False claims of Firefox spyware revisited: An article by Ken Harthun

I thought you might like to read the below article posted by journalist Ken Harthun, over at Lockergnome. I applaud his integrity and honesty in his matter.

Mike Healan’s original article generated quite a flame war, one in which I found myself an unwitting - and unwilling - target. Based on the feedback I received, it appears as though I need to make some clarification of my position if I am ever going to be able to get back to writing something besides conciliatory e-mails to those who were upset by my article.

First of all, let me state that it was not my intention to disparage or damage anyone’s credibility and if I have done so inadvertently, I apologize to those persons. The ethics of the journalistic profession and my own personal integrity as a writer and analyst compel me to correct my error of having misrepresented the facts. What follows is my corrected position on the issue.

It all started, apprently, with an article by Mike Healan in the latest Spyware Weekly newsletter which has a headline that screams "Epidemic Of Firefox Spyware Infecting Computers Worldwide!" It certainly got my attention. I read on to find that according to Healan, some publications (Alternative browser spyware infects IE, Firefox Spyware infects IE?) allegedly claimed that a Java-based malware installer is a Firefox flaw that causes infections in IE.

I do not approve of the potentially inflammatory nature of the headlines in any of the articles because they can initially lead the reader to believe that Firefox IS the problem. But, having read all the articles in depth, brushing aside my own bias in favor of Firefox and against sensationalism, I must conclude that neither The Register nor vitalsecurity.org actually claimed Firefox was the source of any spyware infections of IE. I stand corrected.

I withdraw my original statements in agreement with the Spyware Weekly article and urge Mr. Healan to issue a correction.

Ken Harthun