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Scaremongering over Spyware?
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. "
Slowly people that I know start to have things in order as I have managed to make them change habits, install tools and such, but not everyone has such aquintances, and even then, the number of times I have cleaned spyware from someones computer is way high...
Why shouldn't the anti-spyware companies do it? The anti-virus people over hype the threats all the time anyway. The press plays along cause it sells newspapers and ups the ratings...
"Money is truthful. If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash." Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Robert A. Heinlein
How can you really tell how many people are infected with spyware? It's not a question like, "do you support proposition 84?" where you can call people at random or talk to them on the street. I would be afraid of the guy who came to my door asking if he could test whether or not my computer was infected with spyware(doubly so since I use a mac :P), and if you just ask people, 9/10 they won't know but will probably make up a answer anyway. They could use the numbers sent to them by customers, but that isn't random at all. Their customers are much more likely to have spyware infections or else they wouldn't be seeking their help.
So yeah, it's a number, but not a very convincing one...
Monstar L
The BBC is reporting that PCs in the UK are infected with over 20 pieces of spyware on average...It is this international reach that concerns those in authority trying to combat the spread of spyware."
Quick, get Q on the line, I think we are going to need the services of 007 for this one!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
...they are (probably deliberately) confusing the terms "trojan" and "spyware". Is it any wonder that the average user doesn't know the difference between a "virus", "spyware" or "adware", doesn't know the umbrella term "malware", and thinks that any antivirus program is all they need to stay safe?
To this day, most end-users I talk to think that "spyware" is something good, since they hear people talking about "Spybot", which they think is "a program that gets rid of the viruses".
When will we get some REAL end-user education in this topic? Public schools have Sex Ed classes where they teach you how to reduce your risk of getting HIV and the Clap... how about Computer Safety classes where they teach you how to reduce your risk of getting viruses or spyware?
With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
When I help out none-techies with their crippled system, they often have in excess of 100 pieces of various malware. I can well believe as an average of the uk that 21 would not be a too unreasonable figure.
All is fair in love and war...
From TFA: More information regarding those settlements can be found here.
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Well it would all depend on what was being classed as spyware. Are they including tracking cookies, in which case anyone using google with cookies turned on will be infected.
And why oh why can't the BBC specify "Windows" users. Why do they report every piece of Malware as being a threat to PC users. It's not. Most malware is operating system specific. if it affects Windows, say Windows.
Sloppy journalism...slipping standards, blah blah...
Education is the real key to computer protection, not the purchase of spyware removal tools.
I've only ever had one piece of malware, which was ten years ago (the Tai Pei virus). In the meantime, I've learned good computer habits. These include being cautious about downloading and installing software, using the free firewall which comes with Windows XP, and employing the Mozilla range of browsers / email clients.
If users don't learn to be cautious when using a computer, they're going to run afoul of phishers, which will be much more of an incovenience that a bit of adware.
Phoenix, Boston, Little Rock, see a pattern?
However, if they are, then I'm sure most of the computers I own (Linux, OS X, Win) will have at least a dozen such "spyware" infections...
Hell, I've seen computers that would push that average *way* up all on their own.
You have: 10,489 viruses on your computer
No, I did not make that up. There are actually people out there (many, in fact) that think that the computer is running really slow because it's getting old, and not because there's three billion pieces of crap bogging it down. It just never occurs to them.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
Tracking cookies in and of themselves are not malware. Spyware is an app, perhaps in java, that specifically targets user's info and sends it independently back to a parent server/site. It may be stand-alone, or it may be part of another app, but a tracking cookie in and of itself is NOT spyware!
"Money is truthful. If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash." Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Robert A. Heinlein
On the other hand, doesnt it lead to waste of:
(*) valuable time, because every now and then you have to scan/remove/update/etc
(*) valuable comp resources/processing because you HAVE to have your anti-****(whatever)-ware ALWAYS on, which are generally bloated and eat up memory/processing (*) and imagine the rebooting and re-installing
Its sad that the 'wonderful pc experience' has now come to a stage that the price one pays is getting heavier. And with some very basic steps/prevention measures (as explained by many at /. during such stories), it could be enhanced many times.
I'm working for an antivirus company (and you have NO idea, the problem with spyware is not that you couldn't remove it, it's the legal issues around removing it and labeling it spyware), and from my perspective, there are 2 kinds of spyware out there.
:)
The kind that comes in the form of a cookie like doubleclick. It's tracking you, so it is technically spyware, even though it does not modify anything on your PC, does not have any negative impact on your stability or anything else. All it does is to monitor your browsing behaviour.
If you count this kind of spyware then yes, the infection rate is crippling. 99% I'd wager. And 20 on average is reaching kinda low.
If you only count those pesky popups that come as BHOs and other installed services, then my count would be a LOT lower. Still way too high but WAY lower.
And yes, the average infected computer carries a tremenduous load of spyware. If you have one, you have them all. If I didn't know better, I'd say they download each other.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
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
They can give Microsoft an additional $50 American every year, that should fix their PC problems post haste: Who better than Microsoft to fix Microsoft products?
Now if you'll excuse me, Guido the wheel man is at the door wanting his $20 American for not trashing my wheels when I'm not using them -- he calls it "assurance" while I call it "insurance" but it's really just plain old extortion. You see, Guido sold me the wheels and tells me he can only keep them working if I pay him forever, otherwise something nasty is sure to happen and it will cost me even more money to get it fixed.
If the woman in this article is such a heroic professional, why is she only cleaning off the malware and not getting the users off Microsoft OSes? Surely she has figured out by now that the cleaned machines get trashed again. Maybe she just really likes being needed. Maybe this is PR trash planted by some Microsoft goon.
Maybe Mac and Linux folks are laughing like crazed loons after reading this "heroic" article.
Cherrios.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
Here at GRCC, Computer Club runs a monthly event called PC Clinic where we fix machines for free. We've serviced more than 60 machines over the course of the three events we've run. We easily average more than 100 pieces of spyware on each machine we test.
/. comments later, after class. :)
Three or four machines had over 1000[sic] pieces of spyware, and one machine had over three thousand pieces, plus several variants of either Sasser or Sobig. (I forget which...that machine came in the door on our first day.)
We don't just service the machines of the elderly...we get a lot of uninformed college students and their parents, as well.
If you have any questions, drop me an email. I'd be happy to answer them. I'll respond to
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
It doesn't matter where you surf. It doesn't matter what you open in mail. It doesn't matter if you keep your system updated.
...
What matters is the combination of it all!
You have to do EVERYTHING to stay clean. No shady porn sites, no clickyclicky on shady mail, daily updates, up to date virus killer, well configured firewall,
"Gaaaaah... too much work!" is the answer you'll get from Joe Schmoe Average. "All I wanna do is surf, I don't wanna worry about system stability, Browser plugins and antivirus."
Well, all I want to do with my car is drive around. And still I gotta worry about red lights and directional lanes. Why the heck do I? It makes me slower and keeps me from getting right where I want to be!
Oh. Right. I enjoy being alive and have an operational car.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The emphasis on preventing spyware from infecting a PC is misplaced. The problem is best addressed by defining what is acceptable and what is not. Then punishing the people who exceed the limit.
Who will define what is acceptable? We will, of course. We are the technological elite. It's time that we start making the parameters about what is acceptable behavior on the net.
So the spyware makers pay off the politicians to allow some country to engage in aberant conduct and give them a save haven? Shut off the country from the web.
It's time that we stop assuming that in the evolving information age that the politicians have more control over society than the technical elite. We control the web, and we need to take responsibility for the assholes and criminals who use it to prey on society. That means shutting down the 419 chuckleheads also.
We created the environment that allows viruses and spyware to exist. It's time that we and not the politicians put an end to it. And if what we do goes against some jerks 'right' to sell access to your PC for his own profit, then so be it.
Let's count it up. MSN, Internet Explorer, Windows Autoupdate...
:P
I kid, I kid
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
This number is easy for me to see as an "average". Either people are at least mildly educated about spyware like us on /. and have absolutely no spyware or are completely unedcuated and have several thousand pieces of spyware!!! Those with several thousand pieces when averaged with those who have none what-so-ever can easy come up with 20 pieces on average.
... and in the DRM, bind them.
It's always a shocker to see what kind of data is collected by keyloggers. With 20+ pieces of malware on the average PC, how many do you think are in places where you do have personal information. Your company has all of your personal information, somebody had to enter that in by hand. How about banks? They're frequently the target of even nastier things than the article mentions. Remember that the credit card and check scanning devices that are attached to computers input data in the same way that keyboards do. In fact, most of them are daisy-chained to keyboard plugs to get power. This means that if your local florist, butcher, dry cleaner, etc. does transactions on the computer, all of your credit card or check information could be in Russia within the hour! Scary.
There are plenty of other more-neutral studies that say basically the same thing.
r vey_1.htmle StudyRelease.pdf0 4.pdf
? content_id=716624 5-20041015DellsSpywareSurvey.html
Late in 2004 some studies were done that were pretty thorough. I know it's kind of old now but I can't imagine things have gotten any better.
A study was done by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance. Some of their findings:
6% of users thought they had a virus currently on their computer. A scan revealed that actually 19% of all the users had viruses.
71% of those with antivirus software thought that it updated weekly or daily. However, a scan revealed that only 33% of all the users had actually updated their antivirus within the last week.
53% thought they had spyware on their computer. A scan revealed that in truth, 80% of all the users had spyware.
References:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/10/25/HNaolsu
http://www.staysafeonline.info/pdf/NCSA-AOLIn-Hom
http://www.staysafeonline.info/pdf/safety_study_v
Another study by Dell estimated that nearly 90% of all desktop computers are infected somehow, with 1 out of 5 calls to Dell tech-support being virus/spyware related. Most people aren't even aware that their computers have been compromised:
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php
http://www.webpronews.com/news/ebusinessnews/wpn-
Mark Russinovich of sysinternals has an interesting experiment here.