Page 10 - Computeractive - January 2, 2018 UK

N e w s

D
Darien Graham-Smith puts t he boot i nto t ech v illains,arien Graha S i
jargon-spouting c ompanies and s oftware s tuffed w ith j unk

W A RNING:JUNKAHEAD

Junk offender: C Cleaner system y ou never w anted.
If you h ate j unk a s m uch a s I d o, Let’s t ake a m oment f or that to sink in.
you p robably a lready know A p rogram designed t o k eep j unk o ff y our
about CCleaner – a h andy free tool we’ve computer has b een t urned i nto a c onduit
often recommended t hat r emoves for u nwanted s oftware. W hat a b etrayal.
unwanted programs, fi les and r egistry Now , as I’ve said before, A vast Free
keys from your PC with just a f ew clicks. Antivirus i sn’t exactly d angerous.
CCleaner was fi rst r eleased w ay back i n However, it’s confusing and a larming
2003, b ut earlier t his y ear i ts publisher when you s uddenly s ee a s ecurity a lert Make sure you u ntick this b ox or you’ll be
Piriform was b ought b y a ntivirus from a p rogram you d on’t remember ticked off b y a w hole n ew antivirus system
company A vast. A nd not long a fter that, installing. What’s more, A vast shows
junk-haters n oticed something new: a regular pop-ups e ncouraging you t o or decline t he Avast o ffer”.
box h ad appeared in the C Cleaner upgrade t o t he company’s p aid-for Here’s a t hought: if you w ant t o
installer, recommending t hat y ou install security products. Adverts o n m y ‘improve the e xperience’, don’t pester u s
Avast F ree A ntivirus at the s ame t ime. The desktop? N o t hanks. with these unwanted offers i n t he first
box w as pre-ticked, and t ucked a way in The good news is that the l atest v ersions place. L et’s hope t he feature r emains
the s mall print at the b ottom o f t he of CCleaner don’t include the s neaky paused for g ood. A nd in future, t o b e o n
window (see screenshot), a c lassic t actic extra i nstaller. A cknowledging that not the s afe s ide, w e s uggest you u se the
used by junk smugglers. everyone appreciates bundled s oftware, portable version of CCleaner (available
If you a ren’t p aying c lose attention, a nd Piriform says it has “ paused distribution from www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds)
simply click t he big b lue ‘ Install’ b utton, while w e i mprove the e xperience to make which c omes as a ZIP file w ith n o
you’ll end u p w ith a c omplete a ntivirus it clearer t o t he customer h ow to accept installer, and t herefore no junk.

What are they Darien’s villain o f t he fortnight

talking about? Alex Bessell

What they say I g rew u p i n t he golden a ge of sci-fi
Sheryl S andberg, films l ike Tron and WarGames, s o
Chief Operating O Offic when I h ear t he word ‘hacker’, I p icture
fficerer
at Facebook ( www. an audacious c omputer genius,
snipca.com/26437): breaking into top-secret systems to take
“Until we can b etter down the b ad guys from within.
ensure that our Sad t o s ay, t he reality i sn’t quite s o
tools will not b e romantic. T ake t he case of 21-year-old damage o ther people’s c omputers.
used inappropriately, we Alex B essell f rom L iverpool, who’s Bessell m ay have the t echnical
are d isabling the o ption that permits recently been o n t rial a t B irmingham brilliance of a 1 980s m ovie hero, b ut
advertisers to exclude multicultural Crown C ourt. H is crime? Hacking into he’s abused his p owers t o g et rich a t
affinity segments f rom t he audience f or Google, S kype and o ther big o nline everyone else’s expense. H e’s d ue to
their a ds.” companies – n ot to right w rongs, b ut to be sentenced i n J anuary, b ut this
steal personal data that could then be miscreant i s a lready, w ithout a d oubt,
What they mean used for f raud. my villain o f t he fortnight.
Facebook has turned o ff a s ystem He’s also admitted to raking in
that lets companies target adverts at £50,000 selling m alware and b otnets Want to nominate a v illain of the f ortnight?
ethnicities a nd minorities. – s oftware designed t o i nfect a nd Email us at editor@computeractive.co.uk

10 20 December 2017 – 2 J anuary 2 018