StopBadware: Difference between revisions
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== References == |
== References == |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 12:09, 30 April 2011
| File:Stopbadwarelogo.png | |
| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Palfrey, Jonathan Zittrain |
Key people | Vint Cerf, Esther Dyson |
| Website | stopbadware.org |
StopBadware is a consumer-oriented nonprofit organization aimed at fighting malicious software, or "badware". It is the successor to StopBadware.org, a project started in 2006 at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. It spun off to become a standalone organization, and dropped the “.org” in its name, in January of 2010. [1]
People
The founders of StopBadware.org were John Palfrey, then Executive Director of the Berkman Center, and Jonathan Zittrain, then at the Oxford Internet Institute.[2] Both are now Professors of Law at Harvard University and faculty co-directors of the Berkman Center.
Board members of StopBadware include Michael Barrett (Chair), Vint Cerf, Mike Shaver, Esther Dyson, Paul Mockapetris, John Morris, and Maxim Weinstein, StopBadware’s current executive director.[3] John Palfrey and Ari Schwartz formerly served on the Board.
Supporters
StopBadware is funded by corporate and individual donations. Its current partners are Google, Mozilla, PayPal, and Nominum.[4][5] Google, Sunbelt Software, and NSFocus participate as data providers in the organization’s Badware Website Clearinghouse (see below). Previous supporters include AOL, Lenovo, VeriSign, Sun Microsystems, Trend Micro, and MySpace. Consumer Reports WebWatch, a now-defunct part of Consumers Union, served as an unpaid special advisor while StopBadware.org was a project at the Berkman Center.
Activities
StopBadware’s mission is to “provide tools and information that assist industry and policymakers in meeting their responsibility to protect users from badware, and that help users protect themselves.”[6] StopBadware educates users about badware prevention and remediation, where “badware” is defined as software that fundamentally disregards a user’s choice about how his or her computer or network connection will be used.[7] The organization receives data from its data providers and maintains a searchable clearinghouse (Badware Website Clearinghouse) of URLs blacklisted by those data providers.[8] StopBadware’s independent review process gives webmasters the option to request removal from data providers’ blacklists and is intended to function as “due process” for webmasters whose sites have been listed as bad.[9] StopBadware maintains a community forum, BadwareBusters.org[10], which includes an online form for reporting badware URLs encountered by the community.
StopBadware also aggregates badware statistics[11], advocates for consumer protection in public policy, and publishes advisory documents (software guidelines[12], best practices for web hosting providers[13]) compiled with input from the organization’s working groups.[14]
Google and StopBadware
There is a common misconception that StopBadware blacklists websites and that Google uses this blacklist to protect their users. In fact, Google’s Safe Browsing initiative uses automated systems to identify and blacklist websites.[15] This blacklist is used by Google to warn users before they visit potentially dangerous sites. The Firefox web browser and other applications also use Google’s Safe Browsing API to warn their users based on the same blacklist.
The confusion is likely due to the close relationship between Google and StopBadware. Google links to StopBadware from their interstitial warning pages.[16] The link directs users to StopBadware’s educational content about badware[17]; it also points webmasters to StopBadware’s independent review process so site owners can request removal from Google’s blacklist.[18] StopBadware’s Badware Website Clearinghouse also lists websites blacklisted by Google.
Google uses automated systems to search for websites that distribute badware, and issues warnings about websites on which malicious activity is detected.[19] When a user tries to access one of these sites, that user is redirected to an interstitial page wherein Google warns the user of the detected malicious activity.[20] Google attempts to notify site owners when blacklisting a website.[21]
References
- ^ Miller, Mary Helen (January 28, 2010). "StopBadware Spins Off From Harvard U. to Be a Stand-Alone Nonprofit Group". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ Hines, Matthew (January 30, 2010). "StopBadware Researchers Graduate from Harvard". eWeek Security Watch. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Board of Directors". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Supporting Organizations". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "StopBadware and Nominum partner to fight malware". Nominum. October 4, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Main Page". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "What is Badware?". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Badware Website Clearinghouse". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ Mills, Elinor (February 2, 2009). "StopBadware.org, the place to appeal a Google malware warning". CNET Security News. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "About". BadwareBusters.org. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "AS Report - Top 50 by Number of Reported URLs". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Guidelines". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Web Hosting Best Practices". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Working Groups". StopBadware. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ Ballard, Lucas (October 12, 2009). "Show Me the Malware!". CNET Security News. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "What is the Google Safe Browsing Blacklist?". SerpGuard website. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "Suspicious results and strange behavior: Results labeled 'This site may harm your computer". Google Web Search Help results. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ Mills, Elinor (February 2, 2009). "StopBadware.org, the place to appeal a Google malware warning". CNET Security News. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ Provos, Niels (April 2007). "The Ghost in the Browser: Analysis of Web-based Malware" (PDF). Encyclopedia of Things. USENIX. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Gabe, Glenn (April 22, 2009). "Yes, You're An Attack Site That Contains Malware, Now Here's What To Do About It". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
- ^ "About malware and hacked sites". Google Webmaster Tools Help results. Retrieved January 13, 2011.