![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() On August 3rd, 2003, Urban Dictionary user Joe submitted an entry for "Bonzi Buddy," referring to it as a "stupid spyware program." On September 15th, 2006, PC World listed BonziBuddy as the 8th worst website on the Internet. Several updated iterations of the adware were released by Bonzi Software until 2004, when the Federal Trade Commission ordered the company to pay $75,000 in fines for violating the Children's Online Privacy Act. In addition to adding the BonziBuddy purple monkey assistant, the software would install new search bars to the user's web browsers without their consent. OriginīonziBuddy was initially released by the company Bonzi Software in 2000 on the website. Since its release in 1999, the application garnered much notoriety throughout the 2000s for its spyware capabilities before it was finally discontinued in 2008. It’s the story of how one seemingly harmless ape preyed on early internet users and then paid the price, teaching all of us how much we had to lose from so-called “free” downloads.Internet, malware, bonzi world, bonzi buddyĮncyclopedia Dramatica Facebook Urban Dictionary Wikipedia AboutīonziBuddy was an adware and virtual desktop assistant featuring an on-screen avatar of a talking purple gorilla that could interact with its users and run simple utility services like text-to-speech and download management, similar to Microsoft’s office assistant Clippy. In the third episode of Kernel Panic, we explore the rise and fall of one the friendliest-looking pieces of malware of all time. Behind the facade of that friendly gorilla, Bonzi Software, the company responsible for BonziBuddy, was collecting private information and contacts from the unsuspecting internet users who downloaded it - and bombarding them with ads and pop-ups that Bonzi would profit from. Kids, grandparents, and office employees were all downloading BonziBuddy with abandon - until it all imploded. When that purple gorilla popped up on your screen, it would've seemed just like all the other virtual assistants out there already. Cute virtual assistants, like Microsoft Bob and Clippy, were designed to fill in those knowledge gaps, becoming your friendly guides to the internet. At the same time, new users were flocking to the internet without any idea what was safe to click on and download. In response, the internet turned into an advertising ecosystem, with pop-up ads taking over browsers. Following the burst of the dot com bubble, investors pulled their money from the web and online companies needed a new way to profit. Bonzi wasn’t your friend it was malware, and it was released at the perfect time. It could talk, search for you, sing, send emails - and anyone with a computer could download it for free. In the early 2000s, a purple, talking gorilla named BonziBuddy was billed as a free virtual assistant, ready for all your internet needs. ![]()
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