Anti-Spyware Groups Still Require Legislation

Cyber and computer laws are always a grey area, they tend to be very vague and don’t cover specific technologies.

Spam is a good example, look at how long we’ve been getting spammed, and it’s been a SERIOUS problem for at least the last 5 years, spam legislation has only started coming in to effect in the last 1-2 years seriously..

Now it’s time to look at Spyware?

Even though security technology is improving, spyware legislation is still needed from Congress because many consumers don’t use all the tech tools available to them, antispyware groups said Thursday.

Antispyware groups including the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and StopBadware.org called on Congress to pass antispyware legislation during the last days of the 2006 session. Although some studies show a small decrease in the amount of spyware on PCs, the use of spyware that logs keystrokes seems to be going up, said Ari Schwartz, deputy director of the CDT.

“The issue is everyone’s still making money doing this,” Schwartz said during an antispyware discussion in Washington. Spyware distributors identified by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the CDT can pull in tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually, he added.

It’s true, sad, but true..The developers of spyware and making millions from it every year.

Antispyware technology can work, but 81 percent of home PC users don’t use all three common security tools — antispyware software, antivirus software and firewalls — according to a survey published in December by AOL LLC and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).

“We still think consumers are not protected,” said Ron Teixeira, the NCSA’s executive director. “If they don’t take these three core measures, it doesn’t matter what we do.”

So what to do?

Source: Computerworld