Webmaster Forum / Browsers / Internet Explorer / August 2004

~john  aka: jopa

WARNING: If your PC is already infested with spyware/adware, resist the
temptation to impulse buying of anti-spyware products that you see on the
Net or receive as e-mail Spam. Vendors of "rogue/suspect" anti-spyware
products advertise heavily via Google's "AdWords" ("Sponsored Links" on
Google's own search pages) and "AdSense" (Google-driven advertising
delivered to third-party web sites)," otherwise known as "Sponsored Links."
And many are known to create problems or your machine just to try and sell
you the way to "fix" it. There are a variety of anti-spyware products and
web sites -- some reliable and trustworthy, some not.

Instead, you can get help online from a corps of savvy volunteers who
specialize in busting spyware.

First:
I suggest you start by going here:
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php
OR
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/

The folks at these forums have a lot of experience in dealing with
Hijackers/Spyware/Malware. There is no charge for the help and information
available although donations are accepted. Be sure to read the guidelines,
and following their instructions you will download a little program called
HijackThis. Its purpose is simply to scan your computer and generate a log
of everything that is running at that moment. It does not decide what is
Good or Bad. That's what the experts at the forums will do. So *DO NOT* just
arbitrarily start deleting what it finds.

Next:
Set up a user account and post your LOG there, not here. Someone will
analyze it and let you know if anything is amuck and what you can do to fix
it. In the event the site is down -- DDOS attack, whatever, go here for a
list of other Security Analysis sites and/or forums: http://a-sap.org/

Check your browser settings here:
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
A series of "tests" (and suggested fixes) to help tweak IE's settings to
help prevent infections when surfing the web.

***Always follow safe Internet practices:***

1. Keep your virus definitions up to date, and scan your system regularly.

2. Keep your anti-spyware up to date, and scan your system regularly.

3. Don't open email, or download attachments from unrecognized email
addresses.

4. Be careful when downloading email attachments, EVEN FROM PEOPLE YOU KNOW!
Many viruses, worms, and trojans infect a person's system then immediately
spread themselves to the people in the infected person's address book via
email attachments.

5. Be careful downloading files from the Internet. Scan all downloaded files
with a reliable UP-TO-DATE antivirus program. Scan "zip" files BEFORE
unzipping, and scan all unzipped files BEFORE USING THEM.

6. Keep your Windows and IE current with all the latest patches and updates.

7. USE A FIREWALL.

Scumware Removal & Protection Tools:

BEWARE of Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites
One surprising and depressing aspect of the anti-spyware scene is the sheer
number of applications that are mere rip-offs of Spybot Search & Destroy or
Ad-Aware (two of the most recognized and trusted anti-spyware apps on the
Net). Proof of this can be found here:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/family_resemblances.htm
but, the following list contains a number of (mostly) FREE programs that can
be used to eliminate immediate threats as well as secure your system.

CWShredder (FREE)
Removes all variations of the spyware/hijacker ""CoolWebSearch".
This is the first line of defense whenever you suspect possible parasite
infestation. Some current variations of CoolWebSearch block Ad-Aware and
Spybot from catching everything.
http://aumha.org/downloads/cwshredder.zip
http://majorgeeks.com/download4086.html

There is a new, really ugly variant of CoolWebSearch. Infected machines will
close every browser window visiting many anti-spyware sites. Possibly
anti-virus sites or even Windows Update. It will even close Spybot S&D and
some other anti-spyware applications when you try to use them. To eliminate
this threat, use CWS.SmartKiller Removal Utility:
http://www.safer-networking.org/minifiles.html
http://majorgeeks.com/download4113.html

Spybot FREE
Removes hijackers, spyware, adware, usage tracks and more. Resident
""TeaTimer"" feature monitors crucial processes on your machine. It
immediately detects known malicious processes wanting to start and
terminates them. In addition, TeaTimer detects, when something wants to
change some critical registry keys. It can protect you against such changes
giving you an option to "Allow" or "Deny" the change.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
http://majorgeeks.com/download2471.html

Ad-Aware (FREE) & Pro
Protects against Data-mining, Ad-Ware, Parasites, Scumware, selected
Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
http://majorgeeks.com/download506.html

HijackThis (FREE)
As mentioned above -- USE WITH CAUTION -- Just scan your machine, then save
& post the log to: Spywareinfo
http://majorgeeks.com/download3155.html
Tutorial and download:
http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/

SpywareBlaster 3.2 (FREE)
Prevent spyware from installing in the first place! Prevent the installation
of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other
potentially unwanted pests. Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet
Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html

If you need a good (FREE) antivirus:

AVG
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php

AVAST
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Online Virus Scanner:

Trendmicro
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Panda
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

This may sound like a lot of work and it is. But, if you follow this
outline, you'll learn a whole lot in the process and have a much more secure
computer.