Researchers, firms link up to fight spyware

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Anick Jesdanun
Associated Press

New York- A corporate-backed Web site being launched by researchers from Harvard and Oxford universities seeks to become a clearinghouse for Internet users on spyware and other malicious software.

The site, which Google Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. are underwriting, will ultimately identify purveyors of such programs by name and provide information to help consumers decide whether a program is safe to download.

"It's important for users to understand what risks they face and try to help them identify which software is likely to be problematic," said Vint Cerf, Google's chief Internet evangelist and one of the Internet's chief inventors.

The nonprofit Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid adviser...