irseg

I've been given the task of implementing some kind of spyware solution at work. The claim is that people are opening up websites and just randomly becoming infected out of the blue. Well the subject caught my interest and I'm trying to figure out what to do by determining how exactly these people are becoming infected if what they claim is true.

I've never really had a spyware problem. Thinking I've been keeping my computer too up-to-date to be vulnerable, I installed a copy of XP SP1 on a spare hard drive, shut off automatic updates, and went to town opening up every porn site, "win a free big-screen TV!" ad, spyware company, shady-looking search site, etc., etc., etc. that I could think of.

Nothing. It's still totally clean.

So what's the deal? Do sites really exist that will take over Internet Explorer and infect it with spyware with no user intervention, or are these people too embarrassed to admit (or dumb to realize) that the e-mail attachment they opened or the "free screensaver" download is the real culprit? If so I'd love to see a few examples for myself!