I have found certain utilities to be very good in the fight against spyware, malware, adware.
I like:
Spybot -- Search and Destroy (all red entries delete)
Adaware (just be careful what you delete)
SpySweeper by Webroot (full version costs money)
CWShredder (helpful in cws variants)
SpywareBlaster (free unless you want auto-updates)
Any other utilities that people have tried and like -- I will analyze the results -- check them with mvps at general 98 microsoft newsgroups and my own research and tell you what I think if my opinion matters to anyone. These sites can be found from Google -- just type the word(s) in and the search results return -- if you need the site I can post it here for you
Finally, please consider donating what money you can to support the makers of Spybot Search and Destroy and CWShredder because these free utitlities are awesome and the author(s) could always use money to help them in their research -- I guess money makes the world go around -- at least here in the USA
Is no one else as concerned about the spyware issue as me in this forum --- Neil, Copycat, Jeysie maybe?
well you probably would be amazed to know that I am :P I have to (seriously) run like weekly adware and spybot otherwise my pc gets like... amazingly saturated over internet JUNK to the point that it crashed my explorer and absolutly many other things which obviously it tends to seriously annoy me due the fact that Im working, I dont want any weird stuff appearing all of a sudden or ZoneAlarm asking me about weird unathorized installed crap >:( because that's what it is, junk and annoying and freaking stupid and I wish the ones who do this should just go choke on a peanut.
and btw yeah spybot is really good, so is adaware <3
It's not that I'm not concerned about spyware... it's just that I use Opera and "known-spyware" lists. ;) Seriously, I take precautions to keep spyware from getting on my computer in the first place, so I don't have to worry about taking it off. (shrug)
Peace & Luv, Liz
I will probably have IE 6sp1 for sites that require it and use Mozilla FireFox most of the time due to the spyware and adware that target IE. Say, do you use a HOSTS File Manager to block bad sites from loading. I use one and it really is nice because many ads do not even load and it is free and by a MVP (Most Valued Professional) who are volunteers who have been recognized by Microsoft for their contributions. Gary Terhune 9x MVP has been really helpful to me in the microsoft public 98 gen_newsgroup. I will give the link to the HOSTS and newsgroup if anyone here is interested or gives a hoot. Thanks for replying Say and Jeysie -- I appreciatie the feedback.
Quote from: dew7 on June 05, 2004, 10:47:13 AM
Say, do you use a HOSTS File Manager to block bad sites from loading. I use one and it really is nice because many ads do not even load and it is free and by a MVP (Most Valued Professional) who are volunteers who have been recognized by Microsoft for their contributions.
does this means like a pop up blocker or something? because for example... when I've had this problems before it was (I recall this once that it really pissed me off) I was working on my thesis, and I was typing obviously then having msn up there was a new version of MSNplus, I didnt quite get to realize the window that asked me for it, and it installed automatically the version, now :S I love MSNplus yeah, but it has like 70% of all the instalation is casino, a new explorer and many other weird things that I would just not have placed on my pc because they modif my explorer info, which at some level is what pisses me off, the fact of violation of trust when you register into these things, I dont feel like I would like to have the need to unistall real player or msnplus or all these programs but sometimes when there are updates they tend to come with internet junk, so, is this going to stop that from happening? or is that just to avoid temp internet files :-X if that being the case my security system has been increased and it always asks me for anything anyways, so I dont usually install any weird thing it just happens to be that some of the programs I do like tend to somehow trick me now and then >:(
Quote from: dew7 on June 05, 2004, 10:47:13 AM
I will give the link to the HOSTS and newsgroup if anyone here is interested or gives a hoot. Thanks for replying Say and Jeysie -- I appreciatie the feedback.
I know I would be like the last person you expected to be interested because I dont seem like I would be I guess? :P but this particular one is one that stalks me down and hates me with passion ;P
And dont get me started on trojans or black holes or weird stuff :-X been there, done that and have experienced the weirdest things internet-junk-related lol
Okay use this at your own risk -- it works for me but may not work for you --- scroll down to the bottom to find the file manager
http://www.mvps.org/PracticallyNerded/Software.htm
Dew7, this is off topic, but why don't you take the geek quiz? B'rrr wants to know if anyone can top Knight. *pauses* and the rest of us :(
Quiz (http://www.postudios.com/blog/forum/index.php?board=37;action=display;threadid=1227;start=220)
Topic
Like I said before, my computer is in such bad shape, I don't need to worry about it. If I really want to avoid viruses, and the like, I'll use a non-Microsoft OS.
With regards to startup programs, this list is useful for figuring out which of those cryptically-named programs does what:
List of Info About Taskbar Programs (http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm)
Peace & Luv, Liz
Thanks Jeysie and Neil for the information. :>
Spybot -- Search and Destroy is a great free (amazing) utility that will help your pc as well as adaware
Also check out this microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/spyware.asp
This site was put up after I researched and mailed to Bill Gates at microsoft about the problems of spyware, malware and adware -- I wanted everyone to know about the problems out there and figured going through Microsoft would be the best way -- I do not need any credit -- I am a crusader against the hackers who is enlisted in the cyper-war against spam, viruses, denial of service errors, trojans, etc. Have a fantastic day!
i use Spysweeper and thats all i need for my computer ;D
I use that too as well. I am very careful when it comes to security to the point of irritating my folks sometimes. I do not want people stealing my information and have many safeguards in my machine. Stop Identity Theft By Learning Who Are The Criminals And Why They Want Your Information. IMO, it boils down to pride, money and power. For instance, right now I am on a housemate's computer who lets me use it in return for helping him to make his system mostly secure.
Well i have a fair few hacking skills so im pretty safe ;D :suffer:
they may spy on me they may even hack me as long as they don't mess things up everything is ok by me ; )
Im gonna steal files from your computer Rob :P :suffer:
J/K ;)
there are lots of ppl that just hack for fun and not to mess up... or just to look at info at computers without violating it.
but i have like no protection and i can't believe i have never been hacked before...
Quote from: B'rrr on June 19, 2004, 05:29:05 PM
there are lots of ppl that just hack for fun and not to mess up... or just to look at info at computers without violating it.
Yeah, but it's not really worth it. Most hackers I've met were pretty malicious. XD But I guess since
these days hackers believe "spyware & spam is secsay", I guess they're more into snooping? :o
Spyware Blaster can help prevent spyware from being installed along with the immunize feature in Spybot search and destroy.
I havent hacked a computer before and im not going to because i dont wanna go through peoples stuff ;D, although some hackers have tried to snoop through my computer :-\
Don't you want to be able to hack the hackers computers? :> :> ;D ;)
http://www.ccleaner.com/ Crap Cleaner is pretty good for cleaning up a system of unneccessary stuff... ;) Odd name but it works great. :)
Quote from: dew7 on June 20, 2004, 04:17:42 PM
Don't you want to be able to hack the hackers computers? :> :> ;D ;)
There is probably no point unless i can find there pin codes and stuff ;D :D
my point exactly ; )
lol, i suppose i could hack into someones comp but there is no use for it just as there is no use for hacking in my computer either ;-D
I finally found a few articles...
Attack of Comcast's Internet zombies (http://news.com.com/2010-1034-5218178.html)
"'Zombie' PCs caused Web outage", Akamai says (http://news.com.com/'Zombie'+PCs+caused+Web+outage%2C+Akamai+says/2100-1038_3-5236403.html?tag=cd.top)
Peace & Luv, Liz
At least none of the spam is targeted at me, and if it is, they missed.
What does everyone think about the limit of 500 e-mails a day from each computer and the industry shutting down pcs that are compromised? In my opinion it is okay because I feel that people need to learn about pcs since they need to learn about cars in order to drive. A basic pc understanding is good for anyone especially since so many industries require you to use a computer.
Unless the person that owns the PC agrees to it, I'm against it. If I had a VERY important e-mail to send, I wouldn't want it cut off. I think that spam should be illegal, though it might be hard to decide what spam is(legally). If something like what you suggest was done, it should be the internet provider's job.
I haven't gotten any spam yet(I don't use filters), so it's possible to avoid spam, with little PC knowledge.
P.S. If I start getting spam, I'm ready to deal with it.
I would define spam as: unwanted messages whose underlying purpose is generating some form of income either directly or indirectly.
If they made that illegal, I would be really happy. :) But by that definition, I would consider TV commercials and some movie previews spam as well. So... I wish good luck to whoever's going to pass Anti-Spam legislation. :)
People tried that in the US(you'd have to give permision, or they couldn't send you advertisements), but iy failed :(
Yes, KQ9 for example. Over 500 members of the forums. If they decided to e-mail everyone that KQ9 was finished, it would probably be from the same PC, or IP.
lol, yeah I was just about to say that. In the past week I've sent out slightly over 1000 e-mails (mostly because one day I sent out 480 and a few days later day 526).
Also, when we send out the KQ9 Newsletter, there are over 750 subscribers. I wouldn't call it spam since we allow people to unsubscribe at any time (and I do the subscriptions and unsubscriptions manually by hand so you don't need to worry). Still, it would suck for people to have to wait 24 hours to receive an e-mail that's meant to be sent out immediately.
Plus, I don't like the thought of prioritizing recipients (i.e. you belong in the first 500, you belong in the next one) since that's unfair to the others.
The problem is that e-mail isn't always used for spam so putting a distribution restriction is a bit unreasonable, particularly for large companies or websites that send out 500+ e-mails multiple times during one day.
Oh yeah, and Louisiana's correct. Every e-mail I send out has my IP in the message header, whether I send it from neil.rodrigues@, info@, webmaster@ or anything else. :)
Quote from: Yonkey on June 23, 2004, 08:51:17 AM
I would define spam as: unwanted messages whose underlying purpose is generating some form of income either directly or indirectly.
Aren't there also spammers who spam you just for fun? ???
:o I hope not. Whoever has a spam fetish deserves to be killed. 8)
Speaking of spam and the new cell phone virus from Russia. Here's another link to check out. Investigators think the problem may be with the organized Russian mob.
http://msn-cnet.com.com/Researchers+warn+of+infectious+Web+sites/2100-7349_3-5247187.html
Well something will have to be done soon.
The internet is global, so I doubt anyone could make laws to stop it(spam). All attempts so far, have favored large companys, and I think it's going to stay that way. Unless people start mobs/rebelions/legal wars, because of it(spam).
Almost every restriction on anything hurts legitimate users as much if not more than it hurts criminals. :P The question, as always, is whether the restrictions are less of a hassle than the criminal effects.
I'm willing to bet that most of us here have it easy when it comes to spam. Many of my co-workers get literally hundreds of e-mails a day at their work accounts, as do many people out there with popular websites and such. I get something like a dozen spam e-mails a day, and that's only the stuff that gets through after my ISP does it's server-side filtering.
There's several people who postulate that in a few years e-mail will just become more or less unusable, and we'll all switch to either a new e-mail system, or simply use things like IM. (Which will probably also get subverted by the marketing morons, but at least we'll have a period of usability.)
Peace & Luv, Liz
Some people see it the other way around. That all "snail-mail" will be converted to e-mail. It's already an option, in most of the US.
All snail mail to e-mail --- The Horror -- hopefully not in my lifetime -- I love snail mail and tolerate e-mail
:>
I like both, I use them for different things. If I could only have one, I'd take "normal" mail.
I rarely use e-mail *or* snail mail... I use IMs, PMs, and IRC far more often. In fact, I tend to be notoriously lousy at getting around to answering e-mails. :-[
Peace & Luv, Liz
Spam doesn't bother me. I hardly get any - maybe 1 or 2 e-mails every couple of days. I get even less regular e-mail than that - maybe 1 or 2 every couple of months ::)
The ironic thing is, that now my ISP mailbox, which I NEVER give out, gets more spam than my hotmail one, which I give to any website/person that requires it... I guess hotmail's spam filter really works (my crappy ISP makes you PAY for this service >:()
My hotmail address is provided almost all the time and gets lots of spam. My other e-mail address is close knit and gets about 1-3 spam e-mails per week. I treat this second e-mail address like my social security number. :>
I'm pretty sure there's no spyware present on my Linux 'environment'. As for Spam, I get the occasional offer to send out spam myself, or random stuff, that last one with a nice url to unsubscribe myself, but since it's not 'to:' me, it's immedialy sanitized from all HTML and moves to my Junk-folder. The Spammotel-address i used for Trillian has been hacked, I can see that, and also the mail database where I subscribed with both one of my home adresses and my work adress, because there's mail I get both at work and at home. But, there's nothing my Junk-filter can't handle, it's been well-trained now. However, all in all, it's the spam's tolerable and most of it is a 419-scam anyway. All of my ports are hidden by the server, so nobody can find them, and on top of that there's also a firewall present in Linux, that's been configured very restrictive, and even seems to interfere while setting up my network chip. I've got Ad-Aware SE Personal in XP, but seeing as how I rarely use it, the chances of it being infected with any of the sort are negligable (?sp). That's my two cents on the subject, nobody's messing with my pc without me knowing it, AFAIK.
I am glad you have your PC so well-protected Copycat! :)
I find it hard trying to keep my family's PC secure, especially when members of my family un-install the firewall after I've spent hour's configuring it !
>:( :furious:
on another note....
What happened to that feature in Hotmail where u could block spam?
Quote from: GravityMX on December 28, 2004, 06:57:12 AMWhat happened to that feature in Hotmail where u could block spam?
Nothing... at least not to mine :S
So do people here like masking their real IP addresses or is the threat overblown?
My system still stays relatively clean... so I'm fine. ;)
I only have the bare necessities running and I check my pocess list daily to make sure nothing unusual pops in there.
Once every week or two I still run adware and spyware checks though, just in case.
Quote from: dew7 on December 28, 2004, 12:17:52 PM
So do people here like masking their real IP addresses or is the threat overblown?
Mines dynamic so I don't really worry about masking :-\
Spybot - Search & Destroy is great. I was at my friend's house once, and he was telling about how his computer was slow and a spyware toolbar on his computer. So I downloaded Spybot onto his computer, and cleaned up over 200 spyware files.
I use it on 6 pcs and never had a problem with S&D but a friend of mine said that it accused a windows file of being spyware and deleted it crashing his OS to the point of needing to format it :P
other then that, i recomend it (just gotta read what and where you're deleting first ;) )
I've got no idea if there's spyware out there that'll work with my Linux distro and even less if there's programs to detect and remove such spyware (if there is). :-X
a friend of mine got a certain ad-ware that NOTHING can get rid of it :P
Quote from: Louisiana Monkey on July 17, 2005, 01:55:26 PMa friend of mine got a certain ad-ware that NOTHING can get rid of it :P
Sure you can. Some are just a bit harder (to get rid of) than others. :scholar:
*dusts off thread*
Microsoft Antispyware Beta is good if you have 2000 or XP.