StopBadware.org Releases Two New Reports

StopBadware.org, the Berkman Center and Oxford Internet Institute's consumer-oriented project that is working to find collaborative solutions to the badware problem, recently released two new reports - one on Puzzle Desktop and one on FreeWire.  Both, they have determined, are to be considered badware.

StopBadware.org Project Manager Christina Olson writes at the StopBadware blog:

"...Puzzle Desktop is advertised as an application that give users access to Sudoku and other games, but our testers were puzzled when the installed application didn’t run. The adware that was installed along with Puzzle Desktop worked just fine, however, redirecting invalid web addresses to pseudo error pages. It also added an adult website link to our desktop, which was certainly unexpected...FreeWire, on the other hand, is an open source peer-to-peer application that runs off the Gnutella engine. Although it “discloses” some of the bundled badware that it installs, most of it is installed without the user’s knowledge. Even the “disclosed” badware isn’t really disclosed..."

To continue to learn how to protect your computer, read about the details in the full Puzzle Desktop and FreeWire reports.

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