Stopbadware
Encyclopedia
StopBadware is a consumer-oriented nonprofit organization
aimed at fighting malicious software, or "badware". It is the successor to StopBadware.org, a project started in 2006 at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University
. It spun off to become a standalone organization, and dropped the “.org” in its name, in January of 2010.
, then Executive Director of the Berkman Center, and Jonathan Zittrain
, then at the Oxford Internet Institute. Both are now Professors of Law at Harvard University and faculty co-directors of the Berkman Center.
Board members of StopBadware include Michael Barrett (Chair), Vint Cerf
, Mike Shaver
, Esther Dyson
, Paul Mockapetris
, John Morris, and Maxim Weinstein, StopBadware’s current executive director. John Palfrey and Ari Schwartz formerly served on the Board.
, Mozilla
, PayPal
, and Nominum. Google, Sunbelt Software
, and NSFocus participate as data providers in the organization’s Badware Website Clearinghouse (see below). Previous supporters include AOL
, Lenovo, VeriSign
, Sun Microsystems
, Trend Micro
, and MySpace
. Consumer Reports
WebWatch, a now-defunct part of Consumers Union, served as an unpaid special advisor while StopBadware.org was a project at the Berkman Center.
StopBadware also aggregates badware statistics, advocates for consumer protection in public policy, and publishes advisory documents (software guidelines, best practices for web hosting providers) compiled with input from the organization’s working groups.
The confusion is likely due to the close relationship between Google and StopBadware. Google links to StopBadware from their interstitial warning pages. The link directs users to StopBadware’s educational content about badware; it also points webmasters to StopBadware’s independent review process so site owners can request removal from Google’s blacklist. StopBadware’s Badware Website Clearinghouse also lists websites blacklisted by Google.
Google uses automated systems to search for websites that distribute badware, and issues warnings about websites on which malicious activity is detected. When a user tries to access one of these sites, that user is redirected to an interstitial page wherein Google warns the user of the detected malicious activity. Google attempts to notify site owners when blacklisting a website.
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
aimed at fighting malicious software, or "badware". It is the successor to StopBadware.org, a project started in 2006 at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. It spun off to become a standalone organization, and dropped the “.org” in its name, in January of 2010.
People
The founders of StopBadware.org were John PalfreyJohn Palfrey
John Palfrey is a faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, vice dean for library and information resources, and the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He led a reorganization of the Harvard Law School Library in 2009...
, then Executive Director of the Berkman Center, and Jonathan Zittrain
Jonathan Zittrain
Jonathan L. Zittrain is a US professor of Internet law at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School, a professor of computer science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a faculty co-director of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society...
, then at the Oxford Internet Institute. Both are now Professors of Law at Harvard University and faculty co-directors of the Berkman Center.
Board members of StopBadware include Michael Barrett (Chair), Vint Cerf
Vint Cerf
Vinton Gray "Vint" Cerf is an American computer scientist, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn...
, Mike Shaver
Mike Shaver
Mike Shaver is currently the Engineering Director at Facebook. He is known for his work on several other open source projects as well...
, Esther Dyson
Esther Dyson
Esther Dyson is a former journalist and Wall Street technology analyst who is a leading angel investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and commentator focused on breakthrough innovation in healthcare, government transparency, digital technology, biotechnology, and space...
, Paul Mockapetris
Paul Mockapetris
Dr. Paul V. Mockapetris is the inventor of the Domain Name System.In 1983, he proposed a Domain Name System architecture in RFCs 882 and 883 while at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California....
, John Morris, and Maxim Weinstein, StopBadware’s current executive director. John Palfrey and Ari Schwartz formerly served on the Board.
Supporters
StopBadware is funded by corporate and individual donations. Its current partners are GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Mozilla
Mozilla Corporation
The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey Navigator web browsers and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client by a growing global community of...
, PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
, and Nominum. Google, Sunbelt Software
Sunbelt Software
Sunbelt Software was a computer security software company based in Clearwater, Florida. On July 13, 2010, its CEO, Alex Eckelberry, announced in a that GFI Software acquired it in full.Among its products are*Sunbelt Personal Firewall*Counterspy...
, and NSFocus participate as data providers in the organization’s Badware Website Clearinghouse (see below). Previous supporters include AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, Lenovo, VeriSign
VeriSign
Verisign, Inc. is an American company based in Dulles, Virginia that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc and .tv country-code...
, Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
, Trend Micro
Trend Micro
Trend Micro Inc. is a computer security company. It is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and markets Trend Micro Internet Security, Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security, OfficeScan, and other related security products and services...
, and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
WebWatch, a now-defunct part of Consumers Union, served as an unpaid special advisor while StopBadware.org was a project at the Berkman Center.
Activities
StopBadware’s mission is to “provide tools and information that assist industry and policymakers in meeting their responsibility to protect users from badware, and that help users protect themselves.” StopBadware educates users about badware prevention and remediation, where “badware” is defined as software that fundamentally disregards a user’s choice about how his or her computer or network connection will be used. The organization receives data from its data providers and maintains a searchable clearinghouse (Badware Website Clearinghouse) of URLs blacklisted by those data providers. StopBadware’s independent review process gives webmasters the option to request removal from data providers’ blacklists and is intended to function as “due process” for webmasters whose sites have been listed as bad. StopBadware maintains a community forum, BadwareBusters.org, which includes an online form for reporting badware URLs encountered by the community.StopBadware also aggregates badware statistics, advocates for consumer protection in public policy, and publishes advisory documents (software guidelines, best practices for web hosting providers) compiled with input from the organization’s working groups.
Google and StopBadware
There is a common misconception that StopBadware blacklists websites and that Google uses this blacklist to protect their users. In fact, Google’s Safe Browsing initiative uses automated systems to identify and blacklist websites. This blacklist is used by Google to warn users before they visit potentially dangerous sites. The Firefox web browser and other applications also use Google’s Safe Browsing API to warn their users based on the same blacklist.The confusion is likely due to the close relationship between Google and StopBadware. Google links to StopBadware from their interstitial warning pages. The link directs users to StopBadware’s educational content about badware; it also points webmasters to StopBadware’s independent review process so site owners can request removal from Google’s blacklist. StopBadware’s Badware Website Clearinghouse also lists websites blacklisted by Google.
Google uses automated systems to search for websites that distribute badware, and issues warnings about websites on which malicious activity is detected. When a user tries to access one of these sites, that user is redirected to an interstitial page wherein Google warns the user of the detected malicious activity. Google attempts to notify site owners when blacklisting a website.