12-15-2006, 12:34 AM
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| Administrator | | Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 273
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| Adware and Spyware
Virus has been a threat for many years. However, as the internet advanced, a new threat has been invented to exploit people's privacy and information. Adwares and spywares are new threats (existed since a year ago) to thousands, if not millions of online users. Here is why:
What are the symptoms? Quote: |
Do you notice a lot of pop-ups, strange bookmarks you never made, pages redirect to a website you never typed in, or any abnormal behavior in your pc? If you noticed such behavior when surfing the internet, you are a victim of the "adware" or "spyware"." Internet surfers download spywares without their knowledge or consent. If you have opened an e-mail from an unknown sender, you might have opened the door to let spywares in. If you visit a website that related to illegal activities (warez, drugs) and adult-content website, you might have invited more spywares. If you use a freeware software that allows you to download and share medias and contents (such as P2P softwares), more spywares into your harddrive.
| So what harm does adware/spyware do to my pc and my personal information? Quote:
Adware: Adware is advertising-supported software that displays pop-up advertisements whenever the program is running. The software is usually available via free download from the Internet, and it is the advertisements that create revenue for the company. Although seemingly harmless (aside from intrusiveness information (including your age, gender, location, buying preferences, surfing habits, etc.). Most advertising supported software doesn't inform you that it installs adaware on your system, other than via buried reference in a license agreement. In many cases the software will not function without the adware component. Some adware can install itself on your computer even if you decline the offer.
System Monitors Software: System monitors are applications designed to monitor computer activity to various degrees. These programs can capture virtually everything you do on your computer including recording all keystrokes, e-mails, chat room dialogue, web sites visited, and programs run. System monitors usually run in the background so that you do not know that you are being monitored. The information gathered by the system monitor is stored on your computer is an encrypted log file for later retrieval. Some programs are capable of emailing the log files to another location. Traditionally, system monitors had to be installed by someone with administrative access to your computer, such as a system administrator or someone that shares your computer. However, there has been a recent wave of system monitoring tools disguised as e-mail attachments or "freeware" software products.
Trojan Horses: Trojan Horses or Trojans are malicious programs that appear as harmless or desirable applications. Trojans are designed to cause loss or theft of computer data, and to destroy your system. Some Trojans, called RATS (Remote Administration Tools), allow an attacker to gain unrestricted access of your computer whenever you are online. The attacker can perform activities such as file transfers, adding/deleting files or pgorams, and controlling the mouse and keyboard. Trojans are generally distributed as e-mail attachments or bundled with another software program.
Miscellaneous: There are many other suspicious and/or annoying programs that can find their way onto your computer without your express knowledge. These programs often come bundled with third-party programs or can be installed as "drive-by downloads." Some of these have spyware capabilities, while others may serve as an annoyance or negatively affect your system resources. There are many terms for these types of programs including scumware, annoyanceware, parasites, malware, and etc.
| Is it not illegal for them to install adwares and spywares onto my pc without my consent? Quote: |
Not necessarily. When you download a freeware software (Divx) or a P2P software (Kazaa) or a download optimizer software, somewhere in the TOS gives them the permission to install the adbot/spyware on your pc harddrive. If you do not give them permission, you can install and use their freewares. I admit, I tend to 'skim' through the small prints and TOS very often. Be careful.
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How can I check if I have an adware and/or a spyware hidden inside my pc? Quote: |
There are softwares that thoroughly scans your entire hard drive to detect an existing adbots and spywares. Some softwares are available for free (personal use only) and others that can be bought for a small fee. I recommend using Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/) software which does an excellent job detecting most of the adwares and spywares in your pc. The programs will scan your hard drive, display the adbots/spywares that have been found, and information about each adbot and spyware (name and characteristics). Another useful tool is the Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com). The toolbar has an option (set as default) to stop all pop-ups from your screen. How cool is that. It even has a built-in Google search bar on the toolbar so you can search the Google directory in your current page. The Google toolbar is only available for the Windows Internet Explorer browser and not for the Mac users. If you are a Mac user, I recommend installing the new and updated Mozilla Firefox browser (http://www.mozilla./products/firefox/) which is available for both the Windows and Mac users. Mozilla Firefox also stops all pop-ups. And you will love the tab-browsing feature on Firefox.
| Originally posted on 18th October 2004 - 09:37 AM in the Resource forum.
Adware and Spyware
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