A thought about design metaphors
While cruising through a very thorough discussion of 180solutions' spyware and ripoff tactics by Ben Edelman, I realized something that's not necessarily unusual nor necessarily original.
It's about the design metaphor of Microsoft Windows, and how extraordinarily apropos that metaphor is with regard to new paradigms of computer security. The metaphor is, obviously, that of a window--panels open on your computer screen that let you examine data, interact, et cetera. However, upon reading Edelman's examination of 180solutions' popup tactics, I recognized that we need to extend the "window" metaphor further than just what we see onscreen. That is, the extension needs to necessarily involve the screen itself as a window.
(N.B. I thought about calling this post "Semiotics of Software Security," but the alliteration and pretensiousness convinced me otherwise.)
Part of how 180solutions' popup spyware application, Zango, gets you is by "cookie-stuffing," overwriting tracking cookies from other sites with 180solutions' cookies. This gives the appearance that you've always been referred by 180solutions to the merchant websites, when this is often not the case. It does this by opening a browser window from the 180 server offscreen.
This is what made me think of the screen-itself-as-window. No longer can you consider your screen the portal to the workings of your computer; it does not represent the entirety of the interaction. Instead, the screen is simply another window, a hole in an otherwise impermeable surface, that allows you to glimpse at only what the builder of the window (and necessarily the builder of the wall, as well) wants you to see. Think about that next time you're surfing the Internet. What's happening in your window, and what might be happening just out of sight?
It's about the design metaphor of Microsoft Windows, and how extraordinarily apropos that metaphor is with regard to new paradigms of computer security. The metaphor is, obviously, that of a window--panels open on your computer screen that let you examine data, interact, et cetera. However, upon reading Edelman's examination of 180solutions' popup tactics, I recognized that we need to extend the "window" metaphor further than just what we see onscreen. That is, the extension needs to necessarily involve the screen itself as a window.
(N.B. I thought about calling this post "Semiotics of Software Security," but the alliteration and pretensiousness convinced me otherwise.)
Part of how 180solutions' popup spyware application, Zango, gets you is by "cookie-stuffing," overwriting tracking cookies from other sites with 180solutions' cookies. This gives the appearance that you've always been referred by 180solutions to the merchant websites, when this is often not the case. It does this by opening a browser window from the 180 server offscreen.
This is what made me think of the screen-itself-as-window. No longer can you consider your screen the portal to the workings of your computer; it does not represent the entirety of the interaction. Instead, the screen is simply another window, a hole in an otherwise impermeable surface, that allows you to glimpse at only what the builder of the window (and necessarily the builder of the wall, as well) wants you to see. Think about that next time you're surfing the Internet. What's happening in your window, and what might be happening just out of sight?
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