chengrob

Five Behaviors On Which Spyware Companies Prey

chengrob / October 26, 2005

By Robert P. Lipschutz

Adware vendors, in their quest to infiltrate computers everywhere, benefit from confusion, a lack of user knowledge, and the realities of human nature. However, by using a combination of defensive strategies, you can lower the impact of adware on your computer. If you wish to enjoy the benefits of “free” Internet software, the primary carrier of adware, diligence is key.

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WhenU Awareness, One Year Later

chengrob / October 14, 2005

Since March 2004, PC Pitstop has been surveying WhenU users about their installation experience with WhenU products. Our first report on this data was published in April 2004, and it validated our anecdotal experience that very few users knowingly consent to installing WhenU.

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Spyware Podcast

chengrob / September 19, 2005

Here’s a special shoutout to all the Pitstoppers in the Louisiana delta area. Our prayers and heart felt concerns are with you as you go through this incredible disaster. It is times like these when we truly realize how powerless we are to bend this world to our own human desires. I am sure that I am not alone, as I watched hour after hour of television, of the slow developing tragedy developing down in the bayou. The entire world felt the pain down south, but there was little that any of us could do but watch the events unfold.

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PC Pitstop Threatened by Spyware Companies

chengrob / August 15, 2005

As the companies that use deceptive software installations rack up bigger and bigger profits, their tactics are evolving to further increase their profits and ensure their long term existence. Although we had already been sued by Gator, we were a little surprised when, when we received two emails like the one below last month.

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Microsoft’s Image

chengrob / July 19, 2005

About a year ago, I was helping a friend with some minor computer problems in his small business in Rio. He is a pretty smart guy, but his computer knowledge was lacking, and I wanted to help. As we sat down at the computer, we got the familiar XP error message that asked us whether we want to send the error details back to Microsoft. My neophyte friend hit “Do Not Send” immediately. When I asked why, he said “I don’t trust those bastards for anything and I would never send personal information over the internet to them.”

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Tribal Fusion Advertising

chengrob / June 19, 2005

Since early in 2002, we have been using an ad network called Tribal Fusion that serves banner and popup ads to our web site. And since 2002, I have hated these popup ads. Dave would regularly bother me to kill the popup ads, but we just could not afford to do it. Advertisers are willing to pay a significant premium for pop up ads, and at times they have been a significant portion of our revenues. Although XP Service Pack 2 initially provided a respite to users with its built-in popup blocker, nearly all the ad networks have found ways around popup blockers, which makes the popups even more annoying.

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What is spyware?

chengrob / June 15, 2005

Over the past few years, a new class of software has emerged that’s up to no good. It goes by many names: spyware, adware, foistware, malware, eulaware, or even crapware. For simplicity we’ll just call them all spyware. Here are some of the “features” you get from spyware. Some spyware may only use one or two of these tactics, while others do quite a bit more.

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Beware of Phishing Scams

chengrob / May 12, 2005

Beware of Phishing Scams by Rob Cheng There is a growing menace on the Internet called phishing. In simple terms, phishing can be defined as using fraudulent emails and web sites to trick you into revealing passwords and user names. The scary part is that phishing is becoming a growing and thriving industry. AntiPhishing.org reported

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Eighty-Seven Percent of WhenU Users Are Unaware They Are Using It

chengrob / April 28, 2005

Note: This report was originally published in April 2004 and submitted to the US Federal Trade Commission for their Spyware Workshop. A followup report with updated data was published in April 2005.

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Baseball Blues

chengrob / April 19, 2005

2005 is shaping up to be a very interesting year. Major League Baseball is being turned upside down this year due to former player, Jose Canseco’s book, Juiced. Baseball will never be the same, and one day we will look back on this period in baseball with a form of amazement that it could have happened at all. As I think about it, I can not help but see the parallels between spyware and baseball’s steroid problem.

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