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Scaremongering over Spyware?

Posted by Zonk on from the grains-of-salt-available-to-your-left dept.

Dynamoo writes "The BBC is reporting that PCs in the UK are infected with over 20 pieces of spyware on average. A frightening statistic, if it is to be believed. In fact, the figures come from Webroot - an anti-spyware firm with a commercial interest in playing up the spyware threat." From the article: "In Poland, 867 of every 1,000 domestic PCs have been infected by trojans, unsolicited programs that can allow remote users to control the machine. It is this international reach that concerns those in authority trying to combat the spread of spyware. "

2 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. More Information by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 4, Informative

    From TFA:
    If the FTC gathers evidence of a crime, it can - and does - launch prosecutions. Last month two companies were ordered to hand back more than $2m (£1.14m) garnered through selling fake anti-spyware products.
    More information regarding those settlements can be found here.
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

  2. 20 Spyware Packages? by bmo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hah!

    DOUBLE HAH!

    Them: "Dude, my computer is slow and it's got some sort of popup that comes on when I turn it on"

    Me: "You're infected"

    Them: "But how? I don't go to any porn sites...." yadda yadda yadda.

    And when I get to the sick peecee, I see that not only does it have _one_ piece of malware, but it barely boots from the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of evil packages all fighting for control of the poor machine.

    It's a losing battle. No, it's not scare mongering. It's reality.

    --
    BMO