BonziBUDDY

**BonziBUDDY**, sometimes spelled **Bonzi Buddy**, **BonziBuddy**, or **BONZIBuddy**, (misspelled **Bonzai Buddy**) was an "intelligent software agent" from BONZI Software, taking the form of a purple gorilla, that was released in 1999 and later discontinued in 2004. The official website stated it would help a person explore the Internet through various functions along with their own sidekick. It first surfaced as a green talking parrot, before taking the form of an animated purple gorilla that resided on a user's desktop and communicated through the employment of Microsoft Agent technology.

The Software became popular in late 2013 due to a livestream released by Joel, a member of the popular gaming group Vinesauce, who made a stream involving releasing Bonzi into a Windows XP Virtual Machine to cause chaos amongst a host of other viruses and adware. However, Bonzi tended to do little except occasionally provide stale jokes and greet Joel. This is because BonziBuddy's website has been inactive for several years, although there are remakes, and their connections to the adware providers have been lost, meaning that for the most part, BonziBuddy is now benign.

BonziBuddy received wide recognition as malware, predominantly as a piece of adware, though claims of spyware capabilities have been made against it.

## Overview

The software used Microsoft Agent technology similar to Office Assistant, and originally sported Peedy, a green parrot character, before it became the purple ape. The software "interacts with users while they are online, providing shopping advice, jokes, and trivia."

At one point, the official website for the application said this about it:

*He will explore the Internet with you as your very own friend and sidekick! He can talk, walk, joke, browse, search, e-mail, and download like no other friend you've ever had! He even has the ability to compare prices on the products you love and help you save money! Best of all, he's FREE!*
The initial program was free. But most functions in the free version were only samples or demos that would urge people to pay for modules to extend the functionality. For example, Bonzi told jokes and sang songs, but to go beyond a few jokes and songs (about half a dozen) users were urged to purchase joke or song modules.

## Criticism

In April 2007, PCWorld readers voted Bonzi Buddy 6th on their list of "20 most annoying tech gadgets".

One of the last newspapers to write about BonziBUDDY while it was still in distribution described it as spyware and a "scourge of the Internet". Another article found in 2006 on the BusinessWeek website described BonziBUDDY as "the unbelievably annoying spyware trojan horse".

### Spyware

The number of sources define BonziBUDDY as spyware, a claim the company disputes. In 2002, an article in Consumer Reports uWeb Tracking tagged BonziBUDDY :/ as spyware and stated that it was a Backdoor Trojan as it collected information from users. Among the activities that the program is involved in are resetting the user's web browser home page to bonzi.com without the user's consent, asking and tracking various information about the user, and serving ads.

The Spyware Removal Database at Safer Networking (makers of Spybot - Search & Destroy) states "BonziBuddy is an Internet Explorer toolbar that may change your web browser settings, change your home page, and launch pop-up advertisements while tracking your web browsing habits."

*Spyware Guide's* entry on the program states that it is adware.

Anti-virus company Trend Micro classifies the software as adware in their spyware/grayware listings, but not malware.

Anti-virus company Symantec states that BonziBUDDY may collect usage statistics when certain keywords are typed in the browser. Although Symantec refers to Bonzi as Adware, such behaviour is typical for spyware.

## Legal

There were two legal cases involving the software.

* *Internetnews.com* reported the settlement of a class action suit on 27 May 2003. Originally brought against Bonzi Software on 4 December 2002, the suit accused Bonzi of using its banner advertisements to deceptively start Windows computer alerts, alerting the user that their IP address is being broadcast. In the settlement, Bonzi Software agreed to modify their ads so that they looked less like Windows dialog boxes and more like actual advertisements

* On February 18, 2004, the Federal Trade Commission released a statement indicating that Bonzi Software, Inc. was ordered to pay $75,000 in fees, among other aspects, for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 with BonziBUDDY.
* NOTE: Developing malware is illegal and can result in legal consequences. This page is for informational purposes only. Do not use this information to develop malicious programs.

Thats still his creator's fault

## Videos

-Vinesauce- Joel - Windows XP DestructionBonzi Buddy
## References

1. ↑ Geschwind, Bill (2004-08-11). "AppNote: Automating the installation and execution of Spybot Search & Destroy with ZENworks". *Novell Cool Solutions*. Novell. http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/appnote/3590.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-14. ""Hotbar, Bonzi Buddy, Gator eWallet and Comet Cursors ... are all spyware-laden programs that I have encountered far too often in the field on my users' machine""
2. ↑ Mark Hachman (2003-05-28). Buddy" Creator Settles Suit "No Template:Para specified". ExtremeTech. http://www.extremetech.com/ari Buddy" Creator Settles Suit. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
3. ↑ Template:Cite penis wenis&threatid=3271
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "UMG Recordings, Inc. to Pay $400,000, Bonzi Software, Inc. To Pay $75,000 to Settle COPPA Civil Penalty Charges". Federal Trade Commission. 2004-02-18. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/02/bonziumg.htm. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
5. ↑ "Prying Eyes Lurk Inside Your PC; Spyware Spawns Efforts at Control.". The Gale Group, Inc.. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. https://archive.is/Ftb5. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
6. ↑ "Breaking: MySpace Backlash Sighted In Mainstream Media!". Businessweek. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2006/09/breaking\_myspac.html?campaign\_id=rss\_blog\_fineonmedia. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
7. ↑ Robertson Barrett (2002-11-21). "Five Major Categories of Spyware". Consumer Reports. http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/privacy-investigations-categories-spy.cfm. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
8. ↑ "Spyware Guide's entry on BonziBUDDY". http://www.spywareguide.com/product\_show.php?id=512. Retrieved on 2006-09-07.
9. ↑ "ADW\_BONJING.A". Trend Micro. 2004-06-08. http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/grayware/printerfriendly.asp?GNAME=ADW%5FBONJING%2EA. Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
10. ↑ "ADW\_BONZIBUDDY.C". Trend Micro. 2004-06-08. http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/grayware/ve\_GraywareDetails.asp?GNAME=ADW\_BONZIBUDDY.C. Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
11. ↑ "Adware.Bonzi". 2007-02-13. http://www.symantec.com/security\_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2003-080114-0710-99&tabid=2. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
12. ↑ Brian Morrissey (2003-05-27). "Bonzi Settles Deceptive Ad Suit". internetnews.com. http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/2212851. Retrieved on 2003-06-06. archive.org link
13. ↑ Brian Morrissey (2002-12-04). "Bonzi Hit With Deceptive-Ad Complaint". internetnews.com. http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/1551941. Retrieved on 2003-06-18.  archive.org link