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New Browsers, Same Unwanted Ads For internet users seeking to avoid exposure to spyware and intrusive ads, the prevailing wisdom among net security experts has long been that a good first step is to switch from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to an alternate browser. But now that millions have taken the advice and changed to browsers like Mozilla Firefox, more spyware and adware writers are also making the switch. As the number of people opting not to use IE grows, makers of filtering software say users of leading alternate browsers can expect to see more intrusive ads and spyware applications headed their way. "There's still a lot more spyware that gets in through the holes in Internet Explorer than through the holes in Mozilla, but it's changing," said Anthony Arrott, director of threat research for InterMute, a maker of software that blocks spyware and pop-up ads. As of today, spyware writers have not successfully targeted Firefox users on a large scale. However, Arrott says that spyware writers are more attracted to Mozilla today simply because it has more users. A few years ago, when Internet Explorer dominated the browser arena to a greater degree, there wasn't much reason for authors of malicious applications to target its rivals. Now that Mozilla has critical mass, however, it's become worth their while. "The reason there is so much spyware in IE and not on these alternate browsers is not because IE has so many more inherent security problems but because IE has so many more users," Arrott said. As other browsers become more popular, he added, spyware users will go after them too. The upshot of spyware writers' newfound attraction to Mozilla, Arrott predicts, will be that in the next six months or so computer security guides will stop recommending that people switch from IE to halt intrusions. It's not just spyware that users of alternate browsers are complaining about. Much-reviled pop-up and pop-under ads are also making it past blocking software, a trend that Matina Fresenius, chairman and CEO of ad-blocking software developer Panicware, attributed to the fact that most older programs were made with IE in mind. "I'm not sure if it's specifically that advertisers are finding ways to sneak by ad blockers in alternate browsers. I think it's just that most ad blockers don't support the alternate browsers," said Fresenius, whose company launched a pop-up blocker last week that is designed to work with both IE and alternate browsers like Mozilla, Opera and Netscape. Mac users are also complaining about a rise in intrusive advertising. In the past few months in particular, Mac users have reported a dramatically higher incidence of unwanted pop-up and pop-under ads, said Ben Wilson, senior editor of the Mac site MacFixIt. Typically, Wilson said, Mac users are subjected to fewer unwanted pop-up and pop-under ads than PC users. He attributes this tendency to security features in Mac OS X's architecture and to its smaller market share.
http://www.wired.com
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