Stop BadWare! New International Group to Fight Spyware.
RTA Information Technology, Tempe, Arizona
The new Stop Badware Coalition, http://stopbadware.org , is a group of companies dedicated to exposing the damage that spyware and adware distributors cause our economy and the IT industry. Harvard Law's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Oxford's Internet Institute, and Consumer Reports' WebWatch Project sponsor the group, along with Google, Sun, and Lenovo.
The group's web site opened for business on Wednesday, January 25, 2006. It already has forms for submitting user and technical reports of malware attacks. Such infestations reportedly cost home computer owners billions of dollars each year.
As an IT consultant, I see the effects of these attacks constantly. As the malware has become more clever, I see even experienced users hit. The recent WMF exploit for Windows XP and the Sony DRM Rootkit showed that uninvited software can invade a wide audience.
I'm dismayed by the destruction that malware causes. I estimate that roughly half of home PCs have a spyware or adware infection of some sort. Pick up a newspaper and you'll read of disgusted computer users giving up and buying new computers to fix PCs ground to a near-halt by spyware. But, alas, a month later, that shiny new PC is infected, too.....
Malware is becoming an albatross around Microsoft's neck. I see more Linux promoters than ever, correctly pointing out that Linux has had few malware attacks. This isn't because Linux is bug free or necessarily more secure. In fact, until recently, it was pretty easy to leave security holes in a default Linux installation. But Windows is such a big target, it's tempting for everyone to try to hit it first. Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and Outlook email client have been other victims of their own popularity.
I haven't yet explored Vista's claim of enhanced security. I have my fingers crossed. And Microsoft's direct involvement in the Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus market are, I think, signs of Microsoft's concern for the damage being done to its reputation by the ongoing deluge of malware.
StopBadware.org intends to publicize the existence of, the creators of, and the people who profit from malware. By doing so, StopBadware will, no doubt, be the target of numerous lawsuits.
Hang tight, guys. We're all behind you.
The new Stop Badware Coalition, http://stopbadware.org , is a group of companies dedicated to exposing the damage that spyware and adware distributors cause our economy and the IT industry. Harvard Law's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Oxford's Internet Institute, and Consumer Reports' WebWatch Project sponsor the group, along with Google, Sun, and Lenovo.
The group's web site opened for business on Wednesday, January 25, 2006. It already has forms for submitting user and technical reports of malware attacks. Such infestations reportedly cost home computer owners billions of dollars each year.
As an IT consultant, I see the effects of these attacks constantly. As the malware has become more clever, I see even experienced users hit. The recent WMF exploit for Windows XP and the Sony DRM Rootkit showed that uninvited software can invade a wide audience.
I'm dismayed by the destruction that malware causes. I estimate that roughly half of home PCs have a spyware or adware infection of some sort. Pick up a newspaper and you'll read of disgusted computer users giving up and buying new computers to fix PCs ground to a near-halt by spyware. But, alas, a month later, that shiny new PC is infected, too.....
Malware is becoming an albatross around Microsoft's neck. I see more Linux promoters than ever, correctly pointing out that Linux has had few malware attacks. This isn't because Linux is bug free or necessarily more secure. In fact, until recently, it was pretty easy to leave security holes in a default Linux installation. But Windows is such a big target, it's tempting for everyone to try to hit it first. Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and Outlook email client have been other victims of their own popularity.
I haven't yet explored Vista's claim of enhanced security. I have my fingers crossed. And Microsoft's direct involvement in the Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus market are, I think, signs of Microsoft's concern for the damage being done to its reputation by the ongoing deluge of malware.
StopBadware.org intends to publicize the existence of, the creators of, and the people who profit from malware. By doing so, StopBadware will, no doubt, be the target of numerous lawsuits.
Hang tight, guys. We're all behind you.
posted by Myron Johnson | 12:22 AM
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