[Vision2020] Washington Post: Beware: Spyware
Tim Lohrmann
timlohr@yahoo.com
Tue, 4 May 2004 09:20:09 -0700 (PDT)
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David,
Thanks for the info.
I get rid of these little buggers not only because it's creepy per se to have some remote computer logging whatever you read online but also because someone told me having tons of these dataminer programs will slow down your system. Is this BS?
Best,
TL
David Camden-Britton <davidcb@acm.org> wrote:
Just to throw in my two cents,
Ad-Aware is primarily designed to scan for Ad-based programs; the kind of stuff that shows up when you use various Peer-to-Peer filesharing programs, or download anything from the Gator corporation.
Spybot Search & Destroy looks for Browser Hijack Objects, Keyloggers, porn dialers and numerous other creepy bits of junk that can creep into your system through various webpages or Trojan horse programs. Usually, the more malevolent the program, the better Spybot is at removing it.
One's frequency of scanning is probably best determined by two things: level of paranoia and when clues exist that something might be wrong with your system. If you absolutely must remove every little cookie from your system, then run Ad-Aware regularly. Or, go into the Internet Options Control Panel icon and set your cookie level to High or "Block All Cookies". This will take care of the main source of hits in Ad-Aware, though it will impact your ability to view many websites. Also, you can forget about doing any online shopping if you have your cookies turned off.
Here's a nice definition for cookies: http://www.idcide.com/pages/res_term.htm#cookies
If you are experiencing popup ads when you first turn your computer on, or when you're not connected to the Internet, that's a warning sign that something is lurking on your system. Time to run both scanners. If your computer tries to dial out to the Internet for no discernible reason (you don't have automatic email downloads on, for instance) then Spybot is warranted.
Otherwise, perhaps once a month would be prudent. Before running any of these scanners, be sure to run their online update tools so they download the latest updated definitions. This will allow them to scan and find more junk than before.
---
David Camden-Britton -=)*(=- davidcb@acm.org
At 10:06 AM 4/30/2004 -0700, you wrote:
Wayne,
Interesting article.
I'm positive that anyone who goes on the web regularly has many of these "bugs" on their computer--so it's a good idea to have a scanning/quarantining program if you want to get rid of them.
I know you've got quite a bit of expertise in this area, so I've got a question for you.
What do you think of the freeware/shareware versions of "AdAware" and/or "Spybot Search & Destroy" programs?
I've run both of them and they both find "data-mining" bugs---but they seem to find different types of these spys.
Do you know what the difference is? Is it better to regularly(I've seen once a week recommended) run both of these or is there a better program that could be run once and pretty much get rid of everything?
Thanks for any help, TL
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---------------------------------
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<DIV>David,</DIV>
<DIV> Thanks for the info.</DIV>
<DIV> I get rid of these little buggers not only because it's creepy per se to have some remote computer logging whatever you read online but also because someone told me having tons of these dataminer programs will slow down your system. Is this BS?<BR> </DIV>
<DIV> Best,</DIV>
<DIV> TL</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><B><I>David Camden-Britton <davidcb@acm.org></I></B> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Just to throw in my two cents,<BR><BR>Ad-Aware is primarily designed to scan for Ad-based programs; the kind of stuff that shows up when you use various Peer-to-Peer filesharing programs, or download anything from the Gator corporation. <BR><BR>Spybot Search & Destroy looks for Browser Hijack Objects, Keyloggers, porn dialers and numerous other creepy bits of junk that can creep into your system through various webpages or Trojan horse programs. Usually, the more malevolent the program, the better Spybot is at removing it.<BR><BR>One's frequency of scanning is probably best determined by two things: level of paranoia and when clues exist that something might be wrong with your system. If you absolutely must remove every little cookie from your system, then run Ad-Aware regularly. Or, go into the Internet Options Control Panel icon and set your cookie level to High o!
r "Block
All Cookies". This will take care of the main source of hits in Ad-Aware, though it will impact your ability to view many websites. Also, you can forget about doing any online shopping if you have your cookies turned off.<BR><BR>Here's a nice definition for cookies: <A href="http://www.idcide.com/pages/res_term.htm#cookies" eudora="autourl">http://www.idcide.com/pages/res_term.htm#cookies</A><BR><BR>If you are experiencing popup ads when you first turn your computer on, or when you're not connected to the Internet, that's a warning sign that something is lurking on your system. Time to run both scanners. If your computer tries to dial out to the Internet for no discernible reason (you don't have automatic email downloads on, for instance) then Spybot is warranted. <BR><BR>Otherwise, perhaps once a month would be prudent. Before running any of these scanners, be sure to run their online update tools so they download the latest updated definitions. This will allow them !
to scan
and find more junk than before. <BR><BR><FONT face="Courier New, Courier">---<BR>David Camden-Britton -=)*(=- davidcb@acm.org</FONT> <BR><BR>At 10:06 AM 4/30/2004 -0700, you wrote:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Wayne,<BR> Interesting article.<BR> I'm positive that anyone who goes on the web regularly has many of these "bugs" on their computer--so it's a good idea to have a scanning/quarantining program if you want to get rid of them. <BR> I know you've got quite a bit of expertise in this area, so I've got a question for you.<BR> What do you think of the freeware/shareware versions of "AdAware" and/or "Spybot Search & Destroy" programs?<BR> I've run both of them and they both find "data-mining" bugs---but they seem to find different types of these spys.<BR> Do you know what the difference is? Is it better to regularly(I've seen once a week recommended) run both of these or is there a better program that could be run once and pretty much get rid of everything?<BR> Thanks for any help, TL<BR><BR><FONT face=arial s!
ize=2>Do
you Yahoo!?<BR><A href="http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/hotjobs/hotjobs_mail_signature_footer_textlink/evt=23983/*http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover">Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs </A></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE><p>
<hr size=1><font face=arial size=-1>Do you Yahoo!?<br><a href="http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/hotjobs/hotjobs_mail_signature_footer_textlink/evt=23983/*http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/careermakeover">Win a $20,000 Career Makeover at Yahoo! HotJobs </a>
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