-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Anti-spyware coalition publish guidelines on risks
- From: "Robert Andrew Dulaney Jr." <rdulaneyjr@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 10:10:42 -0700 (PDT)
good artical - thanks for sharing this
Steve Aiello <pilotcar_1@xxxxxxx> wrote:This is from the WTNH news site.
(New York-AP, Oct. 27, 2005 10:30 AM) _ A coalition of anti-spyware vendors and
consumer groups published guidelines Thursday to help consumers assess products
designed to combat unwanted programs that sneak onto computers.
The Anti-Spyware Coalition released the guidelines for public comment and also
updated a separate document that attempted to craft uniform definitions for
"spyware" and "adware" in hopes of giving computer users more control over
their machines.
According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Internet users have
become more cautious online because of worries about spyware and adware, which
can bombard users with pop-up ads and drain processing power to the point of
rendering computers unusable.
Nearly half of adult online Americans have stopped visiting specific Web sites
that they fear might infect them with such unwanted programs, and a quarter
have ceased to use file-sharing software, which often comes bundled with
adware.
In addition, 43 percent of Internet users say they've been hit with spyware,
adware or both, with broadband users generally at greater risk.
The new guidelines from the coalition assign risk levels to various practices
common with spyware and adware.
High-risk practices include installation without a user's permission or
knowledge, interference with competing programs, interception of e-mail and
instant-messaging conversations and the display of ads without identifying the
program that generated them.
Changing a browser's home page or search engine setting is deemed a medium
risk, while using data files called cookies to collect information is
considered a low risk.
"Although all behaviors can be problematic if unauthorized, certain ones tend
to have a greater impact and are treated with more severity than others," the
guidelines say.
The idea is to agree on what practices consumers should worry most about.
Within the general rankings, individual vendors still have leeway to assign
their own weight to each behavior in deciding whether to quarantine or remove a
program when detected.
The coalition also offers similar rankings on consent.
High marks go to programs that are distributed as separate downloads in clearly
labeled packages, while those that try to bury what they do in legalese are
given low ratings.
The commenting period on the guidelines ends Nov. 27.
The guidelines could encourage industry "best practices" that developers of
adware and other programs could follow to avoid getting flagged by anti-spyware
vendors.
However, the coalition has yet to set a timetable for defining such practices,
said Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology, which led the
coalition.
Nonetheless, Schwartz said, Thursday's announcements represent a start toward
long-term improvements in anti-spyware tools and consumer education.
"There won't be as much gray area, and we'll have more transparency out there,"
he said.
A separate coalition document defining spyware and related terms changed little
from the draft issued in July.
The updated definitions document, reflecting nearly 400 comments received from
the public, still flags as potential threats -- an umbrella definition that
includes spyware, adware and other categories such as "hijackers" and "cookies"
-- programs that:
--impair users' control over their systems, including privacy and security;
--impair the use of system resources, including what programs are installed on
their computers; and/or
--collect, use and distribute personal or otherwise sensitive information.
But by classifying "adware" as falling under the umbrella term, "Spyware and
Other Potentially Unwanted Technologies," the coalition avoided a key dispute
that has led to lawsuits by adware developers against anti-spyware vendors: Is
adware a form of spyware or are the two separate?
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