Just imagine: you are walking, say, towards your car, and all of a sudden somebody comes up to you and begins? polishing your shoes. Or even better example--a guy you've never met before opens the hood of your car, says the engine is broken and tries to persuade you to add some gadget your car desperately needs--and now! What you'd do if such a crazy thing happened? Wouldn't you readily accept the help, paid for it and thank this unknown altruist for his generosity? Why not? Lots of people are doing exactly the same on their PCs.
A pop-up ad offering you a pop-up blocker--funny, isn't it? With those numerous spyware removers it isn't even funny. Obtrusive advertising in itself is not necessarily suspicious (it might be just a sign that the company's marketing director is stupid), but some dishonest software vendors are applying deceitful tactics in marketing their anti-spy solutions (often of low or zero quality), trying to make money quick.
Almost any product can be faked, but with software it is especially easy. It is also very tempting to take advantage of huge demand for security solutions without much effort. The recent story with a placebo product Spyware Assassin proves it.
What a simple but efficient (and disgusting) scheme--to offer users a free system scan, which is bound to find spyware (even if there isn't any--because no scan actually takes place), then sell them a "solution" to this problem for only $30. This product (Spyware Assassin) seems to be about as fake as spyware found on a "clean" PC. As a result, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently took action against MaxTheater--the company which distributed Spyware Assassin. The site used for selling this bogus anti-spyware software has been taken down.
Users who were literally forced to buy Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter, or those who remember the notorious litigation in fall 2004, can say a lot of things about authors and sellers of such programs--if written down, their remarks can make paper blush. In short, Seismic Entertainment Productions, Inc., another vendor prosecuted by FTC, applied even more impudent tactics than MaxTheater. Computers were infected with real spyware and adware to be later "cured" with Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter. The spyware changed the consumers' home pages, changed their search engines, and generated constant flow of pop-up ads.
We all have been told not to be too credulous; still lots of us fall for the advertising bait. You must have already heard or read tips like these, but maybe they are worth reading once more:
Tip 1
If a company is unscrupulous in choosing means of advertising: tone of its ads is aggressive, they are scaring a potential customer and demanding immediate action (scan and system, install/buy/download some program NOW or something nasty will happen), if a company is using pop-ups and especially spam to distribute its "message"-- you'd better stay clear
Tip 2
If a company is very young and yet claims to offer something really wide-range and universal, or better to say, panacea-like, solution, with 100% guarantee--it's most likely a lie. No product is capable of protecting your PC against all the malware. Only irresponsible vendors give such false promises, and only naive users believe them.
Tip 3
However name the product bear, the name is not the product itself. Cool names don't describe functions, quality, or reliability of the program, though imply them (usually it's not true). Words "perfect" or "advanced" in the product's name may sound good, but don't at all mean this product works well or is better compared with others.
The conclusions are rather simple. Don't believe everything ads say. Do spend time on background checks before downloading, and you won't have to waste plenty of time, money and nerves afterwards.
Alexandra Gamanenko currently works at Raytown Corporation, LLC -- an independent software developing company. Raytown Corporation, LLC provides various solutions for information security. This company has never used and is never going to use any deceptive advertising tactics. Raytown Corporation, LLC always keeps its promises and its anti-keylogging software is of high quality, though you will never see its ad in a pop-up window.
Learn more about it -- visit the company's website http://www.anti-keyloggers.com
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More
This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers.... Read More
GroupwareThe internet is full of 1.5 million to 7 million... Read More
Our hosted solution allow you to run your own search... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions is emerging as very attractive vendor for... Read More
CD and DVD replication is a process that works by... Read More
A wiki is an editable text-based website. But you don't... Read More
Microsoft CRM and IBM Lotus Notes Domino seem to be... Read More
Stop the Runaway MouseWhat's the "runaway mouse?" You've seen it...you... Read More
It won't matter how effective your WinRunner Team is if... Read More
Are you a database professional? Do you work with a... Read More
While paper labeling CDs and DVDs may appear to be... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more... Read More
Domino server is a buffer between the operation system and... Read More
Lotus Notes Domino is very efficient in electronic document workflow... Read More
After almost two decades of existence, Quark has become the... Read More
Writing software manuals is boring, isn't it? We often think:... Read More
IBM Lotus Notes Domino and Microsoft CRM (Client Relation Management)... Read More
One day, you suddenly realize that your computer started to... Read More
Upgrading. Downtime. Maintenance. Hardware obsolescence. Implementation issues. The litany of... Read More
Whether you are an experienced web programmer or a complete... Read More
Finding the best spyware removers to detect and remove spyware... Read More
A LOT OF UNWANTED FILES.When you uninstall an item of... Read More
IntroductionSurprised, by the title? well, this is a tour of... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was purchased from Great Plains... Read More
C++ Function templates are those functions which can handle different... Read More
Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More
Bar charts, bar graphs, and any other chart or graph... Read More
We all already got used to computer monitoring both at... Read More
While Ukraine is becoming a new popular IT outsourcing destination,... Read More
We live in a post-industrial age where information is the... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was historically designed to serve... Read More
Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE,... Read More
Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More
Let's first look at your ERP system selection (without Retail... Read More
The various resume software offered, particularly on the internet, can... Read More
The most important benefit of XML is its simplicity. Though... Read More
Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of... Read More
Each Industry and market niche has business specific and unique... Read More
MS CRM is very close to document workflow automation, including... Read More
Since technology changes so quickly, it is hard to begin... Read More
Shareware has been fighting the stigma of being misunderstood for... Read More
At the end of XX century, in the late 1990th... Read More
MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I'm... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Manager is Great Plains Dexterity... Read More
One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use... Read More
I suggest that you do not spend a lot of... Read More
Just the thought of a duel-boot scares many people away,... Read More
In the new era of internet marketing the problem of... Read More
The vast majority of us will have, at some point,... Read More
|