Adware recedes, but other online threats grow

If you've noticed fewer popup ads while Web surfing, it's probably more than just your anti-popup software doing its job.  So-called "nuisance adware," popups and home-page hijackers that annoy but don't usually harm your computer, has been vanquished, though not totally eliminated.

That was one of my main takeaways from attending last week's fourth annual public workshop held by the Anti-spyware Coalition, a group of software companies, academics, and consumer groups united in the effort to control spyware and other online threats. Held in the shadow of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, the workshop's subtitle was, "What's worked, what's left, and what's coming."

Some of the reasons for the downfall of nuisance adware include new state anti-spyware laws, aggressive high-profile prosecutions of perpetrators, and a growing reluctance by high-profile makers of consumer products and services to inflict further damage on their brands by advertising in a medium (adware) that one workshop speaker characterized as "a lousy consumer experience."

But this success has come at a price, the conference attendees found out. While some adware purveyors have changed their practices for the better to stay on the good side of the law, others have gone underground, to a market position some speakers called "the dark side" by adopting even more egregious technologies borrowed from virus writers, hackers, and other online miscreants.

Following a keynote by FTC Commissioner Jonathan Leibowitz, conference panels discussed such topics as Is Spyware Dead?, Can Investigators Stay Ahead of the Bad Guys? and Education: What Works and What Doesn't? Speakers included experts from major anti-malware vendors like McAfee and Lavasoft, government officials, security professionals, and academics.

I spoke on a panel called User Behavior & Spyware, summarizing findings from the past four years' Consumer Reports State of the Net surveys. Those findings led me to conclude that damages from spyware have declined, but are still very costly to consumers. And, with many consumers using protective software, better technology can help further reduce damages from spyware. (You can view my entire presentation here. Adobe Acrobat reader software required.)

The conference's other panels went beyond User Behavior to look at the arms race between software companies and law enforcers, and cybercriminals, which continues to escalate. At lunch, Stefan Savage, an  Associate Professor at the University of California at San Diego, presented shocking details on the operations of the underground economy of identity and credit card thieves, botnet operators, and malware purveyors. Savage co-authored a recent study of the underground economy with the intriguing title, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Internet Miscreants. (Adobe Acrobat reader software required.)

During the session on investigative techniques, Chris Boyd of Facetime Security Labs and Lance James of Secure Science Corporation, fascinated and horrified attendees with tales of 10-, 11-, and 12-year-olds with monikers like yogangsta50 who run illicit web sites for teens to trade stolen credit cards and the like. We were also treated to screen shots of sites run by cybercriminals, using software with names like Metafisher and Haxdoor, that monitor and track the collections of computers they control via botnets.

A final session discussed the ways in which education can help consumers and small businesses protect themselves against cybercriminals and malware.

All in all, the workshop was educational and provided lots of helpful information for those of us at Consumer Reports whose job it is to stay abreast of 'Net threats in order to help consumers stay safe online.

—Jeff Fox, Technology Editor

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