Reuters – China is not afraid of the Internet, its Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, even as access to the popular video sharing site YouTube appeared to be blocked.

AFP – Italian defence firm Finmeccanica said Tuesday it had won a 260-million-euro (375-million-dollar) radar contract from the air force that will allow for cutting-edge WiMAX Internet technology in Italy.

AFP – Internet users are pelting AIG with virtual tomatoes in a MoveOn.org campaign to express outrage over huge bonuses awarded to executives at the bailed-out financial giant.

NewsFactor – Adoption of Microsoft’s new Internet Explorer Web browser appeared to be leveling off Monday after peaking at 2.58 percent of all Internet users over the weekend, reports Net Applications. IE8′s share of the global market was down to 2.02 percent on Monday at noon, equivalent to the new browser’s adoption rate at 5 p.m. Friday — the first full business day after its release.

The advent of online shopping has resulted in the development of a large number of rewards programs that offer rewards for shopping through specific shopping portals. These rewards can be points-based (allowing redemption for various prizes), cashback, airline frequent flyer-miles-based, hotel points, or even donations to charity.

Rewards portals exist in most major markets, most notably in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. The original loyalty program was started in 1896 by Sperry & Hutchinson called Green Stamps which has been digitized into the new S&H greenpoints.com. In the early 1900s, Carlson Marketing owned a company called Gold Stamps and that has similarly been rebranded as GoldPoints.com. One of the most successful programs that currently exist is called AirMiles out of Canada and, like the old Green/Gold Stamps programs it includes everyday spending in supermarkets.

It is important to remember that, with the exception of cashback rewards, each rewards program values its points differently: before consumers purchase through one of the point- or mile-based programs, they should compare the points they will earn with the specific reward they choose. In addition, because of the highly competitive nature of online commerce, many of the shopping portals offer coupons or discount offers not available if purchases are made directly through the merchant site: besides receiving points towards a reward, consumers can also save money up front.

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AP – Yelp.com prides itself on being a site where people can write reviews about pretty much anything and connect with similarly critical peers. Yet as the site grows, some of the businesses scrutinized on Yelp are turning the tables and griping about the company itself.

Spyware does not directly spread in the manner of a computer virus or worm: generally, an infected system does not attempt to transmit the infection to other computers. Instead, spyware gets on a system through deception of the user or through exploitation of software vulnerabilities.

The most direct route by which spyware can infect a computer involves the user installing it. However, users tend not to install software if they know that it will disrupt their working environment and compromise their privacy. So many spyware programs deceive the users, either by piggybacking on a piece of desirable software, or by tricking the users to do something that installs the software without them realizing. Recently, spyware has come to include “rogue anti-spyware” programs, which masquerade as security software while actually doing damage.

Classically, a Trojan horse, by definition, smuggles in something dangerous in the guise of something desirable. Some spyware programs get spread in just this manner. The distributor of spyware presents the program as a useful utility — for instance as a “Web accelerator” or as a helpful software agent. Users download and install the software without immediately suspecting that it could cause harm. For example, Bonzi Buddy, a spyware program targeted at children, claims that:

He will explore the Internet with you as your very own friend and sidekick! He can talk, walk, joke, browse, search, e-mail, and download like no other friend you’ve ever had! He even has the ability to compare prices on the products you love and help you save money! Best of all, he’s FREE! ^[4]

The BearShare file-trading program, “supported” by WhenU spyware. In order to install BearShare, users must agree to install “the SAVE! bundle” from WhenU. The installer provides only a tiny window in which to read the lengthy license agreement. Although the installer claims otherwise, the software transmits users’ browsing activity to WhenU servers.

^[5]

Spyware can also come bundled with shareware or other downloadable software, as well as music CDs. The user downloads a program (for instance, a music program or a file-trading utility) and installs it, and the installer additionally installs the spyware. Although the desirable software itself may do no harm, the bundled spyware does. In some cases, spyware authors have paid shareware authors to bundle spyware with their software, as with the Gator spyware now marketed by Claria. In other cases, spyware authors have repackaged desirable free software with installers that add spyware.

A third way of distributing spyware involves tricking users by manipulating security features designed to prevent unwanted installations. The Internet Explorer Web browser, by design, prevents websites from initiating an unwanted download. Instead, a user action (such as clicking on a link) must normally trigger a download. However, links can prove deceptive: for instance, a pop-up ad may appear like a standard Windows dialog box. The box contains a message such as “Would you like to optimize your Internet access?” with links which look like buttons reading Yes and No. No matter which “button” the user presses, a download starts, placing the spyware on the user’s system. Later versions of Internet Explorer offer fewer avenues for this attack.

Some spyware authors infect a system by attacking security holes in the Web browser or in other software. When the user navigates to a Web page controlled by the spyware author, the page contains code which attacks the browser and forces the download and install of spyware. The spyware author would also have some extensive knowledge of commercially-available anti-virus and firewall software. This has become known as a “drive-by download”, which leaves the user a hapless bystander to the attack. Common browser exploits target security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and in the Microsoft Java runtime.

The installation of spyware frequently involves Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. As the most popular Web browser, and with an unfortunate history of security issues, it has become the largest target. Its deep integration with the Windows environment and its scriptability make it an obvious point of attack into Microsoft Windows operating systems. Internet Explorer also serves as a point of attachment for spyware in the form of browser helper objects, which modify the browser’s behavior to add toolbars or to redirect traffic.

In a few cases, a worm or virus has delivered a payload of spyware. For instance, some attackers used the W32.Spybot.Worm worm to install spyware that popped up pornographic ads on the infected system’s screen. ^[6] By directing traffic to ads set up to channel funds to the spyware authors, they can profit even by such clearly illegal behavior.

References

1. ↑ Bonzi.com. http://www.bonzi.com/bonzibuddy/bonzimail.asp.
2. ↑ Edelman, Ben (2005). “WhenU Violates Own Privacy Policy“
3. ↑ “Security Response: W32.Spybot.Worm“. Symantec.com.

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PC World – A Connecticut man was sentenced to four years of probation for his role in a phishing scam that tricked America Online subscribers into giving up their credit card numbers.

Newsgroup spam predates e-mail spam, and targets Usenet newsgroups. Old Usenet convention defines spamming as excessive multiple posting, that is, the repeated posting of a message (or substantially similar messages). Since posting to newsgroups is nearly as easy as sending e-mails, newsgroups are a popular target of spammers. The Breidbart Index was developed to provide an objective measure of the “spamminess” of a multi-posted or cross-posted message on Usenet.

Spamming an internet forum in general, is when a user posts something which is off-topic or doesn’t have anything to do with the current subject. Also, a post that doesn’t contribute to the thread whatsoever is also considered spam in some cases. A third form of Forum Spamming is where a person repeatedly posts about a certain subject in a manner that is unwanted by (and possibly annoying to) the general population of the forum. Lastly there is also the case where a person posts messages solely for the purpose of increasing his or her ranking on the forum. In a broader sense, advertising on forums where it is not wanted is known as spamming and is generally seen as an annoyance.

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AFP – US software giant Google said Friday it had removed several images from its Street View software, which allows web surfers to view parts of 25 British cities, after users raised privacy concerns.