Risk: Low
Security experts are warning Internet users about a new piece of software that poses as a spyware-removal tool, but is actually being used to persuade unsuspecting Internet users to download spyware programs and Trojans.
The program, SpywareNo, is installed on Internet users' computers without warning, and can be difficult to remove and may be accompanied by malicious programs that hijack victims' Web browsers, according to interviews with spyware experts.
The company behind the new tool claims that it is the victim of online advertisers who bundle the product with noxious wares.
Some spyware experts are arguing that having rampant reports of stealth installs and spyware and SpywareNo running on the same desktop does not augur well for the spyware vendor.
Some users report: "didn't know how it got there"; "has no idea how the program got installed on his system, but that the appearance of SpywareNo coincided with other strange behavior on his computer"; "I did not download any software off the Net when I [first] got infected [on] May 14, [2005]. On [May] 18, [2005] pop-ups started, and on the 19th [SpywareNo] was in my [Windows] system tray"; "When I used add/remove to remove it, it seemed to go, but when I restarted my computer, it was back"; "The program installed by stealth. The icon just appeared in my task tray and asked me to run it to make sure I was protected. I did not do so and just shut the program down."
But SpywareNo claims that any untoward behaviour is the fault of advertisers that the company contracts with to market its program.
"We use affiliated advertisers to [market SpywareNo]. It is a shame that some of our advertisers do not respect the law, but unfortunately we are unable to check them all at the initial stage," wrote a person claiming to be SpywareNo's public relations manager, in an email to eWEEK.
The program is just the latest spark in an explosion of rogue anti-spyware programs in the past year, he said.
"We have 192 listed [rogue anti-spyware] applications, and we add a few more every week," he said.
Rampant spyware infections and a growing base of potential customers desperate to rid their systems of the noxious programs are to blame, he said.
"These are people who are victims. They're scared and frustrated and angry. And they're people who are not very knowledgeable about the problem afflicting them," he said. "It's a market that's ripe for exploitation."