Andreas Jacobsson

Privacy-Invasive Software in Filesharing Tools

Personal privacy is affected by the occurrence of adware and spyware in peertopeer tools. In an experiment, we investigated five file-sharing tools and found that they all contained ad-/spyware programs, and, that these hidden components communicated with several servers on the Internet. Although there was no exchange of files by way of the file-sharing tools, they generated a significant amount of network traffic. Amongst the retrieved ad-/spyware programs that communicated with the Internet, we discovered that privacy-invasive information such as, e.g., user data and Internet browsing history was transmitted. In conclusion, ad-/spyware activity in file-sharing tools creates serious problems not only to user privacy and security, but also to network and system performance. The increasing presence of hidden and bundled ad-/spyware programs in combination with the absence of proper anti-ad/spyware tools are therefore not beneficial for the development of a secure and stable use of the Internet.

Spyware Prevention by Classifying End User License Agreements

We investigate the hypothesis that it is possible to detect from the End User License Agreement (EULA) if the associated software hosts spyware. We apply 15 learning algorithms on a data set consis ...

On Contamination in Information Ecosystems

On the Internet, digitally active small and medium sized enterprises (SME) face numerous security risks. When SMEs join networks, business ideas and malicious activities may interfuse. E-mail marketing, remote control and information gathering are replaced by spam, virulent programs and spyware. In this paper, we use the concepts of information ecosystems to describe a security model where, as a background, humans are presumed to act as Machiavellian beings, i.e., behaving selfishly. Based on this notion, we analyse behaviours initiated by network contaminants and their effects to an entire ecosystem. The contribution of this paper is the security model, which permits a comprehensive view on the risk environment in virtual networks (like the digital SME community).

Towards Norm-Governed Behavior in Virtual Enterprises

An important application of intelligent agents on the World Wide Web is to support Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce, such as, virtual enterprises. A virtual enterprise can be described as a temporary alliance of enterprises that come together to share skills or core competencies and re sources in order to better respond to business opportunities, and whose coop eration is supported by computer networks. In order to ensure sound collab oration, it is important that the actors involved, as well as the software repre senting the actors such as intelligent agents, act according to the explicit and implicit rules, or norms, that the participating enterprises have agreed upon. The purpose of this article is to explore how norm-governed behavior can be achieved in the context of virtual enterprises. We analyse a number of formal models of both artificial societies and normative systems, and compare and try to align them with a formal model of agent-supported virtual enterprises. A general observation is that the models analysed are not concordant with each other and therefore require further alignment. It is concluded that the in troduction of different types of norms on different levels can support sound collaboration in virtual enterprises. Moreover, the deployment of norm de fender and promoter functionality is argued to ensure norm compliance and impose punishments of norm violations. Finally, a number of additions that may enrich the norm-focused models are suggested.

An Analysis of Plug and Play Business Software

The ability to realize the potential of innovations is important for societies to be successful. The core of the concept of Plug and Play Business is an integrated set of ICT-tools that support innovators in turning their ideas into businesses by forming virtual enterprises for inter-organizational and interoperable collaboration. In this paper, we analyze the concept of Plug and Play Business and present a formalization of relevant aspects, such as the different tasks involved in virtual enterprise formation and collaboration. We explore the functional requirements of Plug and Play Business software, and make an assessment of the usefulness of existing technologies for its implementation.