[p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&cs_ucfr=0&comscorekw
   =Malware%2CTechnology%2CSoftware%2CLinux%2CComputing%2CData+and+compute
   r+security%2COpen+source%2CMicrosoft%2CApple%2CKindle%2CiOS%2CWindows]
   Skip to main content Skip to navigation

   Advertisement
   US edition [ ]
     * US edition
     * UK edition
     * Australian edition
     * International edition

   The Guardian - Back to home
   Search jobs
   Sign inSearch

   [ ]
     * News
     * Opinion
     * Sport
     * Culture
     * Lifestyle

   ShowMoreShow More
     * [ ] News
          + US news
          + World news
          + Environment
          + Soccer
          + US politics
          + Business
          + Tech
          + Science
          + Newsletters
          + Green light
     * [ ] Opinion
          + The Guardian view
          + Columnists
          + Letters
          + Opinion videos
          + Cartoons
     * [ ] Sport
          + Soccer
          + NFL
          + Tennis
          + MLB
          + MLS
          + NBA
          + NHL
     * [ ] Culture
          + Film
          + Books
          + Music
          + Art & design
          + TV & radio
          + Stage
          + Classical
          + Games
     * [ ] Lifestyle
          + Fashion
          + Food
          + Recipes
          + Love & sex
          + Home & garden
          + Health & fitness
          + Family
          + Travel
          + Money

     * Make a contribution
     * Subscribe


     * Search jobs
     * Digital Archive
     * Guardian Puzzles app
     * Guardian content licensing site
     * The Guardian app
     * Video
     * Podcasts
     * Pictures
     * Inside the Guardian
     * Guardian Weekly
     * Crosswords


     * Search jobs
     * Digital Archive
     * Guardian Puzzles app
     * Guardian content licensing site

     * US
     * World
     * Environment
     * Soccer
     * US Politics
     * Business
     * Tech
     * Science
     * Newsletters
     * Green light

   Malware
   This article is more than 6 years old

Malware is not only about viruses - companies preinstall it all the time

   Richard Stallman
   This article is more than 6 years old

   Since I started free software in the 80s, developers have grown to
   routinely mistreat users by shackling behaviour and snooping - but we
   have ways to resist
   Foot Shackled to Ball and Chain
   [ ]
   `Amazon's Kindle shackles the user against sharing or even freely
   giving away or lending the book, and has an Orwellian back door for
   erasing books.' Photograph: Scott Thomas/Scott Thomas/Corbis
   `Amazon's Kindle shackles the user against sharing or even freely
   giving away or lending the book, and has an Orwellian back door for
   erasing books.' Photograph: Scott Thomas/Scott Thomas/Corbis
   Fri 22 May 2015 09.33 EDT [ ]

   Last modified on Tue 21 Feb 2017 13.02 EST
     *
     *
     *

   In 1983, when I started the free software movement, malware was so rare
   that each case was shocking and scandalous. Now it's normal.

   To be sure, I am not talking about viruses. Malware is the name for a
   program designed to mistreat its users. Viruses typically are
   malicious, but software products and software preinstalled in products
   can also be malicious - and often are, when not free/libre.

   In 1983, the software field had become dominated by proprietary (ie
   nonfree) programs, and users were forbidden to change or redistribute
   them. I developed the GNU operating system, which is often called
   Linux, to escape and end that injustice. But proprietary developers in
   the 1980s still had some ethical standards: they sincerely tried to
   make programs serve their users, even while denying users control over
   how they would be served.
   Richard Stallman developed the GNU operating system in the 80s.
   Richard Stallman developed the GNU operating system in the 80s.
   Photograph: Simon Kwong/Reuters/Corbis

   How far things have sunk. Developers today shamelessly mistreat users;
   when caught, they claim that fine print in EULAs (end user licence
   agreements) makes it ethical. (That might, at most, make it lawful,
   which is different.) So many cases of proprietary malware have been
   reported, that we must consider any proprietary program suspect and
   dangerous. In the 21st century, proprietary software is computing for
   suckers.

   What sorts of wrongs are found in malware? Some programs are designed
   to snoop on the user. Some are designed to shackle users, such as
   Digital Rights Management (DRM). Some have back doors for doing remote
   mischief. Some even impose censorship. Some developers explicitly
   sabotage their users.

   What kinds of programs constitute malware? Operating systems, first of
   all. Windows snoops on users, shackles users and, on mobiles, censors
   apps; it also has a universal back door that allows Microsoft to
   remotely impose software changes. Microsoft sabotages Windows users by
   showing security holes to the NSA before fixing them.

   Apple systems are malware too: MacOS snoops and shackles; iOS snoops,
   shackles, censors apps and has a back door. Even Android contains
   malware in a nonfree component: a back door for remote forcible
   installation or deinstallation of any app.

   What about nonfree apps? Plenty of malware there. Even humble
   flashlight apps for phones were found to be reporting data to
   companies. A recent study found that QR code scanner apps also snoop.

   Apps for streaming services tend to be the worst, since they are
   designed to shackle users against saving a copy of the data that they
   receive, as well as making users identify themselves so their viewing
   and listening habits can be tracked.

   The Free Software Foundation reports on many more cases of proprietary
   malware.
   Microsoft tightens privacy policy after admitting to reading
   journalist's emails
   Read more

   What about other digital products? We know about the smart TV and the
   Barbie doll that transmit conversations remotely. Proprietary software
   in cars that stops those we used to call "car owners" from fixing
   "their" cars. If the car itself does not report everywhere you drive,
   an insurance company may charge you extra to go without a separate
   tracker. Meanwhile, some GPS navigators save up where you have gone in
   order to report back when connected to update the maps.

   Amazon's Kindle e-reader reports what page of what book is being read,
   plus all notes and underlining the user enters; it shackles the user
   against sharing or even freely giving away or lending the book, and has
   an Orwellian back door for erasing books.

   Should you trust an internet of proprietary software things?
   Don't be an ass.

   The companies that sell malware are skilled at spinning the
   malfunctionalities as services to the consumer but they could offer
   most of these services with freedom and anonymity if they wanted to.

   It is fashionable to recognise the viciousness of today's computing
   only to declare resistance unthinkable. Many claim that no one could
   resist gratification for mere freedom and privacy. But it's not as hard
   as they say. We can resist:

   Individually, by rejecting proprietary software and web services
   that snoop or track.

   Collectively, by organising to develop free/libre replacement systems
   and web services that don't track who uses them.

   Democratically, by legislation to criminalise various sorts of malware
   practices. This presupposes democracy, and democracy requires defeating
   treaties such as the TPP and TTIP that give companies the power to
   suppress democracy.
     * Copyright 2015 Richard Stallman. Released under Creative Commons
       No-derivatives 4.0 License

   Topics
     * Malware

     * Software
     * Linux
     * Computing
     * Data and computer security
     * Open source
     * Microsoft
     * comment

     *
     *
     *
     *
     *
     *

   Reuse this content

comments (...)

   Commenting has been disabled at this time but you can still sign in or
   create your Guardian account to join the discussion when it's back

comments (...)

   Commenting has been disabled at this time but you can still sign in or
   create your Guardian account to join the discussion when it's back

     * US
     * World
     * Environment
     * Soccer
     * US Politics
     * Business
     * Tech
     * Science
     * Newsletters
     * Green light

     * News
     * Opinion
     * Sport
     * Culture
     * Lifestyle

   IFRAME:
   https://web.archive.org/web/20211019100514if_/https://www.theguardian.c
   om/email/form/footer/today-uk

     * About us
     * Contact us
     * Complaints & corrections
     * SecureDrop
     * Work for us
     * Privacy policy
     * Cookie policy
     * Terms & conditions
     * Help

     * All topics
     * All writers
     * Digital newspaper archive
     * Facebook
     * YouTube
     * Instagram
     * LinkedIn
     * Twitter
     * Newsletters

     * Advertise with us
     * Guardian Labs
     * Search jobs

   Back to top
   (c) 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All
   rights reserved. (modern)