Home>News Center>China
       
 

Internet giants take on greyware
By Guan Xiaofeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-06-24 05:40

As more and more Chinese people enjoy surfing the Internet, "greyware," or malicious software, is becoming an increasing concern.

To combat the problem, 16 of China's major websites and software companies, including Sohu, Sina, Rising, Netease and Tom, signed a Software Security Self-Discipline Agreement yesterday in Beijing.

One user affected by greyware is Feng Xiaoming, a college student in Shanghai, who said he had been tortured by a kind of nuisance software that sneaked into his computer and kept popping up advertisement windows.

This kind of torture could be a thing of the past as the web companies promised to prevent malicious software from being distributed on their websites, and software companies promised to produce safe products that contain no greyware.

"There has been a growth in greyware infections circulating through the web," said Zhang Jian, director of the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre.

Zhang said signs indicate most greyware is being produced by organizations rather than individuals.

"Greyware is somewhere in between normal software and a virus," and is therefore in a "grey" area, said Shi Yu, an engineer with Rising, a Beijing-based anti-virus software company. "The name covers several types of nuisance software, such as adware, spyware, trackware and malicious shareware.

"It is usually downloaded to users' computers secretly and cannot easily be uninstalled."

(China Daily 06/24/2005 page2)



Special police detachment established in Xi'an
Panda cubs doing well in Wolong
Suspect arrested in Taiwan
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Taiwan's KMT Party to elect new leader Saturday

 

   
 

'No trouble brewing,' beer industry insists

 

   
 

Critics see security threat in Unocal bid

 

   
 

DPRK: Nuke-free peninsula our goal

 

   
 

Workplace death toll set to soar in China

 

   
 

No foreign controlling stakes in steel firms

 

   
  No foreign controlling stakes in steel firms
   
  China-made telescopes race to space
   
  'No trouble brewing,' beer industry insists
   
  HK investors cautious on mainland homes
   
  Law in pipeline to ban money laundering
   
  Overseas students test their Chinese abilities
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  It is time to prepare for Beijing - 2008  
Advertisement