Do you think no one is spying on you?

[WOWZY]

I thought so until I downloaded Ad-aware 5. 5 and found that there were 75 spyware files on my computer, giving out my personal info every time I surfed the Web. This program displayed all the spyware files so I could examine them before removal. It scanned my whole system in about 3min.



I had even mistakenly installed a program called Gator when I installed Weatherbug and uninstalled it right after I figured out what Gator was all about. I thought that it was completely gone, but it wasn't. The Ad-aware 5. 5 found 13 Gator files and 2 of those Gator files were titled, "C:/Windows/Gatorsilent mode. exe" and "C:/Windows/GatorInvisible. exe" Another of the many spyware files on my system was "Savesmart"



Anyone that has installed Weatherbug or other programs may have included "Gator and Save Smart" when they installed the program and didn;t uncheck these extras. These are nothing but spyware programs and should be removed immediately. If you don't know whether you have these or not, the best thing would be to download the Ad-aware program and get whatever spyware you have off of your system.



Go here to get it:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software.html

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Wowzy,



After reading your post it sounds like its a "must have".



Can you we it at Office Max, Staples, Best Buy ect. ?

 

[WOWZY]

The download is free but there seems to be no download link on the site. I got mine from a friend who sent it to me via E-Mail.



I'll look a little further and see if I can find the download page. Maybe it's on another site.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Thanks Wowzy for the info,



I think I found the free download: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/downloads.html



It took 2 seconds to download. Gotta love the "cable modem"

 

[WOWZY]

Ok I found it!



Click on the "Downloads" tab on the link in my first post and click on "Ad-aware 5. 5 Final NEW 837kb" or go here:



http://www.lavasoftusa.com/downloads.html



Be sure to read the "Getting Started" before going through the scan. It will keep you from removing any files that may be important or that Ad-aware deams abnormal. All of mine were ok to remove after I looked them over.



Guys report back to this thread of how many spyware files it found on your computer.



Mine had 75 spyware files on it.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Wow,



I'm glad I read your thread. I had 38 suspicious flies. Deleted them all. Most were from the free "dirty" picture sites I went to the other night. Sextracker ect. It figures!

 

[WOWZY]

HEHE! My wife can always tell if when I've been to those sites when she looks at my fly. My flies looks suspicious also

 

[GTX]

Thanks WOWZY

I've been looking for something like this. I had 26 suspicious files.

 

[Ram4Sam]

I found only six files but my computer is only a couple of months old. I have a dsl line and run Zonealarm as a firewall. Zonealarm is a great free program if you have dsl or cable. Since the red worm scare, I have been getting as many as 150 snoop hits in a 24 hour period.



Sam

 

[paccool]

Well, I downloaded the program, put the entire system through a scan and it came back clean. Said there were no bad files found. I regularly go through and delete ALL cookies and I suspect this is why the system was clean.



Stan

 

[Scollins]

HOLY SMOKES, BATMAN! I had 119 files after the scan that were suspicious. Based on the file names, most of them were doubleclick, flycast and "sextracker. " Gee, I wonder where those came from???????



Anyway, I wiped them all out. I run a fairly secure system (firewall and active virus scan updated every week or so. ) But, as these files are not considered malicious, these forms of defense don't work. But now I have another tool to combat the evil internet forces! I guess I could turn off cookies, but that can a real PITA.

 

[WOWZY]

I saw some of those on mine too scollins. Half were cookies the other were hidden spy program files.



Keep the results coming!

 

[johnrv4]

Deleted all of my cookies before I ran the program... It found 58 files that I let it wipe out!!!!! A lot seemed to come from the Gozilla download program (that would make sense, because I never visit the porn-sites ). Excellent program that is fast to download(even with 56Krap). Thanks Wowzy

 

[mdlowry]

I scanned my computer at work. It came out clean. I've got a Mac at home, so it won't work here. I do try to keep my system fairly secure though. Any tips for us Mac users?

 

[joel]

Only Cookies so far....

But lots of them. I'm pretty careful about what I download and have probably put the fear of god in my wife about installing freebies she's not absolutely positive about withough at least asking me first. I've been scanning with Ad-aware for about 6 months now and have run Zone Alarm for close to a year. Best personal firewall out there!



I also occasionally use a program called "The Proxomitron". It is very useful at many things. And can be customized, though I haven't had the time to delve too deeply into that aspect. The thing I like about this program is it prevents those annoying popup windows when you go to or leave a site. Those adult sites are the worst and this program gets 'em all. It also eliminates banner ads and blinking or wobbling ads nicely. You can make a list of OK ads to let pass fairly easily.



It does make using Javascript sites a little difficult and secure sites don't play well with it, but it has a handy bypass feature that allows you to disable it temporarily (until you unbypass it) in order to do things like your online banking or such.



If anyone's interested, the address to find it is: http://spywaresucks.org/prox/. Enjoy!



Also, if you want to read about security, here's a good site: http://www.grc.com

 

[BFC]

Damn!

39 here, and I tough it was just me that was paranoid about that stuff, I feel better now thanks guys... ... ..... now on to the porn sites... ... ... .....

 

[SlyBones]

18 cookies only. No files. Hmmm. Must start visiting more porn sites.



Like mentioned above I have a firewall. use BackIce Defender. Also McAfee virus scanner.



Next there are several programs like Uninstaller and CleanSweep that not only remove or uninstall programs, but do sweeps of the system looking for unused registry entries, problem shortcuts, unused shortcuts, and other items. Its kinda like using the Disk Cleanup tool Win98 has, but it cleans way more.



Once a month, usually first of every month so I dont foget, I check for the latest downloads of software, run the cleanup tools, run complete virus scan and defrag the disk. its my monthly maintenance. Adding this to the monthly list.

 

[Bigsaint]

Good post !!! This is the real deal gentlemen, no doubt. While the cookies are fairly harmless, there are other downloads, such as DSSAgent and Back Oriface 2000 that can do real harm. These alow a hacker to have complete control over your computer while on line, from reading and deleting files, etc, to downloading viruses and the like to your computer. Back oriface allows the hacker to completely control your computer, right down to saving key strokes ( ever order anything on-line) and downloading whatever they wish on your computer. They can also withdraw from your computer with no sign that they have been there, after their mission is complete.



How about this scenario, someone hates you, they are able to slip back oriface into your computer and download kiddy porn into a file that you have no idea exists. Then they withdraw and remove all traces of the trojan horse. They contact the local P. D. and state that they believe you are a sexual offender, make up a story and the next thing you know the local L. E. is at your door step with a search warrant. They seize your computer, clone the harddrive and guess what they find ??? Try explaining that, with no traces of the trojan horse in your computer.



Pretty scarey stuff, I've seen back oriface in action during computer crime in-service training. Don't take these spyware downloads as harmless, they are not IMHO.



Scott W.

 

[Spooled-up]

WOW!

I think I have the record! I had 163 files!



I had that Gator thing on there too. Thought I had erased it in the add/remove programs file, but it was still there. Webhancer was the biggest followed closely by another that I can't remember the name of. Now maybe I'll stop getting all that annoying spam mail.



Thanks for the link.



-David

 

[Teacher]

Spyware

Wowzy,

You did us a great service! Thanks!

I cleaned out 158 files. Perhaps my computer connection would now run better. It became sluggish and disconnecting when going from site(or page) to site.

Just another benefit from belonging to TDR!