HACKED!

About a year and a half ago, I opened the telephone bill and found it included long distance calls to the Solomon Islands, somewhere in the South Pacific, totalling about $220.00. I do not know anyone in the Solomon Islands. It turned out I had accidently downloaded software known as a "Dialer", which connected to that part of the globe, downloaded some very lame porn, and charged the cost to me through a 3rd party long distance company. This motivated me to clean up and protect my computer.

Some experts estimate as many as 90% of computers with broadband connections have "Spyware" installed without the owner's knowledge. If you're curious about what may lurk in your system, check out "Adaware SE" by Lavasoft - it's free.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Probably the best place to download it is Major Geeks.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download506.html

I can just about guaranDAMNtee you will find problems on your system. If you do, and you're curious about how to do a thorough clean up and more importantly protect your system from future infections, I might be able to provide additional information.

I was amazed at the crap that was hiding on my computer when I first heard of spyware 'bout a year and some ago.

I'm using SpySweeper from Webroot software http://www.webroot.com and McAfee Antivirus (which includes a spyware component) to both protect actively while I'm online and I sweep with both daily. Oh and I use ZoneAlarm as a software based firewall.

I've heard good things about AdAware but I went with SpySweeper after reading a couple of reviews on ZDNet (PC Magazine). Their customer service is very responsive and when I had a problem with false positives they were on it the same day.

Spysweeper has a top notch reputation. I tried a trial edition and it does seem quite good, but I'm a cheapskate. Spysweeper might be the first anti-spyware software I actually pay for, but haven't decided yet.

I suggest trying Adaware SE anyway - most <strike>fanatics</strike> computer experts use multiple spyware scanners. (I don't claim to be an expert.) I'll post a few more plus methods to "harden" systems against infection if there is any interest.

I agree that using multiple spyware/virus protection programs is a really good idea. None of the ones out there are good at detecting all the threats so combining them covers more of your bases.

Problem I've had is with speed. My email is monitored by both McAfee and SpySweeper as well as both of them using heuristic and non-heuristic methods of intrusion detection and this has a bit of an impact on my older system. Especially email. I put up with it because losing everything on my hard drive or having a key logger handing my passwords and bank account information to someone in Igotchastan is worse.

Spysweeper just added a "favorites" monitor that took me by suprise when I updated it last week. It pops up a 3/4 of a screen window when you go to add a site to your favorites list asking for verification. (nice feature) Problem was I wasn't expecting it so first thing I thought was that I'd been nailed by a hijacker. I was a bit cranky to begin with but I think I scared the dogs with the invectives that came unbidden from my normally sunday school mouth.

Pina,

SpySweeper I used very religiously till I started notice about 3 months after using that my computer started slowing down and some programs started to falter on start up. So on a hunce I removed SpySweeper and installed SpyBot and I have not had an problems since. Just giving you an FYI.

Very good advice Lan. I use Ad-Aware and think it's "da bomb"

Another post from Jumper I should have updated this thread. It didn't get a lot of interest, but I'll list stuff you should try anyway.

A. The first phase is to "harden" your system to make it more difficult to get into trouble.

1. Install a firewall, Zone Alarm is probably the easiest.

http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp

This blocks bad stuff from reaching your computer and just as important, if you already have bad stuff, it prevents it from communicating to the outside world before you clean it up in the second phase. Basically it will ask your permission for programs to contact the internet - SAY NO if you haven't just started a program such as your email program. Definitely SAY NO if it asks you for "server rights" and you didn't just start an instant messenger program.

2. Install Spybot Search & Destroy, scan with it. Very important - make sure you IMMUNIZE, a function that will protect your system from over 2000 bad programs.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

3. Install Spyware Blaster. This will protect your system against several thousand more bad programs.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

4. Install the google toolbar to block pop-ups and the crap that comes with them.

http://toolbar.google.com/

5. Strongly consider using a different browswer that is safer than Internet Explorer. FireFox is a popular open source browser that uses tabs - you won't want to go back.

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

6. You'll need Internet Explorer anyway to use "windows update". To make that safer, install IE-Spyad. This blocks gobs of dangerous sites.

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www...ce.htm#IESPYAD

To give you an idea of what it blocks, here's an example of the latest updates in IE-Spyad, it doesn't list everything, just what was added in the newest update.

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www...st-changes.txt

OK, outta time - more stuff to clean up your system later...

7. A hosts file is another way of hardening your system. It's easy to do, but kinda complicated to understand. Basically it's a text file that your computer uses to block bad web sites. Back up your old host file and replace it if you run into problems. Read up on the MVPS host file version, how to use it, and try it here, there are several others.

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm


OK, I think that's about it as far as hardening your system.

B. Phase 2 is scanning and cleaning stuff up.

1. Adaware SE - already discussed, check for updates and scan again.

2. Anti-virus - set it to update automatically. If you don't have one and don't want to pay for one, try AVG. Everything else I've mentioned here is free, by the way.

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

There are several free online anti-virus scanners. Bit Defender seems good. Sometimes it is worth scanning with multiple programs when you have nasty problems, just don't leave more than one running.

http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php

3. To be thorough, you should try a trojan horse scanner. A2 seems OK.

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

If you're having serious problems, you might try a free trial to TDS-3, a heavy-duty trojan horse scanner that you can demo for a month.

http://tds.diamondcs.com.au/index.php?page=home

4. Spysweeper was discussed above. You can try it on a trial basis for free, but you can update it only once. Try it when you've got some trouble and you might find it's worth buying.

http://www.webroot.com/wb/downloads/index.php

C. Phase 3 is keeping up to date. It doesn't do much good to clean up, then relax and let the crapware come back. An easy way to stay up to date is to visit several sites that track these programs for you. One is the Broadband Reports bulletin board, check for the thread at the top that has today's date on it and states "Security Updates".

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/security,1

Another place to check is SpyWareInfo.com. Their bulletin board has a section called "Software Update Announcements".

http://forums.spywareinfo.com/

Good luck...

<font color="#000002"><font size="1">[ August 24, 2004 06:12 PM: Message edited by: LanDroid ]</font></font>

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ August 24, 2004 06:16 PM: Message edited by: LanDroid ]</font>

Really good writeup, lan!

There's a bunch of stuff there that I was not aware of but will take a look at.

thanks.

Ooops forgot another clean up program. This one specializes in finding and eliminating one of the most common types of spyware called Cool Web Search. There are about a thousand variations of this pest, lots of folks have it, and it's extremely difficult to get rid of. The program that removes it is called CW Shredder, but unfortunately it is no longer being updated due to the numerous variations and increasing complexity of the threat. If you "harden" your system as suggested above, it should keep you from getting new infections. Run CW Shredder anyway to get rid of any variations you may already have.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html

D. If you really get hosed up, get free "professional" help online. Here is a detailed guide to clean things up, much of which is described above. Step 5 describes how to make a report of what programs are on your system so you can post it on a bulletin board to get help from experts. Do not do step 5 until you have performed all of the previous steps!

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/8428

spywareinfo.com also has experts on line to help you clean up the crud.

Party on. [img]graemlins/party.gif[/img]

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ August 25, 2004 07:40 PM: Message edited by: LanDroid ]</font>