spyware information thread

[James"Thunder"Early]

this thread is for people to post articles and other info about spyware.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4132143.stm

California sets fines for spyware
By Peter Bowes
in Los Angeles



Arnold Schwarzenegger approved the measure
The makers of computer programs that secretly spy on what people do with their home PCs could face hefty fines in California.

From 1 January, a new law is being introduced to protect computer users from software known as spyware.

The legislation, which was approved by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is designed to safeguard people from hackers and help protect their personal information.

Spyware is considered by computer experts to be one of the biggest nuisance and security threats facing PC users in the coming year.

The software buries itself in computers and can collect a wide range of information.

At its worst, it has the ability to hijack personal data, like passwords, login details and credit card numbers.

The programs are so sophisticated they change frequently and become impossible to eradicate.

Ad onslaught

One form of spyware called adware has the ability to collect information on a computer user's web-surfing.

It can result in people being bombarded with pop-up ads that are hard to close.

In Washington, Congress has been debating four anti-spyware bills, but California is a step ahead.

The state's Consumer Protection Against Spyware Act bans the installation of software that takes control of another computer.

It also requires companies and websites to disclose whether their systems will install spyware.

Consumers are able to seek up to $1,000 in damages if they think they have fallen victim to the intrusive software.

The new law marks a continuing trend in California towards tougher privacy rights.

A recent survey by Earthlink and Webroot found that 90% of PCs are infested with the surreptitious software and that, on average, each one is harbouring 28 separate spyware programs.

Currently users wanting protection from spyware have turned to free programs such as Spybot and Ad-Aware.

[James"Thunder"Early]

Something I've noticed has become a growing problem is the desktop hijack, where the spyware changes your desktop wallpaper.

[James"Thunder"Early]

Has anyone on dial-up encountered dialers? they change your internet settings to dial long distance numbers and run up your bill. If anyone has had this problem I'd like to hear about it.

[robyrob]

Originally posted by Dr. Phillips
Has anyone on dial-up encountered dialers? they change your internet settings to dial long distance numbers and run up your bill. If anyone has had this problem I'd like to hear about it.

i've helped quite a few people remove them, they have been around for at least 4 or 5 years now, the nastiest ones will actually mute your modem, disconnect, dial their long-distance number (usually somewhere in the Cayman Islands) and connect you to the internet through them, change your connection settings to ALWAYS dial them, and turn your modem volume back on. This then charges you per-minute long-distance AND 1-900 charges, which you wont find out about until you get your next phone bill....

DIRTY

BTW, Webroot's TOP TEN Spyware Threats:

http://www.webroot.com/spywareinform...waretopthreats

[James"Thunder"Early]

It should criminal for them to dial these numbers. but this stuff is so new the government hasn't handled it yet. dialers would be near the top of my list of worse spyware. and another thing CNN and the big news networks have just started talking about this stuff like it just started and they haven't even covered the a lot of stuff, like dialers.

[robyrob]

Microsoft should be releasing its OWN (well kind of) Anti-Spyware software within the next month:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5...tml?tag=adnews

CNET News.com December 16, 2004

Microsoft announced Thursday that it has acquired Giant Company Software, a privately owned provider of anti-spyware, anti-pop-up and antispam tools.

Microsoft said it plans to offer tools based on Giant's technology that will help protect Windows PCs from spyware and other deceptive software. The technology complements security features available in Windows XP Service Pack 2, the company said.

A beta version of a tool based on Giant's anti-spyware product will be available to Windows customers within one month, according to a statement from Microsoft. This beta version of the software will scan a user's PC to locate spyware and enable customers to remove it, the company said. The tool will also be configurable, so users can block known spyware and other specific unwanted software from being installed on a computer.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company didn't disclose financial details of the acquisition, nor did it provide a timeline for the introduction of new products based on the technology, apart from the one-month estimate on the release of the beta.

Over the past couple of years, Microsoft's Internet browser has been hit hard by security threats. Malicious code writers have targeted security holes in Internet Explorer to launch attacks and install spyware. These attacks are often launched when a victim clicks on a specific Web link, opening the door for criminals to take over the person's computer. Once the PC is compromised, the attacker often can access information stored on the computer, load other software on the machine and delete files.

"Spyware is a serious and growing problem for PC users, and customers have made it clear that they want Microsoft to deliver effective solutions to protect against the threat," Mike Nash, vice president of Microsoft's Security Business and Technology unit, said in a statement. "Through this acquisition we're excited to be able to provide near-term relief to Windows customers by offering new technology to help keep spyware and other deceptive software off their PCs."

[Zebra 3]

One thing to be careful with is Websites who offer FREE scans of your computer to detect adware/spyware and for a FEE they'll fix the problem. It turns out many of these services are bogus or the very least not worth your time and money.

There's two FREE downloads so far I have used which appeared to work fairly well.

Spybot Search & Destroy and Yahoo! Toolbar with Anti-Spy. In the event their software can't detect or remove an adware/spyware you may get lucky and check yourself by simply going to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.

Ad-Aware is another one which gets alot of positive feedback, but I haven't tried yet.

[robyrob]

Originally posted by Dr. Phillips
It should criminal for them to dial these numbers. but this stuff is so new the government hasn't handled it yet. dialers would be near the top of my list of worse spyware. and another thing CNN and the big news networks have just started talking about this stuff like it just started and they haven't even covered the a lot of stuff, like dialers.

Dialers and most forms of spyware have actually been around for a LONG time, but its tough to actually track the culprits down and prosecute them effectively, even WITH the appropriate legislationg to back you up. Another problem is that as soon as you shut one spammer/scammer down, you have ten more pop up in their place.

Even the Can-Spam Act isn't doing a very good job; according to Sophos, 42% of all SPAM still originates from the US.

[MissZero]

Originally posted by Zebra 3
One thing to be careful with is Websites who offer FREE scans of your computer to detect adware/spyware and for a FEE they'll fix the problem. It turns out many of these services are bogus or the very least not worth your time and money.

There's two FREE downloads so far I have used which appeared to work fairly well.

Spybot Search & Destroy and Yahoo! Toolbar with Anti-Spy. In the event their software can't detect or remove an adware/spyware you may get lucky and check yourself by simply going to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.

Ad-Aware is another one which gets alot of positive feedback, but I haven't tried yet.

Ad-Aware works well but it only detects a few of the syware files at a time.

[TJL]

Is the spyware stormer program any good, or am I wasting my time?

[robyrob]

Originally posted by TJL
Is the spyware stormer program any good, or am I wasting my time?

well, I couldn't find any actual reviews of the program, however at Download.com of 89 user reviews, it got 80% negative reviews - so I would stick with the free and widely recommended Spybot - Seek & Destroy and Ad-Aware .

This comment makes me fairly suspicious of the program:

This software has been known to be included and bundled with other ad-related software. Reviews on this software that are positive probably come from the company who is trying to market the software as legitimate. It may detect competitive spyware but it will not remove the spyware that it's affiliated with.

[James"Thunder"Early]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This software has been known to be included and bundled with other ad-related software. Reviews on this software that are positive probably come from the company who is trying to market the software as legitimate. It may detect competitive spyware but it will not remove the spyware that it's affiliated with.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a deceptive program by the spyware programmer. stick with the popular ones. download.com even removed it from the site.

[Brian]

I remember in September I was browsing the Internet and all of a sudden I heard this "whrrrrr" and there were all these oncoming popups, the homepage was changed, stuff was added to my favorite places, and before I knew it my computer's internet connection was bogged down.

I purchased Spy Sweeper since it was too hard for me to download Ad-Aware or get to the links in robyrob's signature. It is really good. I think the best programs for combating spyware are those you buy.

Some web sites also have spyware when you visit them. The Futon Critic is one of them. Very nasty stuff, as I've heard from some people who have visited there. From what they told me, it took weeks to get rid of it all.

[James"Thunder"Early]

I been reading up on spyware all this morning and afternoon and have found good info. most of this stuff comes from Russia and Eastern Europe and the writers of the codes are competing. and a lot of it is to generate traffic for sites that no one would care about. the worst is coolwebsearch which has affiliates that get paid by how many hits they get, which is why browsers are hijacked to stupid search engines and why you are redirected through different servers. so the people with CWS affiliates could be writing code themselves to get hits on their websites. there are so many codes now it made it impossible to update some software against it. browser hijacks and popups are all about money and site traffic, the more infected PCs the more money they make.

[James"Thunder"Early]

Originally posted by Brian
I remember in September I was browsing the Internet and all of a sudden I heard this "whrrrrr" and there were all these oncoming popups, the homepage was changed, stuff was added to my favorite places, and before I knew it my computer's internet connection was bogged down.

I purchased Spy Sweeper since it was too hard for me to download Ad-Aware or get to the links in robyrob's signature. It is really good. I think the best programs for combating spyware are those you buy.

Some web sites also have spyware when you visit them. The Futon Critic is one of them. Very nasty stuff, as I've heard from some people who have visited there. From what they told me, it took weeks to get rid of it all.

There are also spyware domain names and spyware coders have hacked popular and safe servers to infect PC's. I've also heard reports of CD rom trays coming open.