Last night my wife and I were having a pleasant dinner with a good friend of ours, when the subject of spyware popped into the conversion. He mentioned that he had downloaded a product off of the Internet that suggested his system had over 6,000 infections. I looked at him at first thinking he had made a mistake. But no, he confirmed the 6,000 number which is just about impossible for any system to have and still be able to start.

Oh the spyware game and the rogue products that are on the Internet. Seems my friend was the victim of one of those products from C-NetMedia that is a fraud looking to bilk the average consumer by deceit and misrepresentations. I did some Google searches this AM and found a very interesting study about C-NetMedia. Completed by Benjamin Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, the article discusses what he has found in his research of C-NetMedia. He states that:

Not every “anti-spyware” program is what it claims to be. Some truly have users’ interests at heart — identifying and removing bona fide risks to privacy, security, stability, or performance. Others resort to a variety of tricks to confuse users about what they’re getting and why they purportedly need it.

This article reports the results of my examination of anti-spyware software from C-NetMedia. I show:

• Deceptive advertising, deceptive product names, and deceptive Web site designs falsely suggest affiliation with security industry leaders. Details.
• The use of many disjoint product names prevents consumers from easily learning more about C-Net, its reputation, and its practices. Details.
• High-pressure sales tactics, including false positives, overstate the urgency of paying for an upgraded version. Details.

Note that C-NetMedia is unrelated to the well-known technology news site CNET Networks. Details.

Once one realizes that C-NetMedia is not CNET Networks, one soon learns to distrust the fake and disregard any of the software offered by the rogue company. Read Ben’s article for additional information. Pass this on to your friends and family so that they will not become a victim.

Comments welcome.

Full article is here.