http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/spyware/ en-us Tue, 27 May 2008 00:03:20 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2021656/posts Is anyone else using Avast Free Virus Scan getting a Trojan alert on Super Anti Syyware.exe command? I'm getting it on the boot up scan and Avast has no way of marking it a false positive. Warning shows Win32: Trogan-Gen with no anme associated except the Spyware program. none http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2021656/posts#comment Tue, 27 May 2008 00:03:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2012015/posts Yahoo search to 'battle spyware' SearchScan is a free tool embedded into search Yahoo is introducing new technology to its search engine which will warn users if they are about to click on a website that hosts viruses, spyware and spam. SearchScan uses security firm McAfee's SiteAdvisor technology to warn users about "potentially risky sites". The service, which is switched on by default, produces an on-screen alert. "Our goal is to protect users by allowing them to make a more informed decision about the sites they visit," said Yahoo's Priyank Garg. Rival firm Google introduced similar technology in 2006.... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2012015/posts#comment Tue, 6 May 2008 17:26:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2010315/posts How can I remove system integrity scan wizard from my system? Since yesterday, this keeps popping up. I have run my Professional AVG AV software as well as Adaware and this is the one thing that I am unable to get rid of. Is there a free online program that will remove this? Thanks!! http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2010315/posts#comment Fri, 2 May 2008 17:32:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1988278/posts The sheer volume and complexity of computer viruses being released on the Internet today has the anti-virus industry on the defensive, experts say, underscoring the need for consumers to avoid relying on anti-virus software alone to keep their home computers safe and secure. washingtonpost.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1988278/posts#comment Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:30:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1985403/posts From iPods to navigation systems, some of today's hottest gadgets are landing on store shelves with some unwanted extras from the factory -- pre-installed viruses that steal passwords, open doors for hackers and make computers spew spam. ADVERTISEMENT Computer users have been warned for years about virus threats from downloading Internet porn and opening suspicious e-mail attachments. Now they run the risk of picking up a digital infection just by plugging a new gizmo into their PCs. Recent cases reviewed by The Associated Press include some of the most widely used tech devices: Apple iPods, digital picture frames sold by... ap http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1985403/posts#comment Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:09:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1985262/posts Hackers launch massive IFrame attack Gregg Keizer March 13, 2008 (Computerworld) Hackers using a new scam continue to subvert hundreds of thousands of Web pages with IFrame redirects that send unwary users to malware-spewing sites, researchers said today. The attacks, which began about a week ago, show no signs of slowing, said Dancho Danchev in a posting to his blog yesterday. "The group is continuing to expand the campaign," said the Bulgarian researcher. "These are the high-profile sites targeted by the same group within the past 48 hours, with the number of locally cached and IFrame-injected pages within their search... ComputerWorld.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1985262/posts#comment Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:45:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979394/posts 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? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979394/posts#comment Mon, 3 Mar 2008 03:15:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1957195/posts A small minority of users - as few as one in 20 - is running fully-patched Windows PCs. Just five per cent of newly-registered users of an online security inspection service Secunia came out with a clean bill of health, while more than 40 per cent have at least 11 insecure applications installed. The data is based on scans of 20,009 computers whose users recently installed Secunia's freely available software inspection tool. Secunia claims a total user base of more than 200,000 users for its free Secunia PSI tool. A survey of a different sample set of Secunia PSI recently... theregister.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1957195/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:25:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1949935/posts If you've signed up to receive e-mails from Sears, and then clicked on to join the retailer's "My SHC Community," it's likely you've been providing more information to more people than you thought. Even more troubling, it turns out that you're not just sharing information with Sears, but also with a company called comScore, which tracks and aggregates Internet browsing habits. Installing the software from Sears results in the installation of software called VoiceFive, which provides data to comScore. It's essentially spyware. comScore is the company behind the (disputed) numbers that indicated more people were stealing Radiohead's latest album than... switched/Aol news http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1949935/posts#comment Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:28:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1947463/posts Sears and Kmart are places you might go when you need a new air conditioner filter or a lawnmower; they're not generally thought of as havens for spyware. But that's what the two stores have become, at least online, where their websites were found to be installing software to track users' every online move—all without their knowledge. Security researchers are now hammering Sears (the owner of both Sears.com and Kmart.com) for the move, despite Sears' claims that users were notified adequately beforehand. The story goes like this: late last year, Sears.com and Kmart.com began asking users if they wanted to... ars technica http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1947463/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jan 2008 01:52:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1943473/posts I am not sure what has happened but I always have my AVG Anti-Virus running and it used to be in the task bar. Yesterday, something strange happened. When I noticed it was not there, and after the kids were finished on the computer, I restarted it and got this message: C\WindowsSystem32\vtsqr.exe Windows cannot access the specified device, path or file. You may not have the appropriate permission to access the item. I got into my AVG program and ran it and some 44 Trojan Horse Dropper, generic THT items were found in many programs such as Acrobat Reader, in... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1943473/posts#comment Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:13:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1936945/posts For the last couple of months my computer has periodically been freezing up when not in use. It locks everything, even the clock. I've not added any new programs. I even have uninstalled Symantic and went with Avast/Spybot/Windows firewall. When it happens I can't even use ctrl/alt/del. (It's a Windows XP OS.) I have to manually shut down the computer and reboot. Any suggestions? Thanx. my own http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1936945/posts#comment Sun, 9 Dec 2007 14:41:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1936720/posts Over a year after first coming to light, the cache engines of major search engines are still providing a safe hiding place for malicious code, a security company has revealed. The latest warning comes from security company Aladdin, which logged an attack against a university Web site which was eventually traced back to just such a 'poisoned cache.' The originating site had been taken offline, but the code from it was still able to spread by living on in the caches of a major search engine. To make matters worse, cached malicious code could circumvent URL filtering systems because they... TechWorld http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1936720/posts#comment Sat, 8 Dec 2007 20:32:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933219/posts Hackers have newer methods to hack into your systems. They are smart enough to detect security loop holes in your PC and enter through open ports,unencrypted Wi-Fi connections,malicious websites or internet servers. It is better you check your PC periodically for invasions and protect your system to prevent pilfering and damage of data. Detecting security loopholes. Eliminating malicious programs. Tracking hackers . Tech Dune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1933219/posts#comment Sat, 1 Dec 2007 15:35:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929641/posts Okay, a question for you techies out there. I just renewed my Norton Anti-virus system and the renewal for my SpySweeper is coming up as well. Is it necessary to have SpySweeper also? If Norton Anti-Virus is sufficient then it doesn't make sense to renew SpySweeper. Some have said they might even be interfering with each other. So to renew or not to renew SpySweeper? That is the question. Self http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929641/posts#comment Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:19:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925045/posts Spying on lover's e-mail? Monitoring may be illegal Austin police have charged two recently with activity. By Tony Plohetski AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Shawn Macleod wanted to know where his estranged wife was going on the Internet and what she was writing in e-mails, investigators said, so he secretly installed a program called SpyRecon on her computer that sent him electronic logs with the sites she had visited and messages she had sent. His spying resulted in a four-year prison sentence. Software programs created to monitor computer activity have grown in popularity in recent years as parents have... Austin American Statesman http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1925045/posts#comment Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:57:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1914623/posts Yesterday morning, Spy Sweeper detected a trojan called "ldpinch" on my computer. It was quarantined and I deleted it. It showed up again today so I called Webroot, which makes Spy Sweeper. I was on hold for over an hour. Customer service told me that it is a false positive, that it probably came from Windows updates for Windows Messenger. They should have new definitions to correct this false positive in the next 24 hours. Customer service said that they have been swamped with calls on this issue and that is why there is such a long wait. So now... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1914623/posts#comment Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:55:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1894654/posts For a few hours late last week, visitors to the Bank of India Web site had their browsers covertly redirected to a site hosting malicious exploits. Increasingly, criminals, often without any technical experience, are defacing popular Web sites with code that allows them to direct your browser to download content without you even knowing. Finjan, a security company that's been on the cutting edge of detecting Web 2.0 malware, identifies 10 toolkits for sale on the Internet, up from earlier this year. If you are an online criminal these days, says Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CTO of Finjan, "you are buying a... CNet News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1894654/posts#comment Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:20:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1893351/posts I have spent several days trying to rid my computer of a spyware virus, downloaded several "fixes," yet still have a popup telling me I have a spyware virus and need to download a winvirus. I don't often post vanity threads, but would appreciate any help, advice, you freepers can offer. I am pretty stupid when it comes to computing, except for sending email and surfing some websites. I appreciate any help or advice offered. me http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1893351/posts#comment Sun, 9 Sep 2007 03:28:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1891139/posts China is host to almost half of the world's malware-infected Web sites. According to a report released Monday by antivirus company Sophos, China--including Hong Kong--hosted 44.8 percent of the world's infected sites in August. The U.S. ranked a distant second, hosting 20.8 percent of sites that contain malicious code. The number of infected Web pages has also grown. Sophos said it detected an average of 5,000 new infected pages each day in the month of August. The company warned that simply staying clear of sites hosted in the top three countries of China, the U.S. and Russia is not an... ZDNet Asia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1891139/posts#comment Tue, 4 Sep 2007 22:54:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1890587/posts My out of state friend is lazy about computer protection, but he just bought a new laptop that has wi-fi (he may never use that). I sent him what I hope is an easy, minimal list of actions to take, until he can look deeper into the subject. I know that everyone has their own preferences for programs, and many of you computer guys have had to deal with indifferent friends and family. How do you guys keep it simple and free for them, keeping in mind that an imperfect defense that is implemented, is better than no defense at... vanity http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1890587/posts#comment Mon, 3 Sep 2007 18:08:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1889100/posts For many years, we've written some highly critical reports about Spyware vendors, some of whom would then e-mail us asking us to stop referring to their product as Spyware. Claria Corporation was perhaps the worst offender in this regard, threatening to sue anyone (AV Vendors or the press) who called their Gator spyware what it actually was. It has all been part of a massive attempt by the spyware industry to hoist some kind of pseudo-legitimacy on a sector that spent almost a decade trampling user rights and privacy. As part of this push, Zango (formerly 180Solutions) recently sued Kaspersky... Broadband Reports.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1889100/posts#comment Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:15:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1871512/posts The FBI used a novel type of remotely installed spyware last month to investigate who was e-mailing bomb threats to a high school near Olympia, Wash. Federal agents obtained a court order on June 12 to send spyware called CIPAV to a MySpace account suspected of being used by the bomb threat hoaxster. Once implanted, the software was designed to report back to the FBI with the Internet Protocol address of the suspect's computer, other information found on the PC and, notably, an ongoing log of the user's outbound connections. Screen snapshot of 'timberlinebombinfo' MySpace account The suspect, former Timberline... ZDNet News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1871512/posts#comment Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:09:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1869103/posts It's well known that organizations with nefarious and often criminal goals support and distribute malware and spyware that allows them to snoop on and/or manipulate people's computers. However, what is less well-known is that some of the people behind spyware are ostensibly the "good guys"—law enforcement officers who install the software on suspects' computers to assist them with their investigations. The existence of "policeware" is not well-known, but the US government has used this sort of software before. In 2001, federal agents obtained permission from a judge to enter a suspect's home and install keylogging software on his computer. The... ars technica http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1869103/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jul 2007 17:11:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1868056/posts Ads could be targeted at users based on local system data. Microsoft has filed a patent application for a new method of targeting advertising, using information on the contents of a local computer rather than interactions with the web. While most current advertising relies on watching an individual's web browsing habits, selecting the type of ads to show them based on the type of sites they visit, the system proposed by Microsoft would analyse a user's computer to gather data from documents, emails, downloaded media content and even system settings, which would then be used to create a more accurate... Virus Bulletin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1868056/posts#comment Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:34:09 GMT