An unseemly marriage

摘要

Spyware used to worm its way into PCs when users tried to download a free utility, such as a screen saver, and wound up with an unexpected bonus after agreeing to the distributor's license agreement. Today most spyware infiltrations follow a different course: Users browsing the Web unknowingly launch "drive-by" downloads as they peruse sites affiliated with spyware makers.What those spywaredumping sites often have in common is pornographic content. "We've gotten to a point where, statistically, virtually all of the spyware that you get is being planted onto a system by browsing the Web," says David Perry, global education director for security vendor Trend Micro."The most available Web sites to undertake this kind of thing are those Web sites that are willing to do anything to make a buck off of you.And those have a tendency to be pornography and gambling sites."