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Spyware and Other Security Issues
- Thread starter Tron
- Start date
C
Chester
Guest
Rick, with "Ad-Watch" (included) you can protect yourself from mosty of that crap
be warned though, it will pop-up a lot, especially when you start it for the first time.
be warned though, it will pop-up a lot, especially when you start it for the first time.
I run Adaware since version 5, and before that Gibson's anti-spy.
I mainly do it because those things tend to bit heavy. But, apart from some cookies and regkeys, it never found anything.
For e-mail, I use Mailwasher, a free app that lets you bounce all spam and possible spy and trojan attachments. Sorry to say so, but all spam comes from the US.
I mainly do it because those things tend to bit heavy. But, apart from some cookies and regkeys, it never found anything.
For e-mail, I use Mailwasher, a free app that lets you bounce all spam and possible spy and trojan attachments. Sorry to say so, but all spam comes from the US.
Hi There Folks 
I run the following programs on my machines and they;working together keep my machines clean.When first downloaded and installed most ppl will be amazed at all the crap these apps will find and eliminate....
Here they are:
Go to www.lsfileserv.com for Lavasoft Ad-Aware 6.0 It is free and it works very well-Freeware
Go to www.safer-networking.org for Spybot-Search and Destroy-Freeware
Go to www.pestpatrol.com for PestPatrol not free but an excellent program
update regularly and run regularly and you will be way ahead of the game....
After you download and install the above then take yourself over to
www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html and download and install Spyware Blaster which is also free and after your machine is clean this app will prevent much of the garbage out there from ever getting on your sys.
In conjunction with the above all end-users should be using a good Anti-virus program w/live updates and a an excellent firewall either software or hardware type...
If you make these practices a habit your computing experience will be much more trouble-free...
:B 8[ :}
Hope this helps,
ranger72
I run the following programs on my machines and they;working together keep my machines clean.When first downloaded and installed most ppl will be amazed at all the crap these apps will find and eliminate....
Here they are:
Go to www.lsfileserv.com for Lavasoft Ad-Aware 6.0 It is free and it works very well-Freeware
Go to www.safer-networking.org for Spybot-Search and Destroy-Freeware
Go to www.pestpatrol.com for PestPatrol not free but an excellent program
update regularly and run regularly and you will be way ahead of the game....
After you download and install the above then take yourself over to
www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html and download and install Spyware Blaster which is also free and after your machine is clean this app will prevent much of the garbage out there from ever getting on your sys.
In conjunction with the above all end-users should be using a good Anti-virus program w/live updates and a an excellent firewall either software or hardware type...
If you make these practices a habit your computing experience will be much more trouble-free...
:B 8[ :}
Hope this helps,
ranger72
C
Chester
Guest
thanks ranger
but whats with www.lsfileserv.com?
it redirects me to http://www.lavasoft.de where i can find nothing that reminds me something like "lsfileserv"
but whats with www.lsfileserv.com?
it redirects me to http://www.lavasoft.de where i can find nothing that reminds me something like "lsfileserv"
Hi There folks!
This is a long post so I may have to do this in sections (multiple posts) as I have attempted to post this test for you all three times now and each time It got gobbled up in Cyberspace.. }:\
So Here it is:
This is somewhat technical and I don't know if it will work for Mac users as I haven't owned a Mac since 1992 so I don't know much about them anymore...
Question: My computer seems to be doing things even when I am not using it! The hard drive activity light flashes, and my internet connection shows activity even when I don't have a Browser open.
Is there something in my system or am I just paranoid? [confused]
Answer: With all of the vulnerabilities,such as Trojan horse programs, Spyware, Adware, worms and virii (plural of virus) that are affecting computer users systems It is prudent to be somewhat paranoid. 8[ 8[
The specific causes of the activity that you are noticing may be nothing more than any of the many background utilities that should be running either at startup or in the background.
OR it could be one or many malicious programs have made their way into your computer and is using it for sending out SPAM, WORMS, or hosting pirated software for others to download from your computer without your Knowledge or permission
Thats correct kids..someone could be using your computer as a server without your knowledge or permission }:\ }:\
Here is how to find out if this is happening to you!
please see next post,
ranger72
This is a long post so I may have to do this in sections (multiple posts) as I have attempted to post this test for you all three times now and each time It got gobbled up in Cyberspace.. }:\
So Here it is:
This is somewhat technical and I don't know if it will work for Mac users as I haven't owned a Mac since 1992 so I don't know much about them anymore...
Question: My computer seems to be doing things even when I am not using it! The hard drive activity light flashes, and my internet connection shows activity even when I don't have a Browser open.
Is there something in my system or am I just paranoid? [confused]
Answer: With all of the vulnerabilities,such as Trojan horse programs, Spyware, Adware, worms and virii (plural of virus) that are affecting computer users systems It is prudent to be somewhat paranoid. 8[ 8[
The specific causes of the activity that you are noticing may be nothing more than any of the many background utilities that should be running either at startup or in the background.
OR it could be one or many malicious programs have made their way into your computer and is using it for sending out SPAM, WORMS, or hosting pirated software for others to download from your computer without your Knowledge or permission
Thats correct kids..someone could be using your computer as a server without your knowledge or permission }:\ }:\
Here is how to find out if this is happening to you!
please see next post,
ranger72
Hi There Chester,
The link takes you to the home page of lavasoft...once there look to the left of the homepage under choose a language flags....you will see a number of links...
ad_aware Professional...ad-aware plus...etc. etc....choose Ad-aware this is the free version....
this will take you to another page in the site...scroll down through the page til you see a number of downloading mirror sites...you will probably be familiar with some of them...select the one you want...
that will take you to the mirror site where you can download and install the proggie...which is a 1.7MB download...
Hope this helps
ranger72
The link takes you to the home page of lavasoft...once there look to the left of the homepage under choose a language flags....you will see a number of links...
ad_aware Professional...ad-aware plus...etc. etc....choose Ad-aware this is the free version....
this will take you to another page in the site...scroll down through the page til you see a number of downloading mirror sites...you will probably be familiar with some of them...select the one you want...
that will take you to the mirror site where you can download and install the proggie...which is a 1.7MB download...
Hope this helps
ranger72
Vulnerabilities Continued......
almost every anti-virus program on the market automatically checks for updates on a regular basis as well as the security patch updates which occur on WIN-XP machines...so some of this activity which occurs when you don't have a browser open...e-mail...or other software App running can be legitimate.
A somewhat technical method of checking to see if something is accessing the Internet from your computer is to use the " netstat" utility which is included in most windows operating systems. Netstat stands for network state.... 3[
Before you use this utility, make sure all your programs are closed, especially your browsers and e-mail programs...you should only see your desktop
For Windows 95-98-or ME...click the START button...then click RUN..
then type "command" (no quotes) and click OK or hit enter...
For windows NT-2000-or XP Click on start...then RUN...and type"cmd" (no quotes)
This will open the Command Prompt or Command Line Box...It looks like an old DOS Screen...a black box with some copyright text
and command line that will read Documents and settings and should have a blinking cursor at the end of the last line of text..
type the command "netstat" (without quotes) and then hit enter....
This will bring up aseries of headings that will read...
Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
see next post,
ranger72 8[ :B
almost every anti-virus program on the market automatically checks for updates on a regular basis as well as the security patch updates which occur on WIN-XP machines...so some of this activity which occurs when you don't have a browser open...e-mail...or other software App running can be legitimate.
A somewhat technical method of checking to see if something is accessing the Internet from your computer is to use the " netstat" utility which is included in most windows operating systems. Netstat stands for network state.... 3[
Before you use this utility, make sure all your programs are closed, especially your browsers and e-mail programs...you should only see your desktop
For Windows 95-98-or ME...click the START button...then click RUN..
then type "command" (no quotes) and click OK or hit enter...
For windows NT-2000-or XP Click on start...then RUN...and type"cmd" (no quotes)
This will open the Command Prompt or Command Line Box...It looks like an old DOS Screen...a black box with some copyright text
and command line that will read Documents and settings and should have a blinking cursor at the end of the last line of text..
type the command "netstat" (without quotes) and then hit enter....
This will bring up aseries of headings that will read...
Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
see next post,
ranger72 8[ :B
vulnerabilities continued 8[
After following the directions above...If your programs,browsers,and e-mail programs were all shut down you should only see the headings as listed above...if you see more than the headings listed above then more than likely you have a program which is accessing the Internet without your Knowledge or permission... }:\ }:\
This most likely will be spyware calling home....your browser may have been Hijacked by a code Known as a "Browser Helper Object"
or some type of other malicious code....worms or trojan horses etc.etc.
If you see nothing but the headings alone then your system is most likely clean....
The headings will provide the following info:
PROTO.....lists the protocol..(usually either TCP-transmission Control Protocol) or (UDP-User Datagram Protocol)
Local Address is your machine
foreign address is another machine on the Internet or your local area network
State lists the current state of any of the connections and is the one which you will be most interested in.If the word ESTABLISHED appears under the STATE heading,then something is causing your computer to connect to another computer on the internet. }:\ }:\
The web site address that it is connecting to will generally appear under the Foreign Address heading (ending with :http) and this is a starting point for figuring out whether this is a legitimate or malicious connection. }P }P
more to follow,
ranger72
[/b]
After following the directions above...If your programs,browsers,and e-mail programs were all shut down you should only see the headings as listed above...if you see more than the headings listed above then more than likely you have a program which is accessing the Internet without your Knowledge or permission... }:\ }:\
This most likely will be spyware calling home....your browser may have been Hijacked by a code Known as a "Browser Helper Object"
or some type of other malicious code....worms or trojan horses etc.etc.
If you see nothing but the headings alone then your system is most likely clean....
The headings will provide the following info:
PROTO.....lists the protocol..(usually either TCP-transmission Control Protocol) or (UDP-User Datagram Protocol)
Local Address is your machine
foreign address is another machine on the Internet or your local area network
State lists the current state of any of the connections and is the one which you will be most interested in.If the word ESTABLISHED appears under the STATE heading,then something is causing your computer to connect to another computer on the internet. }:\ }:\
The web site address that it is connecting to will generally appear under the Foreign Address heading (ending with :http) and this is a starting point for figuring out whether this is a legitimate or malicious connection. }P }P
more to follow,
ranger72
[/b]
vulnerabilities continued:
So after doing the above tests and you believe your system has been infiltrated then go to the links I have provided in the initial posts and run the programs there to track down and remove known spyware and adware and all the other pests.
hope this makes some sense to someone because I sure have confused [confused] myself:>)
regards,
ranger72
So after doing the above tests and you believe your system has been infiltrated then go to the links I have provided in the initial posts and run the programs there to track down and remove known spyware and adware and all the other pests.
hope this makes some sense to someone because I sure have confused [confused] myself:>)
regards,
ranger72