Entries Tagged 'Spyware'

Big business is definitely aware and guarded against hacking and espionage.

So the hackers are going after the low-hanging fruit — the small business.

Gone are the days when big business was the prime target of amateur hackers and professional cybercriminals. The security advances made by larger firms have deterred many of them, says Howard Schmidt, president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting and former White House cybersecurity adviser. Seeking an easier target, troublemakers are now attacking small businesses, which are often inadequately protected against cybercrime, Schmidt explains. That’s because small firms have less time, resources, and experience to devote to the issue.

While the small business owner understands that security is important, more often than not the protections in place are completely inadequate due to a lack of knowledge and basic precautions.

Almost one-fifth of the small businesses surveyed didn’t use virus scanning for e-mail, and more than 60% didn’t protect their wireless networks with even the simplest encryption.

This is a huge problem, and a huge opportunity for companies that can painlessly take care of the security needs of the huge small business market.

ComScore Networks is a huge marketing research firm that recruits silly people who care nothing for their privacy in order to take virtual photos of every Web page viewed by those 1 million participants.

Unfortunately, you may be one of those “participants” without your consent or knowledge.

“[The] software is sneaking onto users’ computers without the user agreeing to receive it,” says Harvard University researcher Ben Edelman, who documented at least ten unauthorized comScore downloads. Eric Howes, director of malware research at antivirus company Sunbelt Software, and his researchers separately observed hundreds of unauthorized comScore downloads in a three-month period this fall.

Apparently ComScore is the only online marketing research firm that partners with “third parties,” which often becomes a euphemism for “slime-ball spyware dealers.” It pays to stay out of the bad neighborhoods, kids.

The rest of the story is at Forbes.