[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia referenced by SANS

Fri Mar 11 17:05:49 UTC 2005

Chad Perrin wrote:

> I received an email tonight from the SANS Institute, one of the most 
> widely known authorities on matters pertaining to network security and 
> provider of some of the best information on the subject of computer 
> security threats available online.  The email is an invitation to a 
> conference they'll be hosting.  Since it's in Colorado and costs great 
> scads of money between the attendance fee and the expenses, I won't be 
> going.
>
> I thought an excerpt from the email might interest this list, though.
>
> "According to Wikipedia, "spyware consists of computer software that 
> gathers and reports information about a computer user without the 
> user's knowledge or consent." This can encompass a wide range of 
> different types of malware that perform a variety of actions on 
> computer systems. Some spyware delivers advertising, while other 
> spyware gathers user information without his/her knowledge. Spyware 
> can also install modem dialing software and redirect users to 
> malicious Web sites."
>
> That's the lead-in to the purpose of the conference.  It seems like 
> good news to see yet another recognized authority using Wikipedia to 
> provide definitions of the terms for the foci of its trade.

While I have no real complaint about the contents of the quote, someone 
familiar with the subject area could go to the article to tighten up the 
prose style.  The phrase about gathering user information is repetitious.

Ec