How Spyware Took The Next-Gen Threat Crown (On The Internet's No #1 Threat Today MUST READ!!!)

Spyware used to be defined as applets, cookies or any other method used to collect statistics on your browsing habits. Gone are the days of such a benign interpretation. Spyware has evolved into a problem that surpasses those posed by traditional worms, viruses and Trojans.

Today, these once relatively innocuous apps have evolved from anonymous, and often invisible, traffic statistics gatherers into beasts capable of crippling your PC's performance by installing unwanted toolbars, pop-up ads, desktop icons and many other nuisances.

If that's not bad enough, some Spyware will modify system files, change security zone settings, keylog your sessions, spawn Trojans and change start page settings. Today, the term "spyware" is, in my opinion, synonymous with virus, and as usual, you have been left to deal with this on your own.

Like many age-old schemes, the desire for easy money has driven spyware development into the darkest corners of the Internet. Unscrupulous individuals use flaws in the Windows operating system in combination with Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer, to distribute their wares, or more accurately, infect your machine.

Countless types of applications, browser helper objects, cookies and bots are now competing for your finite system resources in order to pitch pop ups, report your internet activity, modify OS settings and steal personal information. Simple site statistics are no longer sufficient to sustain the beast.

Spyware companies are making millions of dollars by evading laws, finding loopholes, exploiting vulnerabilities and making their products resistant to removal. When compared to what we all know as a traditional virus, spyware is much worse because viruses are not nearly as tenacious when it comes to re-propagation or resistance to removal.

This may sound like the work of evil, globally dispersed hacking networks but many spyware developers are operating within U.S. borders without so much as a hiccup from the legal system. Although as of late, the spyware problem has generated some rumblings on Capitol Hill.

Another punch to the gut is that it is very easy to track who is benefiting from your pain. Spyware partners are typically paid on a, 'per installation' basis. This means that there is a unique ID associated with each installation so that the partner can get paid. This information is easily acquired, yet no one is doing anything about it.

To further entertain us, Spyware companies are very shrewd and typically add verbiage on their sites to make you believe that all their software is installed only with your consent. What's even more hilarious is how the worst offenders have anti-spyware animations running on their sites.

If you look closely you would almost believe that you are reading a legitimate EULA when in fact, you're reading deceptive or flat out inaccurate information. Many of them tell you that the apps can be easily uninstalled using the add/remove programs feature in Windows. In my experience, this does not work. In fact, there have been times when I have seen what appears to be a complete uninstall only to find that the Spyware is still operating in the background.

No. If you look at this from the standpoint of AV providers, there is no financial benefit, thus, there is no motivation to add spyware removal features.

Many of the best removal tools are freely available for download. It does not make sense to attempt to develop something better than people already expect for free. Additionally, it is much harder to keep up with spyware than worms, viruses and Trojans because most of the aforementioned were not designed for financial gain and were typically developed by loose bands of unfunded hacking groups to prove a point.

When compared to the financial forces that are backing spyware, the cost to AV companies to keep up would be astronomical. Without a significant increase in product costs, AV companies cannot allocate resources to battle what has become the new front on the assault of your Internet experience.

I have a personal firewall and I patch my system all the time. Shouldn't I be safe?

Absolutely not. For openers, Microsoft is slow to deliver patches in relation to the speed and efficiency that malware developers disseminate their apps. Statistics show that browsing a single site can yield over a dozen infections.

What's worse is that Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) are invisible to personal firewalls. The traffic is seen as originating from your browser, not the malicious helper. Spyware developers know precisely how personal firewalls behave and their apps are written to take advantage of allowed protocols and applications. Adding insult to injury, spyware uses Microsoft's own zone security model against them by simply placing malicious sites in Internet Explorer's trusted zone.

There is no single tool out there that can rid you of your troubles. Typically, running two or three different scanners will yield different results. A popular tag team approach to vanquishing the unwelcome code includes installing both Lavasoft's Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy.

As of late, spyware makers have started delivering apps that cannot be removed with automated tools so even if you ditch IE in favor of an alternate browser you may still find yourself spending hours trying to remediate infections. Sadly, users end up lost in search engine results and scanning forums hoping to find a remediation process that worked for other poor souls.

In some cases, a complete OS reinstall is quicker than bearing this pain. You may also find yourself victimized by your own desire to remove spyware. Some crooked coders have actually developed what look to be legitimate spyware scanners, which are, in fact, spyware propagators.

Sadly, the funding that's fueling spyware development is far greater than the funding devoted to stopping it. Until the playing field evens out, spyware is going to continue to invade our privacy, steal information and cause financial and personal loss.

For now, the best thing you can do is visit trusted sites and be vigilant about scanning your machine with a variety of anti-spyware tools. Keep in mind that most bona fide removal tools are developed by independent groups of developers and small development firms. Paying for anti-spyware software is not an indicator that you are getting a superior product over free, open source alternatives.

Avast is likely the best AV program on the market, and since its free for personal use, it isn't even on the "market!"

Norton is just and AVG is OK, but Avast is MUCH better. I'm always ready to update spyware.

Also, there's a program called CleanCache that cleans out IE files like nothing else. Even if you now run Firefox or another browser, chances are your termporary internet file folder is clogged and CC will clean it out. Its also free.

Yep and thanks for telling me about the cache cleaner, I usually clean it out manually each week. Even the most advanced versions of Cool Web Search never got past Avast.

>>Then again, you could get a Macintosh, and forego worrying about...
- Spyware - there _isn't_ any
- Adware - none at all!
- Viruses - no known virus exists for OS X, not a single one
- Trojans - nothing out there
There's no reason to even use anti-virus software on a Macintosh anymore.<<

This link:
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/0,2000061744,39164062,00.htm

says differently.

That's a good question, so I had to check it out and yes, it appears that it does install for all user accounts on the machine.

Merry Christmas and drive safely!

Which why anti-spyware software is NOT enough to prevent an infection. You must lock down Internet Explorer with IE Spyad and get a HOSTS file that prevents Windows from ever connecting to high-risk sites on the web and make it read only so scumware can't change it.

O.K. I'll take your challenge.

On second thought maybe I won't. I'm so freaked out right now about finding a keylogger on my machine, it may have been there over a year and I was operating under the false assumption that I had everything locked down tight. I changed my IE prefs as per your instruction but I don't know how much I'll actually use it.

Let this be a lesson to other Freepers -- running Norton Anti-Virus, Norton Personal Firewall, a Linksys router w/NAT, Ad-aware and Spybot Search and Destroy was NOT enough. GIANT AntiSpyware finally caught it, although Spy Sweeper may have. I thought about running Spy Sweeper months ago but I just figured that if none of that other stuff found anything, then there must not be anything.

WRONG.

Merry Anti-Spyware Christmas Everyone!

Which why anti-spyware software is NOT enough to prevent an infection.

Here's what I run:

ZoneAlarm Pro
McAfee Internet Security Suite (except Firewall)
AdSubtract Pro (I like it's pop-up control better)
AdAware Pro with AdWatch
Backup MyPC (for nightly incremental backups)

I still got infected by CoolWebSearch.

Thing that bugs me about all of this is that it seems like there is a cottage industry of spyware/adware blockers thriving on this problem, instead of legislation to make the unauthorized theft of the use of my computer a crime.

-PJ

Check to make sure your Link sys router has up-to-date security patches. If you have a key logger that has gotten into your system, it is worth it.

I had a problem with a key logger and could not get rid of the problem until applying the patches to the router.

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