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.: In 'cookie' fight, it's not clear who's winning - 3rd Aug 2005
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"Internet users are taking back control of their computers, and online marketers and publishers are not pleased. But they do not quite know what to do about their conundrum - if it is a conundrum, since they cannot even agree on that.
Until recently, Internet businesses could track their users freely, using so-called cookies, tiny text files they secretly embed on the surfer's hard drive. Now, with the proliferation of antispyware programs that can delete unwanted cookies, they often cannot tell who has been to their Web site or what they have seen..."
[IHT] |
.: Spyware Costs Weigh Heavy On IT - 3rd Aug 2005
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"A survey of more than 1,000 IT managers and end users reveals that spyware and other unsanctioned downloads are resulting in average monthly costs of $130,000 to IT enterprises. The survey also found that spyware incursions appear to be growing at a rate twice that of computer virus incidents.
Greynets, applications that are downloaded and installed on end user PCs without IT sanction, are increasingly represented by instant messaging. "Within the next six months, virtually all end users will have deployed some type of greynet application," the report states. "Based on stated intentions, this number will rise to 93 percent in the next six months."..."
[InformationWeek] |
.: Review: Claria Software--Unsafe At Any Speed - 3rd Aug 2005
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"Software from Claria Corporation, formerly known as Gator, has been widely accused of being spyware. But is it? We took a look for ourselves, and didn't like what we saw.
The spyware case against Claria comes down to one of disclosure. Critics of the adware vendor say that Claria does not adequately disclose to users the information it's collecting and how it will use that information. Claria counters that its disclosures are complete.
We decided to see for ourselves. We downloaded and installed two Claria applications from the company Web site: Weatherscope and Date Manager..."
[CMP] |
.: Claria Software Seeks Legitimacy - 3rd Aug 2005
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"Seven-year-old Claria Corporation is looking to branch out from its traditional business of advertising-supported software into contextual advertising and personalized search for users. Those would be tough businesses for any company to get into, as it puts the company in competition with Google, Yahoo, and Amazon.com's A9 search engine. But Claria has an extra handicap: It's widely believed in the security industry that the company is a leading spyware producer.
The company has been widely criticized for supposedly tricking users into installing its software and advertising its products on children's sites. Some of that stigma attached itself to Microsoft recently, as Microsoft downgraded the threat level for Claria software from "quarantine" to "ignore." That change became public shortly after rumors surfaced in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that Microsoft was planning to buy Claria for $500 million..."
[CMP] |
.: Spam Fighting Part 3: No Offense - 3rd Aug 2005
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"What can you, the individual or small business Internet user, do? Plenty! The first and most obvious step is to choose carefully your hardware and OS. Since there are tons of articles already addressing that, and new ones every day, I won't say much more than this: when you can, avoid Windows as severware. It is on the workstation and desktop where you are more likely to have required applications that only run on Windows.
Too often each piece of the software matrix has a separate price tag. If there is an Open Source application or combination that does the same job, spam fighting tools for example are built in at no extra cost. When properly configured, they are more resistant to attacks. My own local ISP has joined many others in making the switch to Open Source, with Linux servers now replacing most of their Windows servers simply for reasons of cost and service..."
[OFB] |
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