I'm not really an OSX user, but I do have quite a bit of experience Linux and I know that they have the same base: UNIX. I know that in Linux all of the data pertaining to one user is stored in the/home/user directory. If the same hold true for Mac OSX, then couldn't you just eliminate all the spyware by cleaning out the/home/user/bin directory of all unwanted programs and then delete their associated files in the/home/user directory? Or is their a way for this malware to do a root level install and make it's home in the/usr/bin or similar directory? And how would they gain rool level access in the first place?! Sounds like user apathy to secure their boxes.
I'm sorry if I came off a little trollish. I just wanted to point out one of the main features of UNIX that should prevent any intervention in the form of malware ever being permanetly installed on the computer.
No matter what companies do to prevent spam the problem will get worse. The only way to put an end to this is for the governments of all the major nations to put forward a serious effort to stop spammers. The recent lawsuits filed in the US are a good step foward but in the wrong direction as they only are relevent to domestic cases. This is an international problem and it needs global collaboration in order to work.
The best way to approach penalisation of these criminals is for nations to impose not fines of millions of dollars which will never be paid, but to imprison and publically humiliate offenders. Twenty to fifty years in a Nicuagian, Turkish, or Russian prison would certainly deter spammers in those countries from commiting such economic crimes, and for those who think that such punishment is harsh think about the billions of dollars in lost revinue that spam has cost us in the form of wasted electricity, bandwidth, and IT. Total that with the damage done by viral spammail and the numbers quickly add up. If this kind of theft of capital occured in any other form it would be considered a major felony in just about every country.
I'm not trying to slam IBM. The very fact that they are doing something to cure this technological disease is great, but it just won't have any long term inpact. Technology is only a short term solution--spammers will eventually find a way around every filtering system we can possibly build. The only thing that will ever have a long term inpact on spamming (spyware, adware, crapware, pop-up, and pop-overs for that matter) is a common international law that tackles the issue. Unfortunately, the only flaw would be that it would be up to the individual nations on how t enforce it (or weather or not to enforce it at all).
This has been the most creative thing I've seen in a long time dealing with computers. An open BIOS would really give users a whole new world of functionality ranging from emulators, add-ons/plug-in, boot-time unified hardware drivers, and replacing the poor functionality of modern boot loaders which often frustrate me with rediculously cryptic meathodology that could be simplifed for beeter ease of use adn more functionality. This possibilities are endless.
Perhaps, this shall also prompt hardware developers such as Intel to be more creative too in their firmware designs, giving users the options they want. This is very interesting, as it will take both open source and propreitary to a new level as standards of quality are rasied. I love competition, because only through competition does innovation come... open source is just what the doctor ordered to jump start innovation in a field of computing that has been left in the dust for over 20 years. Let the BIOS Wars begin
Toward the end of the article the author stated that they are also called popovers, overlays, ect. I like floaters, because no matter hard much you flush, the damn turds never go down.
But on a more serious note...one should be asking are pop-ups, spyware, and other annoyances legal or is it hacking? Especially if the meathod is coming through an unwanted program that was installed without the user's knoweledge. In criminal justice law this is the equvialent to breaking and entering, vandalism, sabutage, and a whole other arm's list of realted crimes.
The fact is that companies that participate in these activities are more than just guilty of agressive marketing, but are guilty of fraud, vandalism, false advertising. I think that a consumer's union should be founded to boycott companies that such meathods as advertising bait: it's disgusting, distastful, and inappropriate.
The fact that my nine year old sister can get on the net and type in http://www.pbs.org or nasa.gov and get a popup or floater advertising porn (via some undected spyware residing on the system)is disturbing on many levels. What's next?
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I'm not really an OSX user, but I do have quite a bit of experience Linux and I know that they have the same base: UNIX. I know that in Linux all of the data pertaining to one user is stored in the /home/user directory. If the same hold true for Mac OSX, then couldn't you just eliminate all the spyware by cleaning out the /home/user/bin directory of all unwanted programs and then delete their associated files in the /home/user directory? Or is their a way for this malware to do a root level install and make it's home in the /usr/bin or similar directory? And how would they gain rool level access in the first place?! Sounds like user apathy to secure their boxes.
I'm sorry if I came off a little trollish. I just wanted to point out one of the main features of UNIX that should prevent any intervention in the form of malware ever being permanetly installed on the computer.
No matter what companies do to prevent spam the problem will get worse. The only way to put an end to this is for the governments of all the major nations to put forward a serious effort to stop spammers. The recent lawsuits filed in the US are a good step foward but in the wrong direction as they only are relevent to domestic cases. This is an international problem and it needs global collaboration in order to work.
The best way to approach penalisation of these criminals is for nations to impose not fines of millions of dollars which will never be paid, but to imprison and publically humiliate offenders. Twenty to fifty years in a Nicuagian, Turkish, or Russian prison would certainly deter spammers in those countries from commiting such economic crimes, and for those who think that such punishment is harsh think about the billions of dollars in lost revinue that spam has cost us in the form of wasted electricity, bandwidth, and IT. Total that with the damage done by viral spammail and the numbers quickly add up. If this kind of theft of capital occured in any other form it would be considered a major felony in just about every country.
I'm not trying to slam IBM. The very fact that they are doing something to cure this technological disease is great, but it just won't have any long term inpact. Technology is only a short term solution--spammers will eventually find a way around every filtering system we can possibly build. The only thing that will ever have a long term inpact on spamming (spyware, adware, crapware, pop-up, and pop-overs for that matter) is a common international law that tackles the issue. Unfortunately, the only flaw would be that it would be up to the individual nations on how t enforce it (or weather or not to enforce it at all).
This has been the most creative thing I've seen in a long time dealing with computers. An open BIOS would really give users a whole new world of functionality ranging from emulators, add-ons/plug-in, boot-time unified hardware drivers, and replacing the poor functionality of modern boot loaders which often frustrate me with rediculously cryptic meathodology that could be simplifed for beeter ease of use adn more functionality. This possibilities are endless.
Perhaps, this shall also prompt hardware developers such as Intel to be more creative too in their firmware designs, giving users the options they want. This is very interesting, as it will take both open source and propreitary to a new level as standards of quality are rasied. I love competition, because only through competition does innovation come... open source is just what the doctor ordered to jump start innovation in a field of computing that has been left in the dust for over 20 years. Let the BIOS Wars begin
Toward the end of the article the author stated that they are also called popovers, overlays, ect. I like floaters, because no matter hard much you flush, the damn turds never go down. But on a more serious note...one should be asking are pop-ups, spyware, and other annoyances legal or is it hacking? Especially if the meathod is coming through an unwanted program that was installed without the user's knoweledge. In criminal justice law this is the equvialent to breaking and entering, vandalism, sabutage, and a whole other arm's list of realted crimes. The fact is that companies that participate in these activities are more than just guilty of agressive marketing, but are guilty of fraud, vandalism, false advertising. I think that a consumer's union should be founded to boycott companies that such meathods as advertising bait: it's disgusting, distastful, and inappropriate. The fact that my nine year old sister can get on the net and type in http://www.pbs.org or nasa.gov and get a popup or floater advertising porn (via some undected spyware residing on the system)is disturbing on many levels. What's next?