| And it begins This sounds like the beginning of some true software wars.
While researching this topic I found an interestingly informed comment here:
»www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/···981.html
The author implied that part of WhenU's s/w (knowingly or not) deleted other software that was 'hostile' to it. (AdAware)
I'm just using my imagination here. If anti-adware can team up with adware... what's to prevent viruses from altering their own definitions in your av s/w? How many newbies will notice when a particularly useful app deletes its competition off their hard drives and redirects the action to itself? I can easily imagine 'innovative' new ware using the techniques made famous by CWS, dyfuca, etc., etc. One of the mottos of the computer industry is "whatever works". Companies advertise because IT WORKS.
The spyware problem is *not* going to get better. As more functionality becomes available, it will be exploited. As more kiddies get access, more will try their hand at a little havoc. The makers of mayhem, unchecked, will only hone their skills. Hell, other countries may even be financing this kind of thing as covert retribution towards 'the west'. I dunno. MS leaves gaping security holes open in all versions of their software. They even create new ones. Soon "Media Player" will scan your HD for pirated or copied music... and probably delete it. "Welcome to Windows"...
The more accessible the technology becomes, the more the dregs of humanity will use it against 'the world'. Having been online for more than 12 years, I have experienced the devolution myself. I don't even feel like the things I just wrote are pessimistic. Let me put it another way... think about crowd control (aka security) in a bar that can only hold twenty people. Then think about the crowd control in a stadium that seats five million, and is constantly growing to accept more. You have to watch out for yourself.
BTW, FYI, I use spybot s&d religiously, it has been able to fix all of my problems except CWS variants, which I had to dig out myself. The latest version has NO products ignored by default, there's a whole CATEGORY for LSP (New.Net, etc). Also, I did verify the above link to Lavasoft. I have tried AdAware several times but I do not use it because it was always unable to get rid of my pertinent infections. |
