Spyware Shame Campaign

[peter991]

INTERNET researchers at Harvard and Oxford universities are seeking to enlist web users in a program to name and shame suppliers of spyware and other malicious software.

The Stop Badware Coalition will seek to spotlight companies that make millions of dollars by tricking web users into putting spyware, adware or other deceptive software on their machines, organisers from the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard and the Oxford Internet Institute said.

The project is financially backed by Google and computer makers Lenovo and Sun Microsystems. It is advised by US consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports WebWatch, its backers said.

"This is mostly a highlighting and warning and education project," said Vint Cerf, one of the pioneers of the internet who now holds the title of chief internet evangelist at Google.

The coalition aims to solicit reports of malicious software from web users through its site at www.StopBadware.org.

Mr Cerf is serving on the advisory board of StopBadware.org.

The group will issue reports naming offending products and companies in an effort to educate consumers. Project organisers said that, over time, they hoped to team up with commercial security software makers to create automated tools to block "badware".

The tactics seek to go beyond lawsuits and efforts to work with regulators to use the power of publicity to expose what organisers say are the unethical practices of aggressive marketers such as Claria and 180solutions.

These companies have been widely criticised for spreading software that installs incessant pop-up advertisements on PCs.

"Badware" is a new, catch-all term that refers not just to spyware but to a broader class of malicious software, which once installed on a computer can open the door to viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other forms of computer attack.

One in six respondents to a survey conducted by Consumer Reports complained they had been a victim of so-called badware in 2003-04, spending an average of $US250 ($330) to repair computer damage, or around $US3.5 billion in total.

Organisers declined to identify specific targets, saying they would issue monthly reports of their findings that name specific companies and provide consumers with tips for how to fix problems created by the programs.

"We do have companies in mind but we are not going to name names off the bat," said John Palfrey, co-director of the Stop Badware Coalition and Berkman Centre director.

"The key message here is that we are putting every company on notice," he said.

"These are companies that operate in the shadows," said Beau Brendler, director of Consumer Reports WebWatch. "Some of these companies are trying to come forward and have initial public offerings."

The StopBadware website will allow internet users to check to see if software they want to download is infected with badware and allow site contributors to alert others to malicious programs they have encountered.

Source: Australian IT News

[astral]

I use ZoneAlarm as my firewall and that has built in Spyware scanner, so I am fairly sure my machine is clean.

I applaud this campaign to get the companies who write these little Spies

to be shamed, out of business if necessary.