Federal Anti-Spyware Bill Reintroduced in the House Will Levy Heavy Fines Against Collecting Personal Information

Federal Anti-Spyware Bill Reintroduced in the House Will Levy Heavy Fines Against Collecting Personal Information Ed English, CEO and Founder of InterMute, Is Available to Discuss Spyware and the Implications of the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act Rep. Mary Bono, R-CA, reintroduced a bill in the United States House of Representatives last week to protect computer users from the threat of spyware and privacy invasion. The Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act will require that consumers would receive a clear, conspicuous notice prior to downloading spyware. It also would levy fines as large as $3 million against those who illegally collect personal information, deliver popup ads that can't be closed, change a browser's default homepage, log keystrokes and steal identities. During the past year, spyware has topped viruses as the biggest threat to security and privacy on Windows operating systems. Spyware is typically categorized as any inadvertently downloaded software that secretly relays private information from a user's PC to a third-party without proper authorization. These spyware programs present two distinct problems for the end user and the IT department: data privacy and productivity loss. In fact, many organizations find that end users calling the help desk to complain about system performance problems are actually dealing with spyware. Ed English, CEO and founder of InterMute, a leading provider of Web filtering and desktop intrusion prevention products, is available for interviews to discuss the threats that both consumers and enterprises face and how they can prevent spyware from invading their computers and their privacy. English is outspoken and offers a sharp perspective on this anti-spyware bill and other spyware-security-related issues, including: -- How spyware is a separate technology discipline from viruses; -- How confusion exists between spyware and useful cookies; and -- How spyware Web crawlers or "bots" hinder spyware research. InterMute offers anti-spyware products for both large organizations and individual consumers, SpySubtract(R) Enterprise Edition and SpySubtract(R) PRO, respectively. CWShredder(TM), an essential technology component in both products, overcomes tenacious browser hijackers, CoolWebSearch and HomeSearch. If you are interested in speaking with Ed English about the intricacies of spyware and what's to come in 2005, please call Davida Dinerman or Laura Ackerman at Schwartz Communications, (781) 684-0770 or intermute@schwartz-pr.com or Chris Leary at InterMute (781) 356-0990 or cleary@intermute.com. About InterMute InterMute, Inc., based in Braintree, Massachusetts, develops leading Internet security and content filtering solutions for consumers and businesses. Founded in 1999, the company's mission is to bring security, productivity and privacy to the Internet. For further information, visit http://www.intermute.com/. InterMute and its products are trademarks or registered trademarks of InterMute, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. PR Newswire -- Jan. 19 Source: InterMute, Inc. Web site: http://www.intermute.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment