Security Firm Stands Ground Over Software Removal

May 10, 2007: The developers of the popular anti-spyware program SpyBot Search and Destroy have defiantly rebuffed a cease and desist order from an Australian company after SpyBot removed its software alongside a piece of malware.

According to the SpyBot website, the software in question is called DeskMates, a program by Queensland’s Oska Educational Systems Pty Limited that installs a toolbar and dancing girls on a user’s desktop after piggybacking its way into a system via a Trojan.

“Oska didn't like their "mates" to be detected as a part of a trojan installation - understandable if they should have nothing to do with the trojan. But then, instead of working with us to stop the trojan horse that is spreading their software (and if it is an affiliate they pay money for each installation, they should have the financial records to track it), they rejected any of our attempts to help them track down the trojan source” reads a statement on the SpyBot website.

SpyBot’s developers say Oska has threatened to sue for damage to reputation and asked that its software to be no longer detected or removed by SpyBot, even if installed without user consent.

On its website Oska states that DeskMates does not contain "spyware" or "adware", a point that SpyBot agrees with, noting that the software itself appears to be harmless.

Whether or not Oska’s software has been hijacked or otherwise inadvertently included in a malware package, the story highlights yet another of the many ways malware can worm its way into a system, and the problems that can be faced during its removal.

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