SPYWARE. Look out.

[Evol]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
IE sucks.Use some other browser..

[/ QUOTE ]

More like "Windows sucks,use another OS" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[sully]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IE sucks.Use some other browser..

[/ QUOTE ]

More like "Windows sucks,use another OS" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

no spyware or virii on macs! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

sully
(recent mac convert...and no, i won't shut up about it, thank you!)

[OnlineStageGear]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IE sucks.Use some other browser..

[/ QUOTE ]

More like "Windows sucks,use another OS" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

no spyware or virii on macs! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

sully
(recent mac convert...and no, i won't shut up about it, thank you!)

[/ QUOTE ]

No programs either [img]/images/graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Swillmaster]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IE sucks.Use some other browser..

[/ QUOTE ]

More like "Windows sucks,use another OS" [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

no spyware or virii on macs! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

sully
(recent mac convert...and no, i won't shut up about it, thank you!)

[/ QUOTE ]

No programs either [img]/images/graemlins/refuse.gif[/img]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Use Mozilla and Ad-aware, works for me.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

I currently use Lavasoft Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy, running both once a week to clean out unwanted crap on my computer. This weekend I will be downloading Mozilla Firefox to use as my primary browser from now on. Hopefully that will help out.

[VitaminG]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

should do the trick, NOTP. I saw that popup today. The wife still insists on using IE. But I never get popups from anywhere while using Mozilla, unless I give the browser permission for particular sites.

[Donovan]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

Taken directly off another forum, I thought it would be of great value here as well.







Ok, in writing this post, i was 3 times forced to start over due to some mother **** spyware piece of ****, so all the more reason for me to go through with this.

We all know how much the recent wave of spyware and advertising trojans piss us off. They at best, piss us off and at worst, disrupt and damage our system's operations. So in this thread we will bring forward programs that have worked for us in our battle with this E-VERMIN.

All these programs are free to download, and have been taken from respected and credible sites. I've atleast tried most of these, however some others have come highly recommended.

1.) Ewido Security Suite (*****) For Windows 2000/XP


Removes Trojans, keyloggers and other spyware, Over 40.000 effective signatures, Worldwide unique and efficient protection system, Discovers modified and hidden threats, Overview of all runnig processes and connections
Erases unneeded data irrecoverably.

Download Link: http://download.ewido.net/setup-free.exe

2.) Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3 (*****) For Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

Spybot - Search & Destroy is an adware and spyware detection and removal tool. This includes removal of certain advertising components, that may gather statistics as well as detection of various keylogging and other spy utilities. In addition, it also securely removes PC and Internet usage tracks, including browser history, temporary pages, cookies (with option to keep selected) and more.

Download Link: http://www.spychecker.com/download/download_spybot.html

3.) SpywareBlaster 3.1 (*****) For Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP

SpywareBlaster doesn`t scan and clean for so-called spyware, but prevents it from being installed in the first place. It achieves this by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage. This allows you to run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled, but it will never download or even prompt you for any of the known ActiveX controls.

Download Link: http://www.spychecker.com/download/...areblaster.html

4.) HijackThis 1.97.7 (***) For Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

HijackThis is a tool, that lists all installed browser add-on, buttons, startup items and allows you to inspect, and optionally remove selected items. The program can create a backup of your original settings and also ignore selected items. Additional features include a simple list of all startup items, default start page, online updates and more. Intended for advanced users.

Download Link: http://www.spychecker.com/download/...hijackthis.html

5.) AdAware 6.181 (*****) For Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP

AdAware is a privacy tool, that scans your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives for known data-mining, aggressive advertising, and tracking components. It then lists the results and offers to remove or quarantine the components. The program detects a wide range of adware/spyware related issues and can be updated with the latest signatures via the built-in update utility. Please be advised that removing certain components may impact the functionality of effected software applications. You should fully read the included Ad-aware documentation before removing any files!

Download Links:

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=506

http://www.spychecker.com/download/...ad_adaware.html

http://download.com.com/3000-2144-1....amp;tag=button

Update Page: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

6.) CWShredder (****) For Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP

A small utility for removing CoolWebSearch (aka CoolWwwSearch, YouFindAll, White-Pages.ws and a dozen other names). Spybot S&D tends to forget essential parts of the hijack, so until it updates, you can just this to completely remove the hijack. Updated to remove the new variants once they come out.

Download Links: http://www.soft32.com/download-CWShredder-19014-5.html

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html


7.) Spy Sweeper (?) For Windows

The spyware remover software will scan your computer for spy-ware and adware and remove these pests.

Download Link: http://www.spysweeper.com/cgi-bin/s...ssfsetup347.exe
__________________

[hippietim]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
no spyware or virii on macs! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! You're kidding me right?

[Newc]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

It's true. Not even the hackers waste time writing virii for Macs [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

The best way to stop people from writing virii and such is to burn one of them alive on a global tv broadcast when they're caught and convicted.

Newc

[hippietim]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

Maybe if we tell Dubyah that one of these hackers has code of mass destruction he'll go attack them [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[hippietim]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

The #1 thing you can do to protect yourself against Spyware and viruses is to NOT RUN AS AN ADMINISTRATOR!!! Most people run as an administrator because most software won't install otherwise. So the way to contend with this is to have an administrator account that you use only when necessary. Typically this is only necesary when installing software although there are a few jackass games that won't work unless you are an administrator as well (there are ways to get a lot of them working as well).

If you are comprimised in some way then the software that is running is running with the same privileges that you hold. IOW, if you are an administrator then the viruses you acquire get to run with full privilege on your system. OTOH, if you are running as a normal user (unfortunately named limited user in many places in the Windows UI), then a virus cannot attack your system because you can't modify the system yourself.

Note that IE will not install ActiveX controls at all when you are running as a normal user so that avenue of attack is completely cut off when you aren't running as an administrator. I haven't looked at the stats in a while but the last time I saw any data this is the #1 way that spyware and viruses get on your system. If for some reason you feel that you can't run as a normal user then at a minimum you should go into your IE security settings and disable downloading ActiveX controls altogether - if anyone needs help doing this let me know and I can post instructions.

[jazzman]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

I was gonna say the same. I run both of those. I delete cookies & temp files each time I'm finished on the internet. Another good idea is to set up a restricted user account under users and passwords. You should have less problems than running as administrator.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

I just downloaded the Mozilla Firefox browser (www.mozilla.org). Holy CRAP, is it ever FAST or what!!!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I don't see the point of using the Tabs function since I rarely have more than two browser windows opened at the same time (switching back and forth using ALT+TAB) but the increased speed was well worth the 4.5MB download alone.

I'm convinced!! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[PowerTube]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
The #1 thing you can do to protect yourself against Spyware and viruses is to NOT RUN AS AN ADMINISTRATOR!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Tim, there's one caveat I feel the need to toss out here. When the day comes that you need to log on with admin privileges to install hardware or whatever, you'll get swamped with a handful of crap trying to complete installation all at once. I deal with this on my job. We have a strict GPO preventing public Internet users from doing most Windows functions. So, when I have to go over there and do something logged in as myself (with domain admin rights), I have to spend 15 minutes or more waiting for spyware, gambling apps, porn, and highjackers to complete their installs before I can uninstall them.

Another thing I've noticed in the past couple of months: the punks are getting smarter. A year ago, I could run Ad-Aware and pretty much not worry about it. I've dealt with some in the last few months that neither Ad-Aware, Spybot, or HijackThis could kill. In one instance, I had to keep hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL and going to Task Manager to manually kill an executable and hope that I could delete the file before the bastard started running all over again.

TIP: If you run into this and Windows won't let you delete the file because it's running, try right-clicking and renaming it. Amazingly enough, this has worked for me a few times.

[hippietim]

Re: SPYWARE. Look out.

[ QUOTE ]
Tim, there's one caveat I feel the need to toss out here. When the day comes that you need to log on with admin privileges to install hardware or whatever, you'll get swamped with a handful of crap trying to complete installation all at once. I deal with this on my job. We have a strict GPO preventing public Internet users from doing most Windows functions. So, when I have to go over there and do something logged in as myself (with domain admin rights), I have to spend 15 minutes or more waiting for spyware, gambling apps, porn, and highjackers to complete their installs before I can uninstall them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then your users are not running as normal limited users. The only possible way for this to happen is if they have privilege on the machine to write to the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or outside of their user profile directory. The default out of the box security settings for a limited user prevent access to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and random locations on the disk. You need to go look at the permissions you have granted folks. Are they running as Power Users by chance?

BTW, I hope your normal account is NOT be an administrator account. You should have a separate account just for administrative tasks.