Open Source Popularity a Fact: Malware Signals Success
July 27, 2011
In a twisted way, does this mean that open source has arrived? TechEye declares, “Malware Makers Hitting Open Source Projects.” Writer Nick Farrell reports:
Open sauce [sic] developers are getting hit by an alarming trend amongst malware makers to take their code and counterfeit it, or place malware under the bonnet. . . . The result is a poor product that doesn’t work as intended, that can’t be uninstalled and that clearly abuses its users and their privacy.
Farrell refers to Ludovic Fauvet’s blog, where the developer states the corrupted versions are distributed through a number of websites which purchase Google AdWords ads to bring in their victims. A list of such sites is provided in both articles so you know what to avoid. Until the newest ones come out, of course.
So, the bad guys want to exploit open source software. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. The appearance of malware underscores the significance of this branch of the software oak tree.
Cynthia Murrell, July 27, 2011
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