StopBadware.org

[canetoad]

Just found this immensely interesting site. http://www.stopbadware.org/

StopBadware.org is a partnership among academic institutions, technology industry leaders, and volunteers, all of whom are committed to protecting Internet and computer users from the threats to privacy and security that are caused by bad software. We are a leading independent authority on trends in badware and its distribution, and a focal point for the development of collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware. We invite you to join our community, to help reduce the impact of badware and to regain control of our computers.

Now settling down with a ham roll and coffee to read it from front to back.

[RoyGBiv]

1. Interesting site ...

We find that RealPlayer 10.5 is badware because it fails to accurately and completely disclose the fact that it installs advertising software on the user's computer. We additionally find that RealPlayer 11 is badware because it does not disclose the fact that it installs Rhapsody Player Engine software, and fails to remove this software when RealPlayer is uninstalled.

We currently recommend that users do not install the versions of RealPlayer software that we tested, unless the user is comfortable with the software behaviors we identify or until the application is updated to be consistent with the recommendations contained in this report. RealPlayer 11 is currently promoted by RealNetworks at www.real.com. RealPlayer 10.5 is distributed through channels such as Mozilla Firefox's 'Missing Plug-in' feature and the BBC Radio website.

Colour me shocked.

I was also glad to see www.ThemeXP.org mentioned. My cousin installed this on her machine for all the awesome prettiness and ended up with some pretty serious nasties afterward. It's not the software itself so much as the themes you download for "free." As the StopBadware notes, the hundreds of the themes are offered as executables. When you execute them, they install the theme and whatever else comes packaged with it.

Took me forever to clean that system.

[canetoad]

3. I'm reading about the crap distributed via Facebook

And how as it grows, more villains step up to exploit the regular punters. There is talk about creating 'security advisers' - keeping in mind that about 90% of the clatter on the net is provided by about 10% of the users, I can't see any shortage of Kapo recruits.

Sort of an analogy for civilization, aint it?

[RoyGBiv]

7. Those apps are evil ...

... and Facebook is evil for having them.

I for some reason set up a Facebook page, which was kinda fun at first since I ended up connecting with some old friends I'd lost in time. But now every last one of them is sending me an "invite" to the latest whatsit-fun-thing, and I absolutely *refuse* to enable those things. I mean, it tells you, *right there*, that by using that app you're going to be allowing it to do all sorts of things we as a society spend billions and billions of dollars on trying to avoid.

And when I ignore their invites, they think I'm being rude. When I explain why, then they think I'm just being a paranoid geek, and it's HIGH SCHOOL ALL OVER AGAIN!

Some things (and people) are best left in the past ...

[Hokie]

5. Logictech is another bad actor

I think I would include Itunes also.

[RoyGBiv]

8. Agreed ...

I installed Logitech's stuff for some piece of hardware I bought once. That's all it took to convince me I could do without that bank of useless buttons I need the software to use.

Funny how I can get all that junk to work the way I want it to without their software.

I'd also add every last "install disc" put out by every Internet service provider. The stuff we handed out at Cox was positively horrid. It was absurd. We gave them "security tools" on the same damn disc that installed about a dozen different kinds of spy/adware.

They hated me in staff meetings whenever that subject came up. I absolutely refused to recommend it to customers and would tell them how to get everything working just fine without it. The powers-that-be hated that.

[Hokie]

10. Amen on those ISP installation CD's

I installed Alltel's DSL stuff once and it decided to disable sharing on my network so I couldn't use my shared printers or drives until I figured out what had happened.

[Hokie]

2. I had never heard of this site until the Google hiccup this morning

http://blog.stopbadware.org/2009/01/31/google-glitch-causes-confusion

Google glitch causes confusion

Posted by Maxim Weinstein 9 hours ago

This morning, an apparent glitch at Google caused nearly every search listing to carry the "Warning! This site may harm your computer" message. Users who attempted to click through the results saw the "interstitial" warning page that mentions the possibility of badware and refers people to StopBadware.org for more information. This led to a denial of service of our website, as millions of Google users attempted to visit our site for more information. We are working now to bring the site back up. We are also awaiting word from Google about what happened to cause the false warnings.

Google has posted an update on their official blog that erroneously states that Google gets its list of URLs from us. This is not accurate. Google generates its own list of badware URLs, and no data that we generate is supposed to affect the warnings in Google’s search listings. We are attempting to work with Google to clarify their statement.

Google is working on an updated statement. Meanwhile, to clarify some false press reports, it does not appear to be the case that Google has taken down the warnings for legitimately bad sites. We have spot checked a couple known bad sites, and Google is still flagging those sites as bad. i.e., the problem appears to be corrected on their end.

For more information about how the process works and the relative role that Google and StopBadware.org play, please see our Clearinghouse page or this question in our FAQ.

[canetoad]

4. Me too Hokie

that's where I got the link.

[charlie]

6. Neither had conservadroid American Thinker

who immediately sounded the klaxons about Google targetting conservative sites. Whatta goob.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/01/google_blocks_conservative_web.html

(unfortunately, it's been revised and toned down, but the gist is still there)

[RoyGBiv]

9. Sadly ...

Some people around these parts are prone to go off similarly.

You may recall the controversy created when Google (correctly) marked the NAACP site as hazardous. Turned out that someone had hacked their main page and added javascript that redirected those who clicked their donation links to a Russian-based scam site that stole credit card numbers.

There was a thread in GD about the "racists" at Google. Not to toot my own horn, but I and a few others actually seem to be among the first to work out what the specific problem was. I e-mailed the webmaster about it and got a personal reply at any rate. (Referencing another thread ... thanks was due to NoScript, which allowed easy discovery of the offending code.)

[Why Syzygy]

11. kicking

because I keep doing searches for this thread!