Adware, spyware -- How to stop this crap

vanity

[no nau]

My computer is infested with this crap and I can't get rid of it. None of the free services can solve the problem, and I might even pay for such a service, except that all of them seem to be just folks willingly to take advantage of you and charge you more money, and possibly infect you more. Has anyone here seen this? How should I and anyone else deal with this?

[dayglored]

> That's not true. I'm on CERT's mailing list for work, as well as a multistate information security initiative, and I just found 68 bulletins issued by ISAC that affected OSX in 2007 and 2008. Granted, Mac has a much better track record, but it's not the answer to malicious code writers. OpenBSD is the answer to that, but until Theo DeRadt pulls his head from his butt and mingles with the "mere mortals", nobody's going to use his OS on any great scale.

Let me respectfully query on a few points.

I run a network of NetBSD, OSX-Server, Windows Server2003/2008, Solaris, Linux; my users have WinXP, Macs, and a couple copies of Vista. So I'd value your thoughts on the following:

1. Can you please differentiate between issues affecting the operating system, as opposed to the applications running on it? That is, a vulnerability in a cross-platform app that has been ported to OSX is a fundamentally different beast than one in the underlying OS itself.

2. Where is the Mac OSX malware? I'm unaware of any Mac viruses running wild. There are a small number (less than 10) laboratory curiosities created by researchers, but the only thing I've heard of released to the wild has gone nowhere.

   There are 30+million Macs running OSX, almost NONE of which have any sort of 3rd-party anti-malware protection, and most users run with administrative privilege enabled.

   Given that it only takes 10-20,000 machines to make a very useful botnet, how come none of the vulnerabilities listed in the 68 bulletins you mention have been exploited successfully?

3. OpenBSD is wonderful (I'm a Unix-head from 1985, BTW, and use NetBSD daily), but it's really not for everyone. The only way Unix makes headway into the public userbase is hidden beneath a great GUI, as in OSX. Do you really believe the main obstacle to Unix acceptance by the popular mass of users is Theo DeRadt?

   I think in Unix. If not for CygWin I'd lost my mind. My Macs run with more xterms open than GUI windows, most of the time. But I'm a Sys Admin, not Joe User.

[dayglored]

See my post #101 — I just asked a similar question...

[lawnguy]

What is it about computer people that makes them want everything free?

Especially Freepers. Doesn't all this free software "create dependence"?

Now calm down guys, I'm just having some fun:)

[gidget7]

Spybot S&D. once you get it go though ALL the lists of trojans hijackers, etc, and make sure NONE of the boxes is checked. Enable all protection, get any updates, then scan. If it finds things that it will destroy them, prompt you to do so.

Also, it runs in conjunction with SpyBlaster. A separate program which bocks adware. Good luck!

[Big Horn]

We use Ad Aware and Spy Bot. What one doesn’t take care of, the other does.

Ditto’s it works for me.

[webschooner]

Super AntiSpyware Free Edition, finds more stuff than: AdAware, SpyBot, SpySweeper, and others. Best I have found, and price is right!

[OSTATE]

I use AVG and Webroot Spy Sweeper. Works great for me.

[6SJ7]

I can’t help it. I love pron sites. ;)

Mmm. Prawns.

[tired1]

must save for reference

[MARTIAL MONK]

I’m ashamed to admit that my computer has been completely taken over by porn. No matter what I do it reappears. Sites like New Zealand Sheepherding in Pictures, Prize Goats of the Nubian Desert, Totally Naked LLamas, I just can’t get them off the computer. I called the Geek Squad and they said that I had a problem that they couldn’t fix. They also said that the computer was broke.

[DeLaine]

ping

[gpapa]

I have had no problems running McAfee after upgrading my old W98 computer to an Intel Dual Core with 2 gb of memory and XP-PRO. Runs seamlessly with no slow downs or freezes.

[Gone_Postal]

stay away from the porn sites

[The Mayor]

you mean bump.

[DeLaine]

No, I meant ping, but I forgot to change the “To” to someone else.
:)

[roamer_1]

I’ve been using PC-Cillin for over a decade on more than a dozen systems that are running 24/7 on a WAN with zero problems. That is 876,000 on-line hours with no viruses or ad-ware attacks. It is an excellent product.

Something that works in an IT environment, where knowledgeable people control and/or limit access is a far cry from SOHO, not to mention joe homeowner.

I have mostly SOHO and Residential clients, and I can guarantee that any Norton box that hits my bench will have trojans running with Norton completely unawares. McAfee is only slightly better, With PCCillin next in line for likely compromise.

Is it better than the other two? Unquestionably so. But it cannot stand in the shade of the real ones.

[kromike]

Super AntiSpyware Free Edition, finds more stuff than: AdAware, SpyBot, SpySweeper, and others. Best I have found, and price is right!

Agreed. www.superantispyware.com is quite effective.

[roamer_1]

“Stop Sign IS spyware.”

If I had a hundred dollars for every machine I had to hack eAcceleration (maker of StopSign AV)out of... Oh, wait a minute. I DO have at least a hundred dollars for every... :D

[cmet]

I had that problem too. Using opera though. SUPERAntiSpyware got rid of it for me.

[JSteff]

“porn”

Read. I was talking about PRON just like the original poster said.