Washington AG, Microsoft file spyware scam suit
Washington state and Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday they filed civil suits against a New York-based company for violating the state's anti-spyware law and called for cooperation between technology companies and government to crack down on Internet fraud.
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna accused Secure Computer LLC and its associates of marketing software that falsely claims a computer is infected with spyware in order to sell a program to clean the PC when in fact the software makes the computer more susceptible to attacks.
"Spyware has overtaken computer viruses as the number-one threat to personal computer users," McKenna said in a statement. "This lawsuit will make it clear to those who prey on consumers' fears about spyware that we are no longer going to tolerate their heinous activities."
Malicious spyware can often track victims' Internet activity, hijack their home pages and bombard them with pop-up ads.
The 16-count suit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, is the first lawsuit under Washington's new computer spyware act and represents the growing cooperation between the technology sector, lawmakers and regulators to limit unwanted tracking and advertising software.
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said it referred this case to the attorney general's office and provided technical and forensic assistance. Microsoft also filed a parallel suit in federal court.
"Microsoft continues to collaborate with many state attorneys general to help protect computer users from the effects of spyware, spam and cybercrime, such as identity theft," said Nancy Anderson, deputy general counsel for Microsoft.
Microsoft's lawsuit also alleges Secure Computer used the software giant's trademarks to falsely suggest Microsoft sponsored or approved the ineffective Spyware Cleaner software.
Secure Computer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
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