Malware/Scumware/Foistware etc

zebulebu · #1 12-Apr-2008, 08:38 PM

Had a discussion with some fellow nerds today about the different types of malware and general internet nastiness that abound in the online world today - the conversation got around to what we all thought was the most annoying, damaging and underhanded type. Strangely enough, not one person out of the eight in the discussion thought spam (pump & dump, penis enlargement, pills etc) was in their top three. The consensus seemed to be - in reverse order:

3 - 419 scammers
2 - Malvertisements for fake spyware cleaners (my most hated)
1 - Foistware (Otherwise legit programs bundling ****e with them (RealPlayer being the prime example)

Five people chose foistware as their biggest source of irritation - even over the ol' SpyAxe/WinFixer/SpyDawn pop-ups - which I hate probably more than anything else in the world. I guess this is because most of the people were security bods - who know better than to get caught out by malvertisements.

Anyone have any pet hates that don't make the list? We also discussed regular spam, botnets, viruses, worms, domain name hijacking, porn pop-ups, URL misspelling redirects.

**Sparky** · #2 12-Apr-2008, 11:13 PM

Has to be the fake spyware removal ads and spam for me.

The ads that advertise fake spyware removal software are a pain as many remote users I support end up downloading them as they think it will remove some spyware they have on their PC. This is generally caused by looking for free MP3s, ringtones and the usual porn. I will get a few “I think I may have downloaded something by accident” calls each week.

The reason that spam annoys me (apart from the obvious) is that many customers I support are not happy with their anti-spam solutions that I have installed. Previously they would get 10 a day and now they get one a week. But that’s not good enough is it?!??! Ohhh, and if *one* legitimate email gets caught up in the spam filter that is the end of the world!