My best wishes go out to Julie Amero. She was done wrong by the poor work on the legal system we have today. I am tech support for a small (350 kids) school in Northern Alabama. This story clearly shows how we HAVE to educate the teachers so they can educate the kids. If school districts/boards or even state officials did the jobs we asked of them the teachers would be given the tools, incluing education on things like using computers to help them keep kids safe and educate them to be good parts of the world. Read more
spyware
Irony: Surveillance Industry Objects to Spying Secrets & Mass Monitoring Leaks
In the continued spotlight on mass surveillance, WikiLeaks Spy Files posted Gamma videos teaching intelligence agencies how to hack iTunes, Gmail and Skype. But Tatiana Lucas, one of the people behind profiting from the secret snoop ISS conferences, wants you to believe that exposing surveillance methods will cost U.S. jobs, make companies hesitant to support government surveillance, and maybe stop Congress from updating a lawful-interception law. Yet this company that profits on mass monitoring fails to mention privacy rights, civil liberties, or human rights.
Submitted by Ms. Smith on Sun, 12/11/11 - 1:49pm.
While not everyone considers mass surveillance to be Satan, signing online does not automatically forfeit your right to value your privacy. In fact, it's sickening when alleged 'white hats' wear black hats to exploit users in the name of surveillance for security. If a hacker were to engage in net or cell phone surveillance, or breach email, then law enforcement would call that illegal and go on the hunt. Read more
Webroot's Mobile Virus Checking - and More
It would appear that virus checking on handsets is of necessity a growth industry. Webroot's come up with an interesting approach here.
Submitted by Craig Mathias on Tue, 04/05/11 - 6:12pm.
My recent posting on what to do about malware on handsets and similar devices suggested a number of alternatives, none of which are perfect. Read more
Exploiting DPI Surveillance for Advertising Will Track If You Surf For Work or Fun
Surfing for work or for fun? DPI tracking technology knows. DPI has been used by governments for surveillance and censorship, but it's raising privacy concerns again about the potential for abuse when used as an advertising tool for profiling.
Submitted by Ms. Smith on Wed, 12/01/10 - 10:51am.
Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) involves the use of network equipment to intercept, examine, modify, restrict, or copy the content of data communications on the fly. It serves many purposes from analyzing network traffic to being used by law enforcement or spy agencies for surveillance. Read more
School officials settle webcam spying suit for $610,000
Deal seen bringing this inexplicable episode to a close
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Wed, 10/13/10 - 9:21am.
The Pennsylvania school district whose use of laptop spyware to photograph students in their homes caused a firestorm of protest from parents and privacy advocates - as well as worldwide headlines -- has agreed to settle related lawsuits for $610,000.
It should surprise no one that the vast majority of that sum, $425,000, will go to attorneys. Read more
Town official doubly insulted by spyware allegation
Rift over alleged skullduggery via e-mail roils board of selectmen
Submitted by Paul McNamara on Thu, 07/22/10 - 12:16pm.
How dare you accuse me of being a stumblebum of a spy? That's essentially the indignant reaction of Sturbridge, Mass. selectman Tom Creamer to fellow board member Scott Garieri's allegation that Creamer intentionally sent him a spyware-laden e-mail.
Sears forced to destroy spyware-gathered information
Settlement seems lame considering the FTC has targeted spyware for harsh treatment in past.
Submitted by Layer 8 on Fri, 09/11/09 - 9:55am.
As part of its final settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Sears must destroy any consumer information it collected through a downloadable software application the FTC deemed spyware. Read more
Sears gets wrist slap over spyware activities
Submitted by Layer 8 on Thu, 06/04/09 - 4:21pm.Sears today agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it failed to disclose the depth of consumers' personal information it collected via a downloadable software application.
FTC kills scareware operation that duped over a million users
Submitted by Layer 8 on Wed, 12/10/08 - 2:14pm.The Federal Trade Commission today got a court to at least temporarily halt a massive "scareware" scheme, which falsely claimed that scans had detected viruses, spyware, and pornography on consumers' computers. Read more
Educating the teachers
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 11/30/2008 - 2:24pm
Americans
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 11/24/2008 - 1:28am
Anyone who has any idea of what spyware / malware can do to a browser / computer should have dismissed this case in the first week - but once again America proves to the rest of the world what the American public is all about!!! Really people grow up - this could have happened to anyone.
Court slams door on sale of spyware
Submitted by Layer 8 on Mon, 11/17/08 - 12:04pm.The Federal Trade Commission today had a US District Court issue a temporary restraining order halting the sale of RemoteSpy keylogger spyware.
According to the FTC's complaint, RemoteSpy spyware was sold to clients who would then secretly monitor unsuspecting consumers' computers. Read more
FTC wants strong civil penalties for spyware distributors
Submitted by Layer 8 on Wed, 06/11/08 - 3:56pm.The Federal Trade Commission today told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation “a civil penalty may be the most appropriate remedy and serve as a strong deterrent,” to spyware distributors. Read more
Spyware creeps
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 05/06/2008 - 9:11pm
It's about time. Nail these scumbags to the barn door for all to see! I recall this scam vividly, system-type messages predicting ultimate meltdown if you didn't pay to have them fix it. Basta*rds! I don't think they were fined enough ... AND, they should be banned from any software business ... period!
Microsoft Security Intelligence Report scores low IQ
Submitted by Noah Schiffman on Mon, 05/05/08 - 4:50am.Redmond has recently published their semi-annual recap on the (in)security of their leading products. The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (MSIR), released approximately two weeks ago, provides an "in-depth perspective" for the second half (Jul-Dec) of 2007. As usual, a professional appearing report with statistics and graphs are presented to the reader. Although, after successfully downloading and reading their Key Findings Summary, it appears to have been co-authored by Read more
Just format it, and learn from the loss...
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 03/31/2008 - 4:49am
Just format it, and learn from the loss. Once spyware/virii get that deep, you can't get it out. Soon you too can be part of a botnet!
FTC puts final nail in spyware operation
Submitted by Layer 8 on Mon, 03/10/08 - 12:01pm.A federal judge today granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a default judgment against a software developer who helped scammers infect millions of computers with spyware. As part of the judgment, the defendant Timothy Taylor must give up $4,595.36, the amount of money he made in the scheme, the FTC said. Read more
Check your list twice, for Spyware
By douchrti on Tue, 11/20/2007 - 2:53pm.
This season, if you have receive a new computer or new software, check em for the gifts you might not know about. Many computers come with bundled software that includes Adware, Malware and even Spyware. You may not find it until you launch the software program. It may give you a message that says it needs to connect to a site to complete the registration. Make sure you read the entire license agreement. Read more
RE: One in six PCs could be infected with malware
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 11/02/2007 - 10:10pm
The problem is much deeper actually - there is no use of trying to protect yourself against spyware only as all the malicious software is connected i.e. viruses contain trojans, that contain different kinds of spyware, malware, etc and vice-versa. So the PC protection should consist of threee parts: firewall, antispyware and antivirus. Personally I recommend these products: Outpost Firewall (http://www.agnitum.com), Anti-Keylogger(http://www.anti-keyloggers.com/) and Kaspersky Anti-Virus(http://usa.kaspersky.com/).
RE: FTC settles with alleged spyware operation
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 3:37pm
What a shame "settlement".
These scum should have received prison sentences.
So the government takes a $300,000 cut of the profits and the culprits walk away with a million dollars.
Where's the justice for the people who were harmed?
FTC zaps spyware scam
Submitted by Layer 8 on Tue, 10/02/07 - 10:58am.The Federal Trade Commission said the company that crammed more then 15 million PCs full of spyware have agreed to pay $330,000 in fines and be monitored by federal authorities for up to eight years. The fine, however, will increase to over $3.5 million if the court finds that the companies have misrepresented their financial status, the FTC said. Read more
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