[IP] The Soft Invasion

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Date: September 4, 2004 1:22:35 PM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: The Soft Invasion

August 2004

The Soft Invasion

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

WHAT IF A private company could legally break into your house and rig
your television so that it would always start up on a special station
the company had created that showed deceptive ads every minute, all
day? And what if, when you tried to change the station, you could
choose only among obscure and dubious channels selected by the
invading company?

Oh, and suppose that same sleazy company could erect billboards for
phony medical cures and get-rich-quick schemes on your lawn anytime,
without your permission? And suppose it could also make a record of
everything you said or did in your house and sell it to other
companies?

You'd be more than angry. You'd be lobbying for jail time for these
guys. But something similar happens every day on the personal
computers of tens of millions of people. It's offensive but legal,
and it's driving its victims crazy.

This phenomenon is called spyware, or adware, and it is rapidly
replacing viruses and spam as the No. 1 hassle associated with using
an Internet-connected computer. Spyware is a type of software placed
surreptitiously on a Windows PC, often by means of a file, downloaded
from a Web site, that is either invisible or is disguised as a
legitimate file.

Once on your PC, spyware can do many nefarious things. Unlike a
virus, it rarely tries to destroy files or propagate itself through
e-mail. Instead, it tries to seize control of key aspects of your
machine and turn them into conduits for selling you junk, or for
gathering information that can help others do so.

There are many forms of spyware, but the big four, which correspond
to the household examples above, are:

...

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/report-200408.html


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