US government begins crack down on spyware.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a law suit in New Hampshire against an alleged spyware operation.
The FTC filed the complaint in federal court against Sanford Wallace and two of his companies – Seismic Entertainment Products and SmartBot.Net. It seeks an injunction to shut down the alleged spyware operation and the restitution of ‘ill-gotten gains’ to consumers.
The FTC claims that software is downloaded by computer users unbeknownst to them when they encounter certain banner ads on the Internet. According to the FTC the software, which exploits a hole in Internet Explorer, hijacks web browsers, causes CD-ROM trays to open and slows down computers or causes them to cease working altogether. The spyware then invokes a barrage of pop-up messages, which urge consumers to buy programs called Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter to fix the problem – for a fee of $30.
This is the first time it has sued a company for installing software secretly – while there are currently no national anti-spyware laws in the USA, the FTC was able to use ‘deceptive business’ laws to file this case. The House of Representatives passed two anti-spyware bills recently and another is pending in the Senate.
Posted on 11 October 2004 by
Virus Bulletin
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