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[ In a world of risk, know who to trust ] |
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Current security industry news |
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AOL distributing badware
StopBadware.org has issued a warning regarding AOL's free client software, claiming that the software is actually very similar in nature to "badware". Badware is a new term which is used to classify applications that install extra software and do not tell the users that they are doing this.
Apparently, StopBadware.org has communicated with AOL and it is still in limbo as to whether the software in question will be called badware.
The software apparently gives AOL subscribers many services but has also been known to change the web browser settings and certain other elements without making the users' aware of what it is doing. It also does not remove all its components when uninstalled. This kind of behaviour is very similar to malware behaviour.
StopBadware was started to educate users about dodgy software and, after receiving many complaints from AOL subscribers decided to conduct their own tests.
A spokesperson for AOL claims that the issues that StopBadware has addressed are going to be rectified with upgrades. The company claims that the issues are very small and not malicious in the slightest.
StopBadware agrees that there is not anything that could be construed as being malicious about the software but claimed that it still violated the trust of the users. The group has called for users not to install the software unless they are "comfortable with the level of risk we identify or until the application is updated consistent with the recommendations in this report."
Read the original article here
http://news.com.com/Watchdog group wa1rns against AOLs free software/2100-1002_3-6110426.html?tag=cd.top
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