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Spyware? Whats so about it anyway?

leeunardo	Date: April 12, 2006 @ 6:03 AM the first guy ever connected to the net (aka purpletraitor67) and the guy who invented spyware play poker every Tuesday night. They are products of corporate america. They also have long grey beards. Just HOW bad are they for YOU?
Svensta	Date: April 12, 2006 @ 8:02 AM They are like white sugar and enriched wheat flour.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: April 12, 2006 @ 11:18 PM If you get a variant of coolwebsearch (allegedly a russian mafia network) the be prepared for pops ups/spam/drive by downloads to the point of a hard drive wiping and reinstall of Windows. Also other pests like ISTbar/Look 2 Me/ Elitebar etc. - be prepared for manual registry editing and Hijack This! etc as most anti-spywares detect but only partially clean and the thing reinstalls at boot time, often with various extra 'favourites' and desktop icons that including online casinos and porn.
shadowself	Date: April 12, 2006 @ 11:30 PM You can download the stand-alone version of CWShredder to scan for and get rid of coolwebsearch here: http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html
shadowself	Date: April 12, 2006 @ 11:32 PM Oh, and if you use HijackThis, be very very careful about what you tell it to remove from the registry. Most of the stuff it dieplays in its list is needed. It's up to you to weed out the ones that are malicious, so have a browser window with Google ready to look up the ones you are not immediately familiar with!
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: April 12, 2006 @ 11:45 PM Good advice shadowself - but CWS Shredder isn't being supported anymore, I think Trend Micro bought it out and still have it but while CWS variants continue, the updates don't keep pace. So it may work for you but don't count on it. Hijack This! is a very cool program but can be dangerous - always check various forums before removing anything. Spyware is getting cleverer and some can even bypass the hijack This registry scan. I tell you now, sometimes a Mac with the latest OSX really appeals to me - I would definately use Linux if they got MIDI support for Ardour or Audacity etc. Windows sucks but all the programs I like/use etc. run on Windows
mattbanx	Date: April 13, 2006 @ 1:31 AM Great information here! I avoid spyware altogether. But I could have easily been lead into temptation. Like has been stated, hackers are getting more and more clever. It gets tiring trying to beat them with the newest browser or operating system. I try not to leave a lot a hacker would want and store on disk and a backup computer.
mattbanx	Date: April 13, 2006 @ 1:33 AM I don't have a business. But I intend on eventually starting one. I was wondering if there was a computer lock box somewhere where only the user could get to. I'm sure there is.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: April 13, 2006 @ 2:46 AM It's difficult to avoid spyware because a lot of it can be installed without your knowledge and it is never labelled as spyware - any program you install, be sure to read the EULA carefully, if it mentions third party-advertising/tracking etc. leave alone. Best ways to avoid spyware - don't download programs from the internet without thorough research - include the word 'spyware' after the program name in a google search. Avoid online gambling or porn sites - most are fronts for adware/spyware/trojans/keyloggers. Never click on anything to do with 'free emoticons', 'free spyware scan' or 'free registry cleaner' etc pop-ups. Avoid clicking on Google ads (the ones listed on the side in google) - many are links to companies who ply adware/spyware. such as 'Noadware' being the top choice for anti-spyware, software which installs adware in the past and gives false positive readings to entice you to buy it. Get a firewall and set it on the highest setting (you can adjust to medium if things dont't work on sites you can trust) ZoneAlarm free is a better firewall than the windows firewall. Even if you have a hardware firewall in your router get a software firewall. Use Firefox, Opera or Seamonkey etc as your browser to avoid Active X drive by downloads in IE. Get anti-spyware and anti-virus software. Free includes Ad-aware, spybot and microsoft defender, paid includes webroot spysweeper, ca pest patrol, mcafee antispyware etc. Download at least 2 or 3 as they all pick up things the others miss... Free anti-virus (also prevents trojans etc) - Bitdefender or AVG free. or online Trend Housecall. ZoneAlarm free is a better firewall than the windows firewall. Download hijack this! and scan your system regularly for any nasty objects embedded in the registry buty do not delete them until you have researched thoroughly whether or not the item is valid. Spyware is getting more and more elusive and evil and rootkits are starting to emerge that are near impossible to remove. Be proactive as prevention is much better than cure - like antibiotics, the cure is getting less and less effective. The average PC has over 20 pieces of adware/spyware on it. Even if yours is clean you have to maintain this regime to keep it clean.
shadowself	Date: April 13, 2006 @ 12:13 PM Use Firefox, Opera or Seamonkey etc as your browser to avoid Active X drive by downloads in IE. This is THE most effective way of avoiding spyware. An unpatched Internet Explorer is 28 times as likely as an unpatched Firefox to become infected just by visiting a website. IE will happily install software without any user interaction, while Firefox will ask you every time. Ditch Internet Explorer. Please.
shadowself	Date: April 13, 2006 @ 12:15 PM Oh, and if you discover a rootkit - format and reinstall. That way you can sleep comfortably knowing it's gone for SURE.
Alstroph	Date: April 13, 2006 @ 12:16 PM Agreed. I finally made the switch to firefox and I haven't looked back. Firefox runs circles around IE.
leeunardo	Date: April 21, 2006 @ 4:11 AM So.. with all this said about Spyware and such.. Are there any negative effects regarding spyware?
OneofFour	Date: April 21, 2006 @ 4:16 AM nothing a good enema can't fix, though my last five computers haven't exactly agreed with the procedure
Distilled1	Date: April 21, 2006 @ 12:05 PM leeunardo pop ups, browser hijackers, stuff that will fill your hard drive of shit, slow your computer to a crawl, keylogers scaning everything you type and uploading to someone. Some spyware isn't all that bad, but most tyhat come with all that free stuff like smiles, and registry checkers and toolbars for IE (I use the google tool bar at work but its not my box. none at home no IE 'xcept for those once in a while sites.
leeunardo	Date: April 24, 2006 @ 5:55 AM I use Opera and ZoneAlarm to avoid those nasties (or atleast most of them)
LikquaB	Date: April 27, 2006 @ 2:53 PM i dont get ANY spyware at all i have Ad-Aware, Spybot and IE blocking everything. all i ever get are a bunch of infected Cookies but they do no harm.
LikquaB	Date: April 27, 2006 @ 2:56 PM (i click post way too fast ) worst problem i ever had with spyware was when a webpage would take about 20 seconds to load (we're talking about google here) and sometimes failed to load at all.. this was caused due to a lack (read: no) of scans. turned out i had around 4000 spyware files on my computer
shadowself	Date: April 27, 2006 @ 3:17 PM " id="217315">
mudshadow	Date: April 27, 2006 @ 5:10 PM death to scumware creators.
mudshadow	Date: April 27, 2006 @ 5:10 PM painful, slow, agonizing death.
PrincessTast...	Date: May 2, 2006 @ 11:57 AM What about Safari?
shadowself	Date: May 2, 2006 @ 2:21 PM Not that I can find, PT - but it does accept web beacons, a form of invasive cookie (Yahoo is one such company that makes use of these). However, because Macs are getting more popular, there will likely be more of a chance that spyware will start rearing its head on this platform as well. The days of Macs being safe from viruses is over as well.
shadowself	Date: May 2, 2006 @ 5:54 PM Here is a discussion on the Yahoo web beacon (which is installed without your permission when installing Yahoo software). http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum35/3372.htm
shadowself	Date: May 2, 2006 @ 5:58 PM More info: http://crm.ittoolbox.com/news/display.asp?i=128245&t=99 From the article: When you create an account with Yahoo (like many people, I've had one for several years), you're asked to click on a button signifying that you agree to its terms for use of the service. Somewhere within their agreement, it says that unless you specifically tell Yahoo not to, it'll track and record all your Internet activity, not just that associated with the service. It does this by placing a small application on your hard drive that logs all the links you visit and then sends the data back to Yahoo.
LiQuidMetamo...	Date: May 2, 2006 @ 7:29 PM yeah, this is not uncommon. Adobe Acrobat 6.4 and above and AOL both 'silently' install a media player called Viewpoint which whilst not considered a massive danger still was installed stealthily and it allegedly does track some behaviours. I do not allow Yahoo toolbar, even Google are succumbing to big business and many of their 'google ads' (the prominent featured ones in searches on the right) are paid ads by companies with dubious histories regarding adware and spyware such as the most prominent ad on the search 'spyware' is for spyware defeater , which in the rogue spyware column of highly reuptale spywarewarrior.com for 'questionable license terms; flawed, high pressure scan detection & results '. Similarly 'noadware.net' used to be the first google search on 'spyware' and aside from being a very indifferent spyware remover (being a poor rip-off of other valid programs), gave horrendous flase positives to goad people into buying it - supposedly they cleaned up their act lately. Yahoo, Google, all of them have shameful commercialism ahead of customer protection when it comes to spyware...
shadowself	Date: May 2, 2006 @ 9:44 PM Ugh, Acrobat. What a sluggish, bloated program. Uninstall it and install Foxit - you will be impressed. Loads SO FAST, it's free, you can type into PDFs, and it's sneakware-free. http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php The rogue anti-spyware page is a frequent visit of mine when speaking to customers who have installed crap that I have not heard of to "protect" their computer.

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