Dale
Mohawk Games Developer
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2002
- Messages
- 7,601
I was mostly replying to the somewhat wilder post on malware above. My definition was deliberately very broad. But to be clear, it is highly questionable if i install program A, program B is installed as a component/helper of program A, and program B runs at times other than when program A is running, or i explicitly run program B. Unless I gave my informed consent to that behavior by program B, then yes that sort of behavior makes program B malware.
Presuming I buy and install civilization 5, and at some point in the install process it requires me to install steam, and at no point informs me that steam will load itself on startup, yes it is clearly behaving as malware. If, as is common practice by software companies, that information is shown on screen somewhere, perhaps with the option to opt out preselected, its on dubious ground. If i get a popup suggesting i turn it on as part of the install process with the option to say no, then no it isn't malware because I have given permission.
The issue is the software being installed/running without informed consent. It doesn't matter so much what it does if its installed deceptively or runs without permission it is malware.
Two words for ya mate.
Windows Update
Runs just like you describe, but is it Malware? The definition of Malware is unfortunately flawed.