Peter Griffin: Bill Gates gets tough on spyware snoops

If a speech delivered this week by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to computer security boffins in San Francisco is anything to go by, this year may be the one in which Microsoft stops the rot in its popular web browser Internet Explorer.

The software giant has the fledgling freebie Microsoft Anti-spyware available for download, and is putting the finishing touches on its revamped, safer web browser, Internet Explorer 7.

Gates declared: "Our primary goal is to improve security and safety for all our customers - consumers and businesses, regardless of size - through a balance of technology innovation, guidance, and industry leadership."

Microsoft is moving to stifle the security issues that are strangling Internet Explorer - sophisticated adware and spyware.

Adware is those sneaky pop-up ads and redirections to ad-filled web pages designed to make people buy something they don't want.

Spyware is snooping software that monitors web usage - market research gathered from web-users without their knowledge.

Programs are available to detect them, but many require payment for the ability to remove the nasty spyware that snoops on web activity and can even tell what sort of files are stored on a hard drive. 

Now the biggest player in the game has gone down the free path with its own security suite.

Microsoft claims there have been five million downloads of its beta test version of Microsoft Anti-spyware since early January.

It was released three weeks after Microsoft snapped up Giant, the company that originally developed it.

I've been running it for a week and am reasonably impressed.

Although I'm already using sophisticated internet security software and anti-spyware freeware, Microsoft Anti spyware picked up four high-level threats on its first quick scan of my computer.

There, embedded on my machine was the Webeventlogger backdoor trojan which monitors my web surfing activity.

The common adware software Cydoor had also found its way onto my system.

The malicious web browser plug-in Toprebates was present, as was the Websearch Toolbar which specialises in redirecting search engines to a page full of irritating advertising.

The presence of these programs explained the occasionally erratic behaviour of my web browser.

But now the nasties are gone. No requests to pay a fee, no surveys to fill out. Vaccinating my machine was all relatively painless.

All I needed was a valid Windows product key, which is stamped on the side of my computer, and the 6MB download.

Then it just becomes one of those routine updates you do if you're a Windows user or subscribe to the likes of Norton Internet Security or Trend Micro's PC-cillin.

Anti-spyware will also remember your IE settings, so if your browser is hijacked it will revert to your original settings.

It seems very efficient. But a lot is riding on Microsoft Anti-spyware. If it turns out to be full of holes, like the built-in security in Internet Explorer, that will push more people towards rival browser Firefox, which so far enjoys the luxury of being immune to most of IE's security threats.

I don't buy into the argument raging on the web that Microsoft's foray into anti-spyware is yet another anti-competitive move, this time to strangle competing browser vendors and anti-spyware companies.

It's more of an attempt to stop the haemorrhaging of Microsoft's frustrated browser users away from the company.

Nevertheless, the competition is going to have to get smart to co-exist with this giant new competitor.

Webroot builds high-level anti-spyware and this month received more than US$100 million ($140 million) in venture capital funding. Will Microsoft tread on its toes?

Several good programs already specialise in weeding out adware and spyware. Adaware from Lavasoft and Spybot are popular programs with free basic functions. It will be interesting to see how they fare.

Microsoft Anti-spyware's appearance precedes the release of its next Internet Explorer update.

It will be the first overhaul of Internet Explorer since Windows XP went on sale in 2001.

Internet Explorer 7 will have anti-phishing capabilities to help prevent people being duped into giving financial and account information to bogus websites posing as legitimate banks and businesses.

Adware and spyware are annoying, but phishing attacks can empty a bank account into some black hole in Eastern Europe at the click of a button.

Only those with Microsoft's Service Pack 2 installed will be able to run the new browser.

Service Pack 2 was a package of security fixes and upgrades issued late last year.

Despite initial concerns at the size of the download and conflicts with other programs, it has turned out to be a worthwhile addition.

Microsoft has brought forward the release of the new browser, maybe because the competition is much nimbler in issuing updates and maybe because Microsoft, like Google, sees the web browser as remaining at the heart of internet users' experience for some time.