Biz networks 'desperate' for tools and accurate definitions
Spyware has become such a big problem at one healthcare company that the organization is drawing up plans to drastically restrict its staff's Internet access.
"The biggest issue we've got is spyware, the malware that comes down through subversive Web pages," says Steve Raynes, IT audit manager for the company.
Spyware not only clogs PCs used for patient care but sometimes redirects Web pages to alternate sites. The staff is already banned from accessing gambling and pornography Web sites via filtering software, and Raynes says the company is contemplating adding online shopping to that list to avoid spyware infections.
Raynes is "desperate" for anti-spyware software with the kind of reporting, automated updates, group policies, quarantine and remote configuration seen in antivirus products. "I can't find it," he says.
Until recently there were no anti-spyware products designed with large networks in mind - only stand-alone consumer software or freeware. But consumer-oriented anti-spyware products from Computer Associates (which recently acquired anti-spyware maker PestPatrol), is getting beefed up for enterprise networks.
CA plans to present eTrust PestPatrol 5.0 in packages designed for consumers and for small and large businesses. The corporate edition initially will feature a central console. Later, CA plans to integrate the anti-spyware program with its anti-virus software management controls.
McAfee and a number of other vendors say they intend to announce anti-spyware software for enterprise networks, too.
While IT managers are certain to welcome the growing number of choices, one issue that buyers face is that each software vendor defines spyware a little differently and touts wide-ranging numbers of signatures - anywhere between 20,000 to 200,000 - to target spyware files that end up on computers. That means there's no easy way to compare these products.
"There are no common definitions for the industry," says Josh Blanchfield, CEO of software vendor Tenebril. However, most vendors seem to agree that spyware includes adware used for marketing purposes in addition to malicious Trojans and key-loggers.
McAfee prefers to not even use the word spyware because some online marketing firms, including Claria, which makes the Gator eWallet and other software for targeted ad presentation, bristle at the term.
McAfee uses the term "potentially unwanted programs" instead.
The anti-spyware industry operates with each vendor deciding which adware or Trojan that ends up on a computer should be wiped out based on an assessment of what's good and bad.
While it's unclear which method will catch on, demand for corporate anti-spyware offerings is clearly on the rise.
Jared Winter, the PC and LAN supervisor at a large insurance company, says he had to find a tool after spyware brought his company's imaging system to its knees. He uses CA's PestPatrol.
"Some of the spyware was downloading viruses," he says. "So I've found using anti-spyware is some help against viruses, too."
Ellen Messmer