[nitro]

Originally Posted by Dean C

Anyone who wants to use this article has to ask for my permission privately yes There's nothing a little over the top about these pests. All I've tried to do is provide an informative article to people who are new to getting rid of them to try and help

Nice guide for those who really dont know what these things are by now.

I have to say most comunities I see have similar allready posted, theres likely to be thousands of them kicking about, some better some not, yours is the first post I have ever seen which just offers some tips and is actually copyrighted.
Your choice of course and you can understand someone being annoyed if someone has copyied word for word but I really think this is somewhat OTT. Why dont you just add a copyright to your sig, then you would cover every post you make. I say this because you could very easily come accross one of those other guides which may not be older and looks very similar and I would dread to think you would really try to sue someone for something they may actually not have done. Im guessing next, when anyone who recomends using one of the softwares you have chosen to mention after reading your post will also have to credit your post as the original source ?

</end sarcasm>

By the way I have used amongst some others spybot S & D for some time and there are regular updates.

Avast is a very good free AV package with excellent live protection, unlike AVG free edition.

Shorewall is an excellent firewall as your main entry blockade (sorry not for windows users), and then you can use other firewalls on your internal computers if you so wish. Its not just about having closed ports, a closed port will tell a hacker that a computer exists at the address, (when a hacker locates a computer they then scan for anything open, its one of those situations where any hole will do), a port in stealth mode will slow down a scan on your IP and give away nothing about a computer in existence. You should also ensure that your internet entry unit never responds to any form of ping, (unless you need it to for a specific reason, but thats the same as using an open port).

[czarkenneth]

Yes very useful, thanks

[Roms]

Thanks for the info!!!

[Freesteyelz]

Originally Posted by Dean C

Spyware - any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes; also called adware

While I've found your article informative with regards to Spyware (or Malware) and Adware, the above statement is not entirely accurate. Spyware/Malware and Adware are different breeds, mainly because of the agendas and methods of collecting information; Spyware/Malware use deceit while Adware is up-front. Spyware/Malware can be trojan-based but Adware is nothing more than advertisement. A prime example is TV commercials. Guess which method is used?

With regards to browsers, IE has the most vulneralbilities because it is most widely used. It's the same argument between Microsoft and open source; the PC and Mac. While the tools we use are important it is how we use them that plays a bigger role.

[southernlady]

Spyware/Malware use deceit while Adware is up-front. Spyware/Malware can be trojan-based but Adware is nothing more than advertisement.

ADWARE is more upfront???? That's the biggest LOL I've had all morning.

I suggest you start reading these three blogs: Benjamin Edelman, Spyware Warrior, and Vitalsecurity.org. Then check out this list: http://research.pestpatrol.com/search/browse.aspx (see the first definition? Adware 628 types) Pick one like 180Solutions and read what it loads onto your machine.

Alias
Adware/nCase[Panda], TrojanDownloader.Win32.IstBar.j[Kaspersky], Spyware/ISTbar[Panda], TrojanDropper.Win32.Small.mr[Kaspersky], TrojanDownloader.Win32.Small.wj[Kaspersky], Adware/AdLogix[Panda],

MORE UPFRONT? And that is from an ADVERTISING agency.

Adware is actually MORE dangerous than spyware and malware. YOU KNOW where they are coming from, you don't on the adware. Liz

[Freesteyelz]

Just with a "hacker" the definition of "Adware" got twisted in the mix. What you're defining is "Spyware".

[resetor]

changed to firefox now . thanx for the help

[Ntfu2]

Yup, and i found the software in googles software pack to be helpful as well

[phoinix1]

Hi all

I hope you can help me. when i turn on my pc normaly it displays cpu tem system spec ect and after this it loads windows but recently when i turn it on the lights on the base unit come on but nothing apears on screen no system specs nothing. could you please tell me what is wrong with my pc.

THANK you

[slash001]

Everything is acceptable but Trojan horse make me very nervous. I think somebody upgrading that Trojan garbage it could bug us all time long.

[superwoofy]

In response to the previous post above:

I had a very similar issue with starting my pc. Normally I would see the cpu specs etc. For the longest time - well, for two weeks - I thought i had some kind of a hardware based trojan. Later I learned what a rarity this is. I gotta give props to my computer guy. I found him on The Computer Guy Network and he hooked it up so thank YOCS . I had checked the bios and reset all the defaults. My problem was a combination of two things.

The first was, my boot was set to quick boot, which is why i was no longer seeing the POST displaying properly. The second WAS in fact a virus that had rooted itself in my startup. However, rather than getting a blue screen, my PC would just reboot. Basically it was a cycle of black screens that showed me nothing. YOCs showed me how to go into MSCONFIG (in safe mode) and uncheck the virus from loading at startup. I was then able to boot to the Operating System and remove the virus. Props to you YOCs and everyone here for their insight.

[Twinkie]

You no longer have to pay a fee for Opera. The removed it during version eight, they're now at 9.2.0

Opera I <3 mainly because it is the only web browser that supports every single web standard. FF and espically IE has a lot of catching up to do. Opera is the first browser ever to support PNGs, so it annoys me when I see sigs that read, "FireFox is the web complaint browser...no security flaws...faster...Supports PNGs...The first to have a PNG package." everything in those sigs are usually wrong.

AVG is a great software but it can take up a lot of your CPU load. =)

[wolf32]

Isn't HijackThis somewhat considered Spyware because Merijn sold the application to Trend Micro and they did all sorts of mumbo jumbo to it. On a positive note, HijackThis is hands down the best combatant to Spyware, Hijackers, Adware, and just any type of Malware. It even scans for ADS....wait, why has this thread been sticked?

[southernlady]

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.php

There are the details straight from the *horse's* mouth, LOL.

I sold HijackThis because I had been sitting on an unfinished update for over a year and I still could not make enough time to finish it. My uni classes are taking up a lot of time and I want to set my goals a bit wider than just the antispyware business (though I still love it). Sitting on an unfinished product until it becomes obsolete is not useful, so I decided to transfer the responsibility to TrendMicro (who have also taken care of my CWShredder) so they can give it proper attention and support. Where the will take HijackThis, I do not know - but I am sure they will respect its goals and what it stands for.

Liz

[forumrunt]

OK here is a question. I know this topic is old. BUT spyware adware can people put code in their site to install this? How can I tell if it is installed on a site?