| Authors: | Foster |
| Title: | Sneakwrapping a virus |
| Full Text: | View HTML Full Text |
| Source: | InfoWorld 24, no. 44 (Nov 4, 2002): p. 64 Length: 1 Journal Code: IFW |
| Standard_No: | ISSN: 0199-6649 CODEN: INWODU |
| Detail: | Photograph |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Thousands of people received an e-mail in which a friend or business associate asked them to pick up an e-card left for them at a site called FriendGreetings.com. Those who followed the instructions discovered they would need to download a program to view the e-card. Adding credibility to the process was the fact that they then had to click OK on two EULAs (End-User License Agreements) in order to download the viewer software. No one knows how many people took the time to read both EULAs, but we can be pretty certain that none who proceeded to click their approval had read the second one. If they had, they would have seen the bald statement that the supposedly Panamanian company that owned FriendGreetings.com would be accessing the licensee's Outlook contact list and sending everyone on that list a similar invitation to download FriendGreetings. And that is exactly what the software did when installed, with serious results at some hard-hit companies. |
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