| MarketScore
‘Internet accelerator’ blocked from campus AU’s
Network Security unit has blocked the use of MarketScore on campus.
Any computer running this “internet accelerator” software
will not be able to access the Internet until the program is removed.
The move to block the software, which is often bundled with a popular
file-sharing program called Imesh, comes amid privacy and security
concerns over MarketScore’s ability to capture personal information,
including passwords and credit card numbers. Thousands
of people—including some in the AU community—have signed
up for the free MarketScore service thinking that allowing an outside
company to monitor their online activity would be a fair tradeoff
for faster downloads. What makes MarketScore more alarming than
past adware and spyware, however, is that it actually routes all
of your Internet activity through their own proxy server. Since
you have to get through them to get to the Internet, they can monitor
and trap every Web site you visit and even grab passwords to AU
resources, which makes the service a potential threat to security
and privacy on the university’s network. Even if MarketScore
tries to protect the privacy of members when selling marketing data
to outside companies, storing such sensitive data is risky because
it provides a single point of failure, making the information an
easy target for hackers. Formerly
known as Netsetter, MarketScore, is a product offered by the Virginia-based
market research company ComScore. According to the FAQ at www.marketscore.com,
ComScore’s decision to change the name to MarketScore was “to
better promote and identify our service.” It may have also
been changed to escape Netsetter’s growing reputation as spyware.
Although ComScore published a page on the MarketScore Web site explaining
that the software is not adware or spyware because users must read
and accept a licensing and privacy agreement prior to installation,
most users simply click through the agreement with barely a glance.
MarketScore
claims to increase page loading speed by an average of 77 percent
on a 56k dial-up connection. They admit that broadband users may
not see a significant speed increase, because broadband connections
are already fast. Their “Internet accelerator,” however,
is really just a system of caching copies of popular Web pages on
MarketScore servers so they can be retrieved more quickly by MarketScore
users. 2004
was a particularly busy year for new viruses and spyware, but publicity
and vigilance on the part of the Network Security staff have significantly
increased awareness and limited damage. Before a new computer can
access the Internet from AU’s campus, the computer owner must
read through a list of security recommendations. Additionally, Network
Security placed posters throughout the residence halls, encouraging
students to be proactive about security. Computers that do become
infected with viruses are blocked from the network until they can
be cleaned. Service
Pack 2 for Microsoft Windows XP has helped, and it is expected to
make a difference in 2005. Before Service Pack 2, the Windows XP
firewall and automatic updates were disabled by default. Service
Pack 2 enabled those essential security features. Most viruses are
only able to infect machines that have not enabled the firewall
or installed the latest software updates. Spyware
and adware, however, remain a threat for even the most protected
machine. Using an alternative browser like Firefox from www.mozilla.org
will help you avoid the spyware and adware programs that specifically
target Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Carefully reading licensing
agreements before installing software is the best way to avoid any
malicious or annoying application. Visit
the “Pop-Up Ads & Spyware” link at help.american.edu
for instructions on installing and running Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware
and Spybot Search and Destroy. Either product will remove MarketScore.
Contact the Help Desk at 885-2550 or helpdesk@american.edu
if you have any questions. |
