Typically, adware authors install their software on as many machines as possible. But Typhoid adware comes from another person's computer and convinces other laptops to communicate with it and not the legitimate access point. Then the Typhoid adware automatically inserts advertisements in videos and web pages on the other computers. Meanwhile, the carrier sips her latté in peace – she sees no advertisements and doesn't know she is infected ¬– just like symptomless Typhoid Mary.
U of C researchers have come up with a number of defenses against Typhoid adware. One is protecting the content of videos to ensure that what users see comes from the original source. Another is a way to "tell" laptops they are at an Internet café to make them more suspicious of contact from other computers.
"When you go to an Internet café, you tell your computer you are there and it can put up these defenses. Anti-virus companies can do the same thing through software that stops your computer from being misled and re-directed to someone else," says Aycock.
Why worry about ads? Aycock explains it this way: "Not only are ads annoying but they can also advertise rogue antivirus software that's harmful to your computer, so ads are in some sense the tip of the iceberg."
University of Calgary computer scientist John Aycock describes Typhoid Mary adware.
(Photo Credit: Leanne Yohemas, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary)
John Aycock (left) and student Daniel Medeiros Nunes de Castro have predicted a new computer security threat: Typhoid adware.
(Photo Credit: Leanne Yohemas, University of Calgary)
Source: University of Calgary