After Microsoft released their stand-along spyware protection tool, Symantec follows suit with their own. My concern is, why isn’t this anti-spyware tool a part of the anti-virus tool? Is it really because viruses and spyware software are so different that a single software cannot prevent against both; or the bottom line of the company would benefit from another much-needed product which the marketplace can take and pay for?

[Via ZDNet UK, UK -]

Spitzer is in the news again. The game in town is "identify theft" and Spitzer is on the ball. According to eWeek, the New York Attorney General is seeking stronger laws against identity theft and computer hacking. New York is the seventh in the United States in per-capita identity theft, so Spitzer’s actions have a reason.

The proposed legislation would allow for security freezes on credit files and boost
protection against companies disclosing Social Security numbers.
Consumers would also receive notice whenever a company shares personal
data with another party and ensure access to profiles compiled by
personal information brokers.

Sounds good, at least a step in the right direction. Too bad not many AGs are in the race for governor next year - we would have had more protection against identity theft.

[Via eWeek -]

Information analyzed by CipherTrust on e-mail collected throughout March and the first half of April from customers worldwide shows that
57% of spam originated from the U.S., down from 86% during June and July last year. This is an interesting trend, especially considering the growing attention paid in the United States to the problem of spam - maybe the lawsuits and the ISP proactive anti-spam efforts are paying off in the US?

"Criminals look for a weaker link, so places like China, or anywhere behind the U.S. in terms of computer literacy, are a
good target," Stanley [CipherTrust’s vice president and managing director for Europe,
the Middle East and Africa] said.

Internet-connected computers infected by worms or viruses and under the
control of a hacker, are used to launch denial-of-service attacks, or
send spam or phishing e-mail messages. An average of 157,000 new
zombies are identified each day, and 20% of these are in China,
security company CipherTrust reported this week.

[Via IT Facts -]

How would one distinguish between "spyware" and "researchware?" It’s tricky, as this MSNBC article points out. For example, in a description such as,

It’s just a small download, promoted as a free antivirus program. But
the software is really designed to sit silently on consumers’
computers, watch everything they do online, and send the critical data
back to the program’s creator. The program has swept the Internet in
the last year, with millions of people downloading it.

How would you call a software that does the things described above? Probably spyware, at least I would. This is what a company called MarketScore does. MarketScore entices volunteers by offering protection from computer
viruses. In the past, using the name Netsetter, comScore software
promised faster Internet connections. In both cases, by downloading the
software consumers grant comScore permission to redirect all their
Internet traffic through the company’s servers. ComScore then studies
the traffic to develop powerful market research the firm later sells.

It sounds like a spyware to me, especially when users are not aware of the presence of the software tracking their browsing and clicking habits. MarketScore argues that their practices are not different than Nielsen/NetRatings where they use user panels to collect data. Although I am not familiar with Nielsen’s business practices, I have a feeling that Nielsen’s users are aware and have consented to being monitored.

Responses to "researchware" vary. Some (a Canadian bank) have started blocking traffic flowing through MarketSpace servers. Others are trying to figure out users’ perspective on this - is there informed consent or not? Other defend MarketSpace - for getting a free antivuris program, they agree to allow the "researchware."

[Via MSNBC]