editors used) that they are somehow using this free AntiVirus tool as a means of covertly installing spyware - This company is simply offering a free antivirus product if you accept the *up front agreement* that their little utility can spy on your web browsing habits - they're not doing anything clandestine here, they're just offering their service to you for free, so they can sell the results on to advertisers to recoup costs;
From the company's website:
In exchange for having their Internet browsing and purchasing activity observed, members have access to free email virus scanning and other benefits.
This is just a new way of offering a product - "here, you can have this for free, but in exchange you've got to give us stuff we can sell to our avertisers" (though they promise not to sell personal info, so presumably they'll just be selling 'web trends' data) or rather, it's the same way that a lot of so-called 'adware' operates, only they're rarely this up-front.
Sure, it's spyware, but the text above is located right on their front page, is in easily-understandable English, and is not hidden, obscured of obfusicated in any way - if people want to give their permission for Marketscore to monitor their browsing in exchange for free software, who are
Dealing with lawyers would be a lot less tedious if they all looked like Casey Novak.
"Yes, maybe the user knows the benefits (and the world of hurt) they can expect from using this software...but what about the banks (or other businesses) who are actively trying to protect its customers? We're still trying to figure out how to deal with this on our side while individually informing the affected customers."
Gee, what do you know? Sounds like the user needs some kind of system that will authenticate everything on their system, from hardware to software, establishing a web of trust. One which spyware will not be a part of.
... they made the software open source and available for scrutiny on a source like Sourceforge. More than that, the install should be clean and easy-in and easy-out.
It would make the thing have a better chance as being used for legitimate research and a better chance and being trusted.
The whole problem with traditional spyware is that it is often installed in deceptive or undetected ways, that it is difficult to remove and even goes so far as to damage things such as AV software to prevent its removal. Legitimate researchware would not have those characteristics.
my university banned the marketscore website... i guess that says enough about the website itself. no such thing as researchware.
If the software is "Spying" on me or not.
To be honest that's never been much of an issue to me. I dont do much worth spying on.
What does matter is that there is this program that's hacked into my networking, using my bandwidth and CPU, potentially messing up the networking on my PC. That's the biggest hassle.
I see plenty of PCs that have their TCP/IP scrambled, or brought to a crawl by things like New.net
The "Spying" is the least of the troubles.
Hmmm. I wonder... so does the study then indicate that primarily men use Firefox, or does the study actually indicate that primarily men install antivirus protection? Or both, for a double whammy of a skewed number?
My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &
COME ON! Thats funny for +2 cliche useage
Most people aren't thought about after they're gone. "I wonder where Rob got the plutonium" is better than most get.
Just because you know it a piece of code is spying on you doesn't stop it from being spyware. James Bond was still a spy, even when Goldfinger knew who he was. The threat comes to others who may use the machine without knowing the spyware is running. Companies buy Comscore information and actually believe it represents normal people. No wonder so many Web sites suck -aggles
Lucky we didn't step in it!
Mongrel News all the news that fits and froths
Any software that collects information about my actions and reports it back to the software maker.....
How much simpler could that be?
Some banks also block online banking sessions coming in via Marketscore's proxies.
This is the same spyware previously known as "netsetter". There's no question about this being spyware.
Here's Stanford's Information Security Office's statement on Marketscore.
11 Jan 2005
MarketScore (also called NetSetter) is a spyware-like application that compromises the security of all data sent or received by your web browser, even on "secure" encrypted web sites. All external browser communications are re-routed through MarketScore's proxy servers, so they have access to any "secure" traffic/passwords/accounts that otherwise would be encrypted.
If you have MarketScore installed on your computer and have used your browser for any services that require WebLogin, your password should be considered compromised. After you have removed MarketScore from your computer, we strongly recommend that you change your SUNet password. This advice also applies to any other secure web sites you may have visited with your browser.
The Information Security Office is directly contacting owners of machines that appear to behave as if MarketScore is present.
Technical Detail
MarketScore reconfigures the browser to use a "proxy server" for all non-local connections, including HTTPS connections. A proxy server is a machine that acts as a middle-man, brokering web page requests intended for other sites. So if the browser on machine A wants to visit web sites C, D, and E it makes all those requests through the proxy server B. B then contacts C, D, and E and passes the results back to A. This is usually transparent to the user on machine A after the browser has been configured to use the proxy.
Web proxies are typically used in a corporate environment where all web traffic must be controlled or inspected centrally, although in the case of secure HTTPS traffic there is ordinarily nothing the proxy can do except forward the connection or refuse it. In this case, the proxy servers belong to a company called ComScore where they collect and analyze the intercepted data.
While ordinarily an HTTPS connection would simply pass through a proxy securely, in this case MarketScore also installs a new root certificate in your browser so that it can decrypt all intercepted SSL connections (a "man-in-the-middle" attack) without triggering a security warning from the browser. In normal operation, browsers would complain if a site certificate doesn't match the domain of the URL, but the new root certificate tells the browser to trust ComScore's site certificate for any URL.
This goes well beyond what Marketscore claims their program does.
That seems to settle the issue.
I attempted to access their web site, but was greeted with this scary warning from my friendly DNS server.
From what it's telling me, it seems like Comscore is rereouting all your web traffic through their server, including all the encrypted data. Seems like a big problem to me.
Yeah, I regularly give my encrypted banking details to market research companies. What are the rules about spammers and lying? Seems to fit here as well.
The last time this hit the news, I did some whois and dig searches and put some of their ip blocks in iptables. But even after googling and checking the sites of the schools mentioned that issued warnings to their students and that started blocking Marketscore, I couldn't find any comprehensive listing of their ip addresses, only what I could find with dig, whois, and grepping the site logs. But they still seem to get through. Anyone have a comprehensive list of their ip addresses that you can post?
I'll bet Choicepoint used to say the same thing prior to the California disclosure law kicking in.
What, Truste? Yeah, we're going to do whatever we please with the clients data. That's our policy. Truste: Congratulations! You pass! You have a policy, and you are adhering to it!
Malicious spyware, adware, garbageware, ComScore/MarketScore/WhateverScore shouldn't have "identifying" information, shouldn't have "key numbers" (read: credit card numbers and bank account numbers, the numbers that show up in the encrypted transactions that are being discussed in this article). Deleting all this "highly sensitive" info so there isn't a potential vulnerability problem? They shouldn't have it to start with. Remember the AOL insider?
If you go to a web site and get a 403 forbidden message instead, check to make sure you don't have the above spyware installed. Because I'm blocking and everyone else should be blocking each and every ip address originating from the ComScore/MarketScore/WhateverScore proxy servers. Putting the ip addresses in iptables with the result being the user gets a 403 is the only thing I can figure out to block the Com/Market/Whatever proxy servers. I'd like to send back a selective message explaining why they aren't allowed access, but that's beyond my capabilities and probably beyond current Apache functionality. That being the case, I'll continue blocking outright. Eve
...Wimmin are stupid. All of them I know use Windows and IE
If it monitors what I'm doing on my computer it should be classified as spyware. I don't care if it's for research rather than commercial uses, it's still spying.
The fact that the spying program is included with a free anti-virus program to entice people to download it says it all.
"I have no problem with optional programs that record data to be used in a study. My wife also participates in allgery studies. So?"
Did your wife's allergy study also reveal how many times she had sex and with who?
Did it reveal your bank account information?
Did she have to tell the allergy researchers everywhere she drove?
My guess is that there were limits to what the Allergy Research people asked, and even if they asked something untowards ("Excuse me ma'am, what is your breast size?"), she could say "I'd rather not tell you".
You aren't given that choice with this bit of spyware. Its not value for value because you don't get the ability to not reveal certain information about what you're doing.
Why people put their privacy at risk for $20 of value should be another study, but that's not what's at issue here.
Malware is also that program that resists all attempts at removal. If it doesn't have delete capabilities or instructions, it is not proper.
Should not anyone who intercepts a secure transmission be procecuted to the full extend of the law (as being a black hat/evil cracker) ?
I mean, it's not for nothing that either the sender or the recipient (or both !) have choosen for a secure connection.
Here's a friendly way to contact them!
s ton.htm
a rchcomput ing/comscore.htm
Marketscore
11465 Sunset Hills Road
Reston, VA 20190
312-775-6648 Fax: 253-498-1708
That doesn't sit well with me, so I did a little digging at the same address:
http://www.openet-telecom.com/contactre
Openet Telecom Inc.
11465 Sunset Hills Road
Suite 310
Reston
Virginia 20190
USA
Tel: +1 703 480 1820
Fax: +1 703 435 0730
General information: info@openet-telecom.com
North America (toll free) +1 866 873-7614 info@openet-telecom.com
Also:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/rese
Which is related to:
comScore Networks
11465 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 200
Reston, VA 20190
Phone: (703) 438-2000
Fax: (703) 438-2051
There's more than meets the eye here.
Interesting, no?
According to Registrar.com,
the info is the same. Here's the whois for Marketscore:
Marketscore Inc
11465 Sunset Hills Road, Suite 200
Reston, VA 20190
312-775-6648
fax: 253-498-1708
domain-admin@marketshare.com
Which matches comScore Networks exactly.
Why won't the press dig into this stuff???
Abraham, Magid (PhD, June 1988)
President and CEO
comScore Networks
11465 Sunset Hills Road
Reston, VA 20190
(703) 438-2052
mabraham@comscore.com
Isn't this great? You can let the president of the company know how you feel?
comScore Networks
Address: 11465 Sunset Hills Rd. Suite 200, Reston, VA 20190
Phone: 1-703-438-2000
URL: www.comscore.com
Founded: 1999
CEO: Magid Abraham
Employees: 220
Funding: $88 million, 5 rounds
comScore Networks is known for its in-depth reports and surveys about consumer behavior on the Internet. Using a panel of 2 million consumers across seven continents and patented data capture technology, comScore monitors everything from what people are buying online to the habits of Latino web surfers. Although comScore has an established presence in web metrics, the company will have to stay nimble as technology advances, if it is to maintain its lead over competitors.
We need a new definition. Malware is any application that resists removal and doesn't provide instructions for deletion. It provides internet connection for access out of the control of the user. Only Alpha males have complete control of a computer. We certainly need stats on that.
I wouldn't believe a program like this not being spyware as long as it's code is closed and it can do anything, and send any info that it's creators desire.
I think that this is the perfect case of a kind of programs that must be open source. Surely the code of a program that just collects information can't be of an incredibly complexity, so there's no reason for hiding it's code (other than doing a different thing than what it claims).
If they claim that their program doesn't send any sensitive information, let us check it by ourselves, otherwise I won't believe it.
Sorry... Hard to advertise...
Regardless of the intent, these companies are installing software on PCs without peoples knowledge a lot of the time and they're probably in a serious grey area when it comes to the 'data protection act (1998)'.
We need the law changed so that these data-collecting software leaches are opt-in rather than opt-out.
Who actually wants to install software that's piggy-backing onto other stuff, soaking up processor time, bandwidth, potentially opening up your system to security vulnerablities and retransmitting your private data (personality identifiable or not)?
Coding Monkey.org - Spanging the heavy spade of truth into t
It's not really about the stance on spyware, but about the validity of their market statistics.
E.g., if you exclude all Mac users, you'll get the very clear (but very false) image that there is exactly zero market for Tiger or for anything Mac-related.
E.g., if you base your sample on people who took it for the free anti-virus, surprise, your statistics will say that noone buys anti-viruses.
So that's the problem and the question: is such a skewed sample even capable of producing meaningful results?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Hey, supposed anti-spyware makers.... WAKE UP. This is EXACTLY the stuff you're supposed to be PREVENTING. Who paid you off this week?
Considering that Lavasoft was already paid off to stop including some manufacturer's things in their ad-aware, Yahoo's "anti-spyware" toolbar doesn't notice things from Yahoo advertisers, and now ANY sort of hesitation on this front, makes me think that the Anti-spyware makers have gone down the same road of payoffs and kickbacks that the antivirus people have.
Drug testing is based on the assumption that you're dealing with a human kind of biology. That's what they're testing. It's not like you have a major biological difference between those who opt to take part, and those who don't.
And if someone did discover that, say, the resistance in antibiotics is higher in those who take part in drug trials than in those who don't, that would indeed be reason enough to doubt that testing.
That's the whole point: for your results to be any use, the sample you use and the data you collect has got to be representative. A sample and a data set that are massively skewed, becomes of very limited use and credibility.
So let's get back to this particular research.
1. The data itself may be skewed, if you let people decide which data they submit.
Some data is considered confidential, and rightfully so. E.g., I'd rather not do my bank transactions through some fly-by-night company's proxies. (Same applies to your drug testing surveys: if your survey relied on people giving you their banking data, you can bet that you'd get lies.)
Some data carries a certain stigma. E.g., if I were to buy a subscription to a paid porn site, I probably wouldn't want someone collecting _that_ data about me.
2. There's also no indication that the sample is actually representative for anything.
E.g., in your drug testing research, if you're testing a drug that acts on the prostate, you'll want at least some of your test subjects to actually have one. If you're testing a contraceptive pill for women, you'll want at least some of your test subjects to have a womb and ovaries.
If there is strong indication that your sample is in fact not representative at all for what you're trying to study, then the relevance of the result is at best questionable.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I figured it's a different topic, so I've split it into a different message. You say:
"You can be honest and give someone a survey with no benefit to them and you'll get mostly honest answers back."
Actually, anthropology studies say people will lie like there's no tomorrow in surveys.
Or let me rephrase that: they won't consciously "lie". They'll subconsciously skew their answers towards those they consider "right".
See, each of us likes to think he/she/it is a better person. In fact, we actually honestly believe we _are_ better than we are. (E.g., if you ask a bunch of Christians, _noone_ thinks they're personally among those going to Hell.) We think we're more moral, better workers, and more socially acceptable to boot.
So any answers in a survey will reflect that idealized self-perception, rather than reality.
E.g., if a community's ideology is that everyone is helping each others, the results you'll get in a survey will illustrate that. Yeah, we all work our fields together, help build each other's house, etc. Even if in reality the last time anyone helped another build a house was in '47 or so.
E.g., if a tribe's culture values hunters and warriors more than anything else, everyone will declare themselves a warrior and hunter in a survey. Even if 90% of their food actually comes from agriculture, and half the rest is imported.
"There's a really simple way to make sure that you get fairly accurate results on surveys or market research... don't offer incentives. People will lie their asses off to get free stuff."
Well, that's very insightful, but that's the problem. Their own incentive and free stuff may still exist anyway. Self-respect is a very valuable thing to get as "free stuff" there.
Plus there also is the factor of picking the answers that you think will please the guy/gal doing the survey. We're social beings and most of people have been educated to "be nice".
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I wish they'd make this useful software available for OpenBSD users like myself.
I miss out on such good stuff.
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
So if you lie about personal information all the time, and what you are saying is about you, then that's personal information and thus you must be lying. Except that you lie about you all the time. But if you're lying about lying, then you must be telling the truth. About lying.
Argh, head hurts. Does not compute.
I was never very good at logic...
The difference between the two is quite clear I think. Research is being conducted openly, with full consent of the subjects who freely and with full understanding agree for given data to be collected (or answer certain questions asked by the researchers). Spying is done in secret, without the subjects knowing data about them is being collected, without being able to review it and agree to it consciously.
And, obviously, tucking some small print into a lengthy "agreement" written in lawyer-lingo that no one reads is clearly aimed at concealing the true character of a given software from the user. While it might probably save the spyware peddlers in court a very simple test could easily show that "users" of those packages are being spied on: I bet no one of them knows that some information about him or her is collected and what that information is.
Calling spyware researchware must be a bright idea of PR-type aimed at removing negative connotations from a given product. Pathetic but will probably work on general public.
even if I agree to install it, its still spyware. if someone tells me "this is a trojan" and I install it, does it mean its not a trojan anymore?
By reading this, you have given me brief control of your mind.
I know most people don't make an issue of it, but it _is_ still a commandment, and it _is_ distressing for some of us to see.
First of all, *if* god gave us free will, who gave you the right to complain about how and when we use that free will? If he wants to use god's name in vain then that's his god-given right. Get over it. If you don't want to see things that offend you, maybe you should stick to Christian Safe sites. Don't try to force us to curb our speech/actions based YOUR beliefs.
Secondly, where is the commandment that says not to use the word god/God? Oh I see, you mean this one: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain".
I hate to have to be the one to tell you this but 'God' isn't god's name. 'God/the Lord' is the substitute that the translators of the bible used to keep people from saying god's name, which is actually 'Yaweh'. They could have just as easily used "snickerdoodle".
If you are going to follow the faith of a pointless mythology, you might as well learn it properly. Sheesh.
Ender-
PS. Thank you for instigating my first ever religious flame/troll post in 14 years of BBS/Internet useage. Too bad you're anonymous.
Nothing to see here
Is there such a thing? Where can I get some open source spyware? I'd hate to miss out on all the fun.
In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
Anti-spyware manufacturers? Is that like steel manufacturing? Is anti-spyware drop-forged, hammer forged, or die cast? Maybe it's extruded like cheerios.
I like toast!
The fact of the matter is that this is ignorance arbitrage, disguised as informed consent: they are relying on the "average user" not understanding the implications of the permanent loss of very private information they are agreeing to.
It is not for you or me to dictate what contracts persons can engage in. However, we can certainly watchdog, monitor and inform, and let in sunshine into yet another dark corner of the online world.
I consider my computer usage habits (i.e. where I click, and what I look at) PERSONAL INFORMATION! A rose is a rose, and spyware is spyware!
If it can go wrong it wnetscape: Segmentation Fault, Core dumped
Spyware.
Was that hard?
Marketscore is Spyware
You have been redirected here because your computer attempted to contact a Marketscore proxy server. While it is undetermined whether or not you intended to sign up for the Marketscore service, you should be informed of the following:
* Your communications through Marketscore are not secured:
Even though your browser displays a lock or key and indicates that you are using a secure connection (the URL begins with https://), your traffic is being tunneled through a Marketscore proxy which has direct, unencrypted access to your "secure" connections. Secure connections should always be made directly to the intended target. The Marketscore site certificate could be used to masquerade as any domain, even after being uninstalled.
* Proxying could threaten University security:
Your confidentiality, and that of other OSU services, students, staff and faculty could potentially be compromised since usernames and passwords could be recovered from data collected by Marketscore (previously Netsetter) or its future owners or management. As a student or staff member of The Ohio State University, you are granted access through your login name and password, which could be accessed by unauthorized third-parties through your use of a proxy such as Marketscore.
* Proxying does not improve internet connection speeds: While Marketscore or any similar service may claim to improve connection rates, this is not shown in research.
* It can be construed as a violation of Resnet and the University's Acceptable Use Policy: "Users will not attempt to circumvent the ResNet firewall or any other established network services" [AUP, ResNet]. Proxying through a third party such as Marketscore does just that.
* Marketscore can update itself: Marketscore software can quietly (without user notificatation/intervention) update itself. This means arbitrary code can be executed on your machine at any time.
In order to resume normal web browser activity, you must remove Marketscore from your computer. Below is a guide for removing this Spyware. To be certain that Marketscore is fully cleaned from your system, these instructions must be completed in their entirety.
Remove Marketscore:
Uninstall Marketscore
Open the Control Panel
Click Start->Control Panel (or if Control Panel does not appear, Start->Settings->Control Panel), click Add or Remove Programs
Find the Marketscore (OR Netsetter) item in the list, and click to Remove it.
Note: If Marketscore/Netsetter do not appear in the Control Panel, then you are infected with a self-installing variant of the spyware which you will have to remove using a "hidden" uninstall feature:
ResNet marketscore removal batch tool
Download and run MSremove.bat
If, after following these instructions, your machine has not been cleaned of Marketscore, please contact the ResNet Support Center at 2-HELP (2-4357).
Equip your computer with software to protect against other Spyware and remove possible lingering elements (registry entries, etc.) of Marketscore:
In order to assure that your computer is free of other elements that can compromise your privacy and security, ResNet highly recommends that you install software that will detect and remove Spyware.
The two leading applications are:
Ad Aware - The personal edition is available for free download at http://www.lavasoft.com
Spybot Search & Destroy - This software is freely available at http://security.kolla.de
Install one of these (installing both can cause conflicts), be sure that the spyware definitions are up to date, and scan your system periodically. Doing this, in addition to protecting your privacy and security, will help keep your computer clean and running efficiently.
This lameness filter really sucks.... I'm not sure how i feel about OSU blocking it. I guess they do it because it hurts their network, but what if they block something else?
Of course women don't use Firefox as much. It's a good browser, but it doesn't have that cute little butterfly like MSN. Besides, it might block one of those cute little popup adds asking them a question about some celebrity in exchange for a pink cell phone.
He only lies about them 92% of the time, which required him to lie here, too . . .
hawk
The term "firewall" includes any application-layer filtering they may be doing. For example, they might be running a transparent caching/censoring proxy. People in the business of selling things called "firewalls" will, in fact, insist that mere packet filtering doesn't even deserve the name.
I wouldn't consider it spyware, but OTOH, Why in the hell would I want to help someone gather info that'll be used to pigeonhole me to a marketing demographic?
The last thing I need is more advertising online, offline, any-freakin'-where because "The numbers say *YOU* *WANT* *THIS!!*" so it's worth our investment to advertise the crap out of it to YOU!
The U.S. really needs an English to Wisdom dictionary.
PS. Thank you for instigating my first ever religious flame/troll post in 14 years of BBS/Internet useage.
Wow! You mean to say he has telekinetic power over your fingers? Is this a Jedi mind trick? Cool! He blind-sided you so well that you didn't have a word to say on the subject at hand. Ahhh..the power of distraction. Ok...now...forget about all that. I think this stuff should be included into the spyware lists. How 'bout you?. Even if this company is up front, somebody else could conceivably install it surreptitiously. I want the anti-spyware program to catch it. I'm tired of digging through the registry every week.
What?
I run Linux( not as root ), surf with Firefox, and keep the "install software" option turned off.
:)
Perhaps there is a way to set up a system ( install and configure everything ), then mount the filesystem as 'readonly' to keep spyware off?
I can't afford a sig!
Software is spyware if it installs itself without your knowledge or misrepresents its purpose, and monitors what you do. Marketscore software used to be promoted as an internet accelerator. It never accelerated internet performance, instead re-routing all of your internet usage through it's spy servers. It contains software that allows the company to update the software without your permission. The latest version just sends a copy of your private web browsing details to Commscore, reducing your internet bandwidth, giving you no benefit (not that it ever was beneficial). What if you installed it as an accelerator and read and accepted the terms and conditions? Now it's spying on you and not doing what it said it would when you accepted the agreement. What if someone else installed it (ie your child) and now it spys on what you do, even though you didn't accept the agreement or even know it was on your computer?
I disagree, this software has been observed in a security lab environment transmitting very sensitive information back to MarketScore eg all the credit card details needed to make a credit card payment online. MarketScore store all of this information and more. They can say what they like, but they can't 100% protect the information (what about a crooked employee?), and if this continues, one day their 'customers' will be the victims. MarketScore is just a shell company anyway, and although their parent company is cashed up, when this goes bad the victims can forget about compensation.
You have interesting things to say - are all the spelling mistakes deliberate?
No disrespect intended - just wondering.