Washington and Microsoft declare war on scareware Washington state's top law enforcement official has filed suit against a man accused of bombarding end users with misleading messages designed to trick them into buying software to fix PC problems that don't exist. The complaint, filed in Washington state court by Attorney General Rob McKenna's office, names James Reed …
I was bombarded with an inline dhtml (Does anyone even say that now?!?!) popup for a mac equivalent of the 'OMG you have 9 billion viruses on your system" system scanning software.
It was for the MacScan software. I took a screenshot thinking I'd bagged the most recent mac malware, but it turns out it was a genuine, retail, product after a bit of googleing. My further research is that its pretty much a cookie cleaner - not quite living up to the impression of evil that the initial advert portrayed; Death, Dooom , EXPLODING COMPUTERS!.
Maybe I overstated their overstatements.
"I took a screenshot thinking I'd bagged the most recent mac malware, but it turns out it was a genuine, retail, product after a bit of googleing."
Now *that's* sad!
Re the original article, can anyone remind me of the legitimate reason why a browser might need to open a popup window, and why the benefits of such marginal cases justify the phishing risks? Put another way: Why do browsers not have an *absolute ban* on popups?
Rocket science this ain't, When Java was invented (about 15-20 years ago?) it was obvious to its creators that a popup window should be *forced* to have the web-site in its title bar, and that no Java application should be able to draw outside its own windows. How can anyone implementing a language embedded in a web browser be unaware of this? Do we need to introduce the notion of negative IQ here -- someone whose stupidity actively repels a clue, in a way that (say) a rock doesn't.
The States Attorney, for the State of Washington is called Rob McKenna?!?!
I guess the All Weather Haulage, got to be to much for Mr. McKenna now didn't it?
No bleeding wonder why it rains so much up there in Washington State...
Then again this could be just another meaningless coincidence...
The Mac, with the battered well-worn copy of the Hitchhikers Guide in it turned to the entry on Eccentrica Gallumbits the Triple-Breasted Whore of Eroticon-6
Those scarewares have been around for ages. Via the messenger service and on lots of sites as well.
Back in the days it was even funny to see on my win2000 pro box how I got such pop-ups in winXP layout.
If they act now, I guess they will start to tackle spam somewhere around 2050.
Paris, because she would even embrace protective measures sooner.
OK, M$ being seen to 'take a responsible stance' by trying to drag a scareware peddler into court. Such a pity, then, that it is due to the egregious performance of their product - built and peddled on the gullible public without security aforethought - the poor reputation of which such chancers and dodgers are now hitching a ride.
"...I was mainly seeing ads on how I should make my wang bigger. Luckily I did not personally use a Windows box -- I mainly used a Mac to ssh into a Linux box."
Certainly an unorthodox way to make your wang bigger..."
Yes, but everyone knows a Linux box is tighter than a Windows box... *
(*security-wise of course) What did you think I meant...
"Heh. Before the university here finally started blocking the windows messenger port in about 2000 or so, I was mainly seeing ads on how I should make my wang bigger. Luckily I did not personally use a Windows box -- I mainly used a Mac to ssh into a Linux box."
Does this mean you still have a small penis?
Well, as frustrating as scareware is, "programs" such as XP Antivirus and all the Registry Destroyers -sorry- Cleaners keep me in work. I see a couple of these every day while fixing slow computers and promptly remove them.
But the oddest thing is that people get annoyed with me for removing them - either because they paid for them - or because they think they are part of Windows.
Don't get me started on MyWebSearch and Zango.......
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
