Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 5th Nov 2009 17:29 UTC
Computers are taking on ever more important roles in our daily lives. They used to be simple tools to get simple things done - work-related, mostly, maybe a few simple games, and that was it. However, over time, they have become the central hubs for all sorts of data - including precious data. For his Master of Fine Arts thesis project, Zach Gage illustrated just how important our computer data has become.
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Member since:2006-01-26
Plus, what if someone with malicious intent repackages this software (standalone or with a collection of other games, for example) and removes the notices of data loss? Better to be proactive and detect it now, and I agree, it should be classed as malware. Even if not the developer's intent, people don't expect a game to delete their data.
Do you really believe it's so difficult for someone to add this "feature" to any other game out there? Deleting files on a disk is a pretty trivial task...
Member since:2005-07-06
Do you really believe it's so difficult for someone to add this "feature" to any other game out there? Deleting files on a disk is a pretty trivial task...
No, I don't believe it's difficult, and the response should be similar in such cases. It's largely about expected behavior. If I made/hacked a game to acquire your PII or CC#s, or randomly encrypt/corrupt your data, would you not consider that malware even if I gave notice of what I'd be doing? If not my version, would you consider a repackaged release of my game (sans notices) by a third-party malware?
You don't even need admin privileges to do this, so what good is AV software if it doesn't warn the user about these types of apps?
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Member since:
2005-07-06
Plus, what if someone with malicious intent repackages this software (standalone or with a collection of other games, for example) and removes the notices of data loss? Better to be proactive and detect it now, and I agree, it should be classed as malware. Even if not the developer's intent, people don't expect a game to delete their data.
A Symantec rep in the CNET article actually mentions this scenario:
"We are concerned that somebody could take this and modify it in some way where users aren't aware of the consequences," Kevin Haley, director of product management at Symantec Security Response, said in an interview on Wednesday. "We want to make people aware of what's on their machine and they can make the decision on whether to run it or not."
Edited 2009-11-08 18:37 UTC