Paperghost
Christopher Boyd, better known as his online pseudonym Paperghost, is webmaster of computer security organization Vitalsecurity.org, a Microsoft Security MVP, and Director of Malware Research for security company FaceTime.
In July 2004, Boyd launched Vitalsecurity.org and he has been instrumental in uncovering and bringing to the public attention issues of privacy and spyware.
In November 2004, a modular hacking technique was employed to compromise Windows end-users by hacking Apache servers. When hacked, the servers would redirect a user on any of the server's websites, leading them to a set of ever-changing infection pages. These pages employed recoded viruses, trojans, malware and spyware. This technique is used heavily today by the groups behind the spyware CoolWebSearch (CWS).
The idea that alternative browsers such as Opera and Firefox could somehow enhance end-user security was cut down in March 2005 with the discovery of a Java applet that, if agreed to, would install a large (and varied) adware bundle onto the end-user's PC. It was found that having the "rogue" site in the user's blocklists and security tools would do nothing, the install bypassing these tactics completely if the end-user clicked "Yes". An updated Firefox .XPI installer (which infected Internet Explorer) was also deployed in some of these installs.
