The Spyware Weekly Newsletter is distributed every week to 20,000 subscribers and read online by hundreds of thousands of visitors. Click here to subscribe. Please read our Terms of Use for quoting guidelines.This edition of the Spyware Weekly Newsletter is archived permanently at http://www.spywareinfo.net/july21,2004.

Wherever the term "adware" is used, it is referring to a category of software, not to any particular company or product.

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I am very happy to report a complete reversal in the attitude of computer maker Dell towards spyware. Last December, I made quite a bit of noise about an internal memo, distributed to Dell tech support reps, forbidding them to advise customers how to remove spyware.

The policy was ludicrous. Tech support persons couldn't suggest software such as Ad-aware or even tell customers about sites such as Doxdesk.com or spywareinfo.com where they could receive help. After I published an open letter signed by antispyware and antivirus vendors condemning the policy, Dell signed a deal whereby Dell's tech support would advise people to use PestPatrol's antispyware software.

Dell's policy towards spyware today is the complete opposite of what had me so outraged in December. They now plan to launch an information campaign to educate their customers about spyware as well as a separate help desk reponsible only for spyware tech support issues. Dell has opened a new web site as the beginning of this effort.

I certainly am happy to see this come about. Spyware, adware, browser hijackers and other parasites are an enormous problem today. The more information that is available to help people prevent becoming infected the better the whole internet community will be.

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Program: Window Washer
Author: Webroot Software
Platform: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
License: $39.95*
$10 discount for SpywareInfo readers. (Valid for purchases until August 3, 2004)
Purchase: Click here to purchase (http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/windowwasher/index.php?rc=325)

This is a very cool, very useful program. You could spend an hour rummaging through your computer deleting your browser cache, cookies, temp files, address bar history, and even those nearly impossible to delete index.dat files. With Windows Washer, you don't have to waste all that time and energy. Window Washer makes doing these tasks quick and easy.

I've been too busy to take care of dumping out the temp folders on the computer lately. When I tested the new version a few months ago, it cleared out an amazing 700MB worth of garbage files, most of it temporary files left over from programs that don't clean up after themselves. It deleted all of these files very quickly. Since then, it has deleted over 3GB of trash files.

Window Washer also deleted the index.dat file in my browser cache, a file that Windows normally refuses to let you alter. It reduced it from 1.8MB all the way down to 32KB. There is an optional setting to clean out the browser cache, address bar history, cookies, and other internet usage traces every time the browser is closed. My only gripe is that it pops the whole program up to do that. It would be much better if it just deleted all of that quietly.

There is an option to overwrite "slack space". "Slack space" refers to areas of the hard drive that show as empty to the system, but might contain data that was deleted previously. Another option adds "bleach to the washing". That is Window Washer's way of saying that it overwrites data with gibberish several times to prevent data recovery programs from putting deleted files back together.

This is a program that sells normally for $39.95. SpywareInfo readers can subtract $10.00 off that price and buy Window Washer for only $29.95. This offer has been extended until August 3rd, 2004, so don't miss out. The reason for the extension is that the Spywareinfo site was not accessible to some people during the last week or so and we wanted everyone to have a fair chance at this program at this price.

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Major League Baseball has sent a message to any company wanting to advertise with them, "no spyware".

MLBAM has added specific anti-spyware language to partnership agreements currently being negotiated and will make the language standard in partnership agreements going forward.

In addition, the company has sent cease and desist letters to several spyware providers, and their advertisers which have targeted MLB.com.

Hats off to the MLB. It's not often a company will do the right thing and turn down a wad of cash on principle.

MLB has good reason to despise adware and spyware. The web site for the MLB is one which is targeted by adware companies whose business model includes popping up advertisements based on web site names and content. Companies such as Claria/Gator and WhenU sell advertisements to one company that will trigger on keywords related to a rival company.

This business model is despised by companies all over the world and has led to numerous lawsuits. This practice is banned in the state of Utah, although that law is being disputed by adware company WhenU.com.

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Ben Edelman has spent time picking apart software from 180solutions, the company behind the well-known parasite N-Case. In plain English, Edelman's research suggests that the software steals commissions. It creates the false impression that someone reached a merchant site through their efforts, causing that merchant to pay 180solutions a commission it did not earn, if the infected customer buys something.

Software from 180solutions (also known as MetricsDirect) redirects many affiliate commissions to 180. As a result, merchants pay commissions to 180 (and its advertiser partners) even when no commissions are payable under the terms and conditions of merchants' affiliate programs, and even when commissions are properly payable to other affiliates. 180 causes these commissions to be paid via at least 49 different affiliate accounts, using multiple intermediary domain names that redirect affiliate tracking HTTP traffic, making 180's activities particularly difficult to track and to prevent.

...

Once installed on users' PCs, 180 software performs four main functions:

1. 180 transmits to its servers information about the web sites that users visit. Each transmission bears a domain name (or other trigger condition), as well as a unique user ID that lets 180 build profiles of users' online activities.
2. 180 shows popup ads, which generally cover substantially all of the targeted web sites. In my testing, 180 typically covers web sites with the sites of their competitors.
3. 180 shows duplicate copies of merchants' sites, where the second copy has been reached via an affiliate link. As a result, merchants pay commissions to 180 on the resulting purchases.
4. 180 opens hidden windows with invisible copies of merchants' sites, where the invisible sites are reached via affiliate links. As a result, merchants pay commissions to 180 on the purchases of affected users. Since 180's activities are silent and (to a user watching the computer's screen) invisible, this behavior is particularly difficult to detect.

A few months ago, 180solutions made an announcement that they were releasing new software which would be different from N-Case. They claimed that it would not be include spyware or have any other objectionable habits.

A representative of the company even cornered me at the FTC spyware conference in April trying to lobby me in favor of this new software. I wrote back afterward and asked for more details, but never received a reply. I suppose now I see why.

Update
180solutions has responded to Edelman's article denying his claims. You can read the response at MediaPost.

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I stumbled across these stories while looking through all the spyware and privacy-related news. This is just plain outrageous ..... and scary. Apparently doctor/patient confidentiality does not exist in Pennsylvania.

Rights are not 'privileges'

Emerich, 44, lost his driver's license because his doctor disclosed to PennDOT that Emerich drank a six-pack a day -- on weekends. Other than a drunken driving conviction more than two decades ago, Emerich has a spotless record, according to news reports.

My only suggestion is that you cross the border to New Jersey or New York for medical help from now on (unless it is an emergency of course).

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I read a very good book recently, Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. Dan Brown is the author of The Da Vinci code, Angels and Demons and Deception Point, all extremely good books.

Digital Fortress is a book about the United State National Security Agency (NSA). I don't want to give away too much of the story. I will just say that the plot of the book centers on a supercomputer, built secretly by the NSA, that has phenomenal computing power. It is so powerful that it can decode any encrypted message in under ten minutes.

Brown is a spectacular author. All of his books are very good. However, to judge from Digital Fortress, he has some very disturbing opinions about privacy and civil liberties. The book portrays the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a group of misguided, paranoid yo-yos trying to deprive the government of the ability to decode encrypted messages. In fact, the book gives the impression that anyone who doesn't like the idea of secretive government agencies secretly reading everyone's messages is a paranoid idiot.

Digital Fortress forces the reader to think about a very important question, at what point does a person's right to privacy hinder the government's efforts to keep that person safe? It's a tricky question, especially today when terrorism is worse than ever.

On the one hand, there are large numbers of people who are so willing to commit murder that they will strap bombs to their bodies and set them off. Just three years ago, 19 terrorists killed themselves in order to murder 3,000 people in New York City and Washington D.C. The government must have the tools necessary to stop these people.

One very important tool in the government's toolkit is the ability to read the bad guy's mail. In today's world, the government needs to be able to read messages sent between terrorist cells and their controllers abroad. These murderers may be crazy but they are not stupid. They are very good at keeping secrets. The best way to stop terrorists from committing their mass murders is to know their plans in advance. For that reason, the government must be able to read their messages.

On the other hand, this urgent need to find and stop terrorists conflicts directly with our way of life in America. This is a powerful and prosperous nation precisely because of the freedoms we enjoy. I can send a message to my president and tell him he's a fool without worry that I'll be arrested for it. If the police knock on my door and say they want to search my closet for drugs, I can tell them to go to Hell if they don't have a search warrant. Americans have certain specific rights that define what this country is all about. Americans have died by the hundreds of thousands to defend those rights from those who would take them away.

All successful totalitarian governments have a few things in common. They give themselves the right to search or imprison their citizens with no restrictions. They restrict the flow of information. They operate in secrecy. The population has no say in what the government does or how it does it.

In the United States, the government always has been denied the ability to operate this way. It is denied to them by the Constitution that has held this country together through two global wars, the cold war and a devastating civil war. According to the Constitution, a citizen cannot be arrested without a good reason. The government may not seize property belonging to a citizen without a formal process in which the citizen can fight the seizure. The government may not search the home of a citizen, tap their phone or read their mail without authorization from a judge.

Perhaps most importantly, the government is accountable to its citizens. Things cannot be done in secret. Everything that law enforcement, the intelligence community and the military does must be disclosed to the people, through Congress or some other public body. Without this oversight, you have the FBI keeping illegal dossiers on civil rights activists and politicians who disagree with the director of the FBI. Without this oversight, you have the CIA trying to make Fidel Castro's beard fall out. Without this oversight, you have a tyranny.

You may be surprised to learn that I would have no problem with the NSA being able to decrypt every encrypted message sent their way. I want the NSA to be able to read an email no matter how powerful the encryption used to scramble it. I don't want to be murdered by some psychotic terrorist any more than the next person. As far as I'm concerned, it would be a very good thing if the NSA really did have a supercomputer capable of defeating every encryption method in existence. What I don't want is for the NSA to be able to use it without oversight.

In an ideal world, the NSA would be able to read anything it pleased. However, it would be so costly and resource intensive that the NSA would not bother to decrypt a message unless it was extremely important. They also would be compelled to disclose every message decrypted to a congressional oversight committee. If the government could read every encrypted message easily and without having to disclose it, the temptation to abuse this power would be too great. We would return to the bad old days when the FBI illegally kept surveillance on people who disagreed with the government. If the government is monitoring John Doe, reading his email and tapping his phones, this fact and the reasons for it should be disclosed to prevent abuse.

What truly bothers me is the attitude of Attorney General John Ashcroft and the entire Bush administration. Ashcroft is contemptuous of the need for oversight of the government's activities. Prior to the 9-11 attacks, law enforcement needed to convince a judge of the need to begin surveillance of a person. Without that authorization, a cop could be thrown in jail himself for tapping the phone of a citizen. With the PATRIOT Act, judicial authorization of a surveillance operation became little more than a rubber stamp, a mere formality. With the sequel to the PATRIOT Act, rumored to be called the VICTORY Act, no judge will be required before law enforcement can begin monitoring someone. Even more disturbing, this surveillance will not need to be disclosed to anyone.

Everything being done by the current government is done with as much secrecy as possible. Ashcroft many times has refused to provide information to the Congress about investigations. The FBI and Department of Justice have classified documents for no reason other than to keep them from the public. Not only is all of this secrecy unnecessary, it is extremely disturbing.

We cannot allow the government to operate in complete secrecy. The government must be made to account for every activity and every investigation. A judge should have to decide that the government has reason to suspect a person is committing or will commit a crime before allowing that person to be put under surveillance. The government should be forced to reveal every detail of the investigation to an oversight committee.

Under these rules, we won the Second World War. Under these rules, we won the Cold War. We survived these very real dangers without needing to revoke the Constitution. Anyone who believes that terrorists are more dangerous than the German Third Reich, the Japanese Empire and the Soviet Union is a paranoid fool. The Nazis and the commies were far more dangerous and we beat them without becoming like them.

It is hard to choose between safety and liberty. I say that we can have both without having to choose one over the other. We've survived this long by abiding by the simple rules spelled out in the Constitution. We've survived the most terrible wars in history without needing to violate those rules.

Let the government do what it needs to do to keep us safe. Just remember to keep an eye on it.

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I receive some truly bizarre emails. I receive threats of lawsuits from spyware makers (*waves to Jason at lop.com*). I receive flames from people who mistakenly believe spywareinfo makes spyware. I receive all manner of spam promising to show me every imaginable form of sexual activity. I receive dirty jokes from my SWI partner and best friend, Catherine. And, occasionally, I receive emails like this one that make my day.

I'm not looking for info on spyware removal. I've already gotten it from your site. I'm writing to tell you, now that I'm spyware free, not to worry, don't be "afeared," I'm not going to stalk you but ....

I LOVE YOU.

I would clean your floors for you, wash your dishes, do your laundry and even iron the collars and cuffs of your shirts which is too domestic for me to stomach ordinarily, but I'd do it for you just the same. I'd go buy your groceries and throw in something nummy and cute and special as a surprise treat so that you'd find it in the brown paper, biodegradeable bag and go, "Cool!"

I would beat up people who bothered you - I have my yellow belt in kung fu and am a woman with a disturbing desire to kick people's asses (brought on by frustration with the way the world is turning out nowadays as well as the torture of having to deal with a**holes day after day after *%$#@*!! day) and I would even kick the asses of people who weren't bothering you but that you were just pi**ed off with and wanted to see them cry.

I sincerely hope you're a multi-millionaire by now with the help you provide on your website here, and if you aren't, I hope you will see that if you're this much of a genius, then you deserve the opportunity to hack into a mega-corporation's financial data and steal a few million for yourself and blame it on me. I'd take the hit for you.

I'd GIVE you a million if I had it, so this way I exhonorate you from any moral or ethical issues related to cyber-theft. It doesn't count for you.

You are a Master. You are a god. I will burn a Microsoft full page ad from a computer magazine on your behalf.

Thank you.
Hugs and kisses,
Katherine Allen
www.embos.ca

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I do not intentionally link to web sites that require registration before allowing visitors to read the article. At the time I read these articles, I was not required to register. If one of these sites requires that you register before allowing you to read the article, please let me know and I will blacklist that site.

http://www.jobwerx.com/news/lavasoft_the_spyware_of_today-newsid=946741.html :: The Spyware of Today

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64249,00.html :: The Man Who Helped Kill CAPPS II

http://news.com.com/Deconstructing+the+spyware+face-off/2010-1028_3-5273059.html :: Deconstructing the spyware face-off

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/technology/071904_tech_spyware.html :: Houston-area woman beats spyware; you can, too

http://www.localtechwire.com/article.cfm?u=8726 :: Fighting the Plague of Spyware: Current Laws Can Do It Better

http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/tipworld.nsf/0/AD6862D13F470E2BCC256EBE000AC9E1?opendocument : Fight back against spyware

http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/175810 :: Privacy concerns limit Web feature

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb141121.htm :: A Disgruntled Consumer is Set to Take on Internet Hijacking and Adware Programs with a Multi-Billion Dollar Suit