Tag Archives: Federal Trade Commission

Malware Inside the Credit Card Machine

(Update, July 2009: A BusinessWeek article puts the company’s side; maybe I was a little too harsh on them in this post.) This gives you an idea of how bad malware is getting, and how much we’re underestimating it: a U.S.. company that processes credit card transactions has just revealed that malware inside its computers… Read More »

Why Social Network Sites May Fail

Look at a social networking site lie Yaari and you can see where the social networking phenomenon may fail, simply by abusing the trust of its users. Sites like LinkedIn, Plaxo etc rely on expanding quickly by offering a useful service: trawling your address book to find friends and contacts who use the same service.… Read More »

Utah, WhenU And Pop-Up Poaching

The spyware war continues. Ben Edelman, an expert on spyware, reports that “WhenU, a major provider of programs that show pop-up ads according to users’ web browsing activities, yesterday filed suit seeking that Utah’s Spyware Control Act be declared void and invalid.” WhenU effectively poaches browser real-estate by plopping its ads above those of others… Read More »

It’ll Soon Be Firewall Day

This Thursday, in case you didn’t know, Personal Firewall Day. I was pretty excited about the idea too until I realised there were no parades and opportunities to dress up. Still, it’s a great way of trying to persuade people that having a firewall in place on your computer is no longer a luxury, or… Read More »

News: FTC Gets Tough On PopUps. Well, Some Of Them

 The Federal Trade Commission has accused a California pop-up advertising company of digital-age extortion. MSNBC reports that D Squared Solutions allegedly hijacked Internet users’ computers by bombarding them with Windows Messenger pop-up ads — as frequently as every 10 minutes. The ads hawked $30 software that promised only to stop future pop-ups from the company.… Read More »