StopBadware.org names and shames malware
Anti-spyware organisation StopBadware.org today added four software programs to its Badware Watch List, which aims to name and shame applications that contain embedded malware.
The reports are the most recent in a series released by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute as part of an ongoing effort to battle malicious spyware programs.
"Today we are identifying four more applications pointed out by consumers that failed our tests for badware," said John Palfrey, co-director of StopBadware.org and executive director of the Berkman Center.
"We hope that the light shed on these programs will encourage these and other application developers to change their deceptive ways.
"These reports, along with the others listed on our Badware Watch List, will hopefully serve as an effective tool to help consumers make a more informed decision before they download one of these applications."
The organisation warned that malware, or badware as it prefers to describe it, plagues millions of people by turning their computers into machines to spy on them and steal personal or private information, or bombard them with unwanted pop-up advertising.
"We need to ramp up ways to aggressively and accurately judge code," said Jonathan Zittrain, co-director of StopBadware.org and professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford University.
"By helping people know the hallmarks of bad code, we can help maintain an internet where code that's good can thrive, even if it comes from obscure or amateur sources."
The first program added to the StopBadware.org list is FunCade, a gaming software application that comes bundled with adware programs BullsEye and NaviSearch.
While FunCade claims that is has "no spyware" its components are labelled malware, spyware, or a trojan by most popular anti-malware applications.
In addition, removing the FunCade software does not automatically uninstall the bundled adware and spyware programs.
The second application identified in this round of reports is Team Taylor Made's Jessica Simpson Screensaver. The program bundles more than a dozen pieces of software, including undisclosed adware, a 'dialler' which automatically dials pay porn sites with a modem (if connected), and toolbars that modify the installer's browser.
"The Jessica Simpson Screensaver is one of the worst badware applications we've ever seen," said Palfrey. "It is an almost textbook example of a small software vendor using deceptive means to fund a software business."
The third program identified is UnSpyPC, is an application that incorporates a non-standard hard drive scan on installation and identifies legitimate software, such as VMware, WinPatrol and Windows Defender, as spyware. It also adds an UnSpyPC icon to Internet Explorer without notification.
WinFixer 2005 and 2006 have also been identified as malware by StopBadware.org. Both versions of WinFixer are accused of deceptively attempting to get users to purchase the full version of the software by making exaggerated claims about "severe system threats", while also making it difficult to opt out of purchasing the software altogether.
WinFixer 2005 also installs a rootkit which can make the program difficult to detect and remove.
Internet users can visit StopBadware.org to check whether programs they want to download are infected with badware, and report programs they have encountered that include malicious software such as spyware, incessant pop-up ads or other obtrusive programs.
Reproduced from an article published by vnunet.com
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