Slashdot Mirror
The State Of Grayware On the PC
Checkers and Pogo writes "Grayware inhabits a murky area between pure malware and useful apps, and it's a growing problem. 38.1% of all malicious PC software falls into the grayware category, and so-called 'grayware 2.0' is targeting social-networking sites. Ars Technica's Jeremy Reimer notes, 'The "threat" of rogue applications like SuperWall wasn't immediately obvious: they seemed more like annoyances than real security risks. But as users entered more and more personal information into their Facebook accounts, it became clear that the possibilities for abuse were rampant. For example, because Facebook allows users to "tag" photos with the names of friends, it is possible for third-party apps to distribute photos that a user might only want to be seen by their inner circle of friends.'"
Yeah, WinAmp was bad. But I'll never forget the day in college when my roommate downloaded and installed BonziBUDDY on my computer!
That goddamn ad injecting mal-ware sporting purple gorilla that was based on the dead soul of Clippy can rot in hell for eternity!
There's "free" as in gratis and libre and then there's a third kind of "free" as in wake-up-in-a-bathtub-packed-with-ice-minus-one-kidney free.
My work here is dung.
These are the most popular examples of Grayware - avoid whenever possible:
-Norton anything
-Mcaffee anything
-Microsoft anything
-Myspace anything
-Facebook anything
-Sony anything
-iTunes
-"Quick"time
-Realplayer
Also:
-Never click on the duck
-Never click on the monkey
-Never click on the blinkenlights
-Never click on "yes" or "I agree" -If you still manage to get a popup, consult your country's extrortion laws
You've been warned.
The article defines this "greyware" "vectors of attack." PROTIP: If the software has any sort of vector to launch any sort of attack on any machine, it is malware, pure and simple. Calling it "greyware" is a whitewash of some dark stuff.
Ok, /.ers don't RTFA anyway but I'll sum up the 5 pages. History of malware...gator....trojans et al....there will always be malware that avoids detection...in the future mobile devices are going to be targeted more than they are now. Constantly updating browsers are good...yadda yadda...don't be stupid and be skeptical.
Tada!
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
For example, because Facebook allows users to "tag" photos with the names of friends, it is possible for third-party apps to distribute photos that a user might only want to be seen by their inner circle of friends.
I can't even conceive of a threat to national security larger than this!
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Even coining the term 'greyware' is just a form of social engineering. "Oh it can't be THAT bad. I mean, it's grey, not black."
Malware is malware. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call it a duck. There is no such thing as 'greyware'.
If we're going to start using the term "grayware" to describe software that falls somewhere between a useful application and a piece of malware, then we need to start using the term "blackware" to refer to malware, and "whiteware" to refer to useful software. By the same token, some software could be "light gray ware," other could be "dark gray ware," et cetera. Whiteware that contains exploitable bugs should be termed "off-white ware" and security software which would otherwise be termed whiteware but could be used by a malcontent for evil purposes should be termed "whiteware with black polka dots." We could further extend this concept to include whiteware that could be dangerous if misused, such as software that controls a nuclear rocket; such software would be termed "redware." Software that helps the environment would be called "greenware." Now all we need is something for "blueware" and we can use the entire color space to describe a computer program.
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
If I'm hired to analyze security for a bank and use the knowledge I acquired during my analysis to rob the bank, I'm only guilty of a misdemeanor?
Not only are some of these apps extremely annoying, including advertisements next to games and etc, its now very common for them to use incentives (eg extra levels or whatever) to get people to invite all their friends to the application. facebook's devs addressed it in a blog post but it remains a problem. the whole system looked bad from the start, so i personally reject all applications that aren't facebook related. even so, its to the point now where i'm thinking of shutting down my account.
Yeah, malware is bad, but if somebody thinks those photos are going stay "within their core circle of friends" when they post them on Facebook, they need their head checked. You know, people in your "circle of friends" have other friends too, that are in other circles of friends. They will surely get passed between the two groups. Even if that doesn't happen, somebody in your "circle" will have an insecure computer.
The bottom line is that if you think you can keep your photos private when posting them online, you are deluding yourself. An idea might be to not take them in the first place if you don't want them seen by others.
... and then they built the supercollider.
There's a few you forgot.
-All versions of Winamp after 2.81
-Adobe Acrobat
-AOL
-java
-99% of all "security" software (not just limited to Norton and Mcaffee, but those are the worst/most common!
-I'm sure I'm forgetting some more huge ones!
Also:
If you really want a very clean system, I suggest using Portable Apps (google it). Tons of great FOSS programs that will not touch the registry or do anything but run and only run when they are opened:
Pidgin
GIMP
Firefox 3 (Beta 5)
Open Office
Audacity
Sudoku
Texas Hold'em (Online and Free!)
UltraVNC
Infrarecorder (nearly as good as Nero now!)
Clamwin
Filezilla
Bonkenc
Virtualdub
Other than those programs, there are a few proprietary softwares that I must have, and there is sadly no open source alternative:
Winamp 2.81
uTorrent 1.5 (later versions are spyware)
Virtualbox
Urban Terror (though it is ioquake3, so I ALMOST trust it all the way (wish it was portable!)!
Joost
Cool Edit Pro 2.1
Sibelius
Dream Aquarium
Skype
And then there are a couple FOSS apps that I can't get portable versions of:
Mupen++
Zsnes
Using that list of software I can pretty much do ANYTHING on this machine, and I haven't had any spyware, malware, virii, or slowdowns at all.
Feel free to add whatever I forgot!!!
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.