Spyware/Scumware detection software for Macs

[Joe]

Does anyone know of any spyware/dcumware detection software for Macs. I know of at least one for WindowsÂ*(Ad-Aware at www.lavasoftusa.com), but don't know one for Macs. Is there anyone here actually using one on a Mac? Any experiences you'd like to share?

Joe

[MichaelC]

What kinds of spyware/scumware exist on the Mac in the first place? I know we're Gator-free (thanks, Gator!), and I'm not sure anyone else has bothered to write anything of substance. It would probably take a spyware/scumware problem to cause anyone to write software to solve it.

This is one case where Apple's low market share works in our favor... :D

MC
("Apple Computer: the 'niche player' with revenues 70% higher than Major League Baseball")

[Joe]

I thought spyware/scumware wasn't so much platform specific as browser/cookie oriented. I could be wrong, but my searches on some some Mac forums has certainly brought nothing to light on any scripts that might detect this stuff on Macs.

Joe

[MichaelC]

Scumware is a general term that applies to software that you either knowingly or unwittingly install on your system, and which either serves ads you didn't ask for or otherwise hacks the Web pages you're reading for the purpose of selling you something. As a byproduct, several also track your browsing habits for the purpose of "targeting" the ads they show you (thus "spyware"). Gator is probably the most well-known of these.

Most of these don't exist on the Mac. Close cousins may be apps like LimeWire or the free version of Eudora, which show you ads as the price you pay for the software, but neither of those track your Web browsing.

Cookies such as the ones served with Doubleclick's banner ads can be used to track your surfing on the Mac, but they're technically just cookies. (A few call them "poison cookies.") You can limit the acceptance of cookies in the major browsers, although IE 5.x doesn't give you much control besides allowing/disallowing/manually accepting every cookie, and there are a lot of helpful cookies out there (like the ones that remember your login and preferences at your favorite sites).

Mozilla has some great cookie-limiting features, including the ability to accept only cookies from the site you're visiting (eliminating those troublesome Doubleclick cookies!) and to compile a list of sites from which you want to allow/disallow cookies. Between that and the ability to disable pop-ups, when 1.0 is finalized I think I'll be switching permanently to Mozilla.

Whatever browser you're using, you should have the ability to see what cookies are currently in your system, and to delete any or all of them.

MC

[frankc]

Apparently Macs use a "hosts" file similar to that used on Win PCs, and there is an ad-blocker program out there. See http://www.robinlewis.com/ and http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/%7Eatman/spam/adblock.shtml for details.

[MichaelC]

Apparently Macs use a "hosts" file similar to that used on Win PCs, and there is an ad-blocker program out there. Ad-blockers aren't really the same as "scumware," because "scumware" tracks your surfing and serves you alternate ads (or extra bonus ads).

Of course, as webmasters we might worry about blocked ads (personally, I'm not seeing much difference between my site's page views and ad views, plus ads pay for cr*p anyway these days, so I'm not going to get myself in a knot about it quite yet). However, as both webmasters and users we should be very concerned about scumware, which hijacks our computers for the purpose of hijacking the websites we visit. Everyone loses (except, apparently, the scumware manufacturer).

As an aside, this interesting tidbit from the robinlewis.com site:

A bug in most versions of Internet Explorer 5.5 means that it will not work with AdKiller. Sorry. "80 percent of you won't be able to use the product. Sorry." :P

MC
(Mozilla 1.0 will kill all the ads I care to kill)

[jeep]

Cookies are unfairly knocked down as being always bad. Most of the time they do a very useful job. Yes, some webbugs and other dood-dads are based around cookies but against the vast majority of legitimate uses these are a minority.

The much bigger problem is that of programs like Eudora being able to track everything you do. Eudora does this BUT it never sends it back to anybody, so that's ok. But how many programs track and then send back???

Who know unless you spend some time with a packet sniffer and a Pina Colada.

regards,
Jason

[frankc]

Originally posted by jeep:
Cookies are unfairly knocked down as being always bad. Most of the time they do a very useful job. Yes, some webbugs and other dood-dads are based around cookies but against the vast majority of legitimate uses these are a minority.I generally agee, jeep, but it sure is interesting to know WHO is putting a cookie on your PC, and it's even nicer to have the option to allow/disallow. A very nice cookie-management program I've been using for years is Cookie Pal (http://www.kburra.com/cpal.html) that gives you a variety of options--block always, allow always, allow all "this session only" cookies, and allow/disallow on a cookie-by-cookie basis. Great lil' tool.


Frank
==hmmm, that's makin' me hungry!==

[MichaelC]

Originally posted by jeep:
Cookies are unfairly knocked down as being always bad. Most of the time they do a very useful job. Agreed. On that topic, it's interesting that MS is chomping at the bit to implement its own version of scumware ("smart tags"), but IE 6 installs with severe restrictions on cookies.The much bigger problem is that of programs like Eudora being able to track everything you do. Ah, "phone home" capability. Wonder if most people who use file-swapping software realize those companies think nothing of gathering user information? (Broad brush, I know, but between LimeWire and Kazaa, there's most of the market.)Originally posted by frankc:
I generally agee, jeep, but it sure is interesting to know WHO is putting a cookie on your PC, and it's even nicer to have the option to allow/disallow. Mozilla, Mozilla, Mozilla, HEY! ;) (Thank goodness it's open-source, otherwise folks might start to think I had a financial interest in it.)

MC
(Channeling Aykroyd and Murphy from the train car in "Trading Places")