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The Most Dangerous Words on the Web [Searches that invite viruses]
ABC News ^ | May 23, 2006 | Ned Potter

Posted on 05/24/2006 5:04:26 AM PDT by cloud8

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To: Kaylee Frye

Spyware and ad ware? I now use the Proxomatron to stop pop ups, but before whenever I accessed lyrics websites, I got a message saying that 'pups' were downloaded to my harddrive and I had to manually delete them. My virus software McAfee wouldn't automatically delete the 'pups'.

Glad to hear you don't have any such problems. Which reminds me, time to run another virus check soon.


41 posted on 05/24/2006 8:03:30 PM PDT by phantomworker (And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds...)
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To: Kaylee Frye

How ironic! I just got a 'pup' alert after posting that message. How did THAT happen?!


42 posted on 05/24/2006 8:07:26 PM PDT by phantomworker (And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds...)
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To: Salamander

"This place hasn't given me any trouble;

http://www.lyricsdownload.com/blue-oyster-cult......"

-- -- --


Sorry to burst your bubble, but I got an immediate Active X attempt warning just clicking your link to that site. The site is also loaded with ringtone downloads, also another tipoff that it is as filthy as a democrat.


43 posted on 05/24/2006 8:18:03 PM PDT by HighWheeler ("Detente. Isn't that what a farmer has with his turkey until Thanksgiving Day?" - Ronald Reagan)
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To: HighWheeler

Oh crap.
Neither Zone Alarm or AntiVir made a peep about it.


Sorry about that, seriously.
Hope nothing happened to your PC because of me.....:(


44 posted on 05/25/2006 3:09:02 AM PDT by Salamander (Cursed With Second Sight)
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To: HighWheeler

I have asked the Mods to delete the post with the link on it, just in case.
Thanks for the heads-up.


45 posted on 05/25/2006 3:13:01 AM PDT by Salamander (Cursed With Second Sight)
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To: HighWheeler

According to that McAfee Site Adviser somebody posted, the site summary says;

lyricsdownload.com
We tested this site and didn't find any significant problems.

So nobody got any bad bugs, thank heaven.


46 posted on 05/25/2006 3:21:04 AM PDT by Salamander (Cursed With Second Sight)
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To: Red Badger
Try PC Tools' SPYWARE DOCTOR free at Downloads.com. ...........

FREE, my arse!

I went there

Did the download. Did the Install. Did the Update. Did the Scan. A lot of time.

At the end of the scan you must pay $29.95 to remove the identified spyware files.

FREE, my arse!
47 posted on 05/25/2006 4:41:19 AM PDT by Beckwith (The liberal media has picked sides and they've sided with the Jihadists.)
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To: Beckwith

They must have changed their policy since about a year ago. The version I have removes the files, at no cost. To get updates for the latest viruses you have to pay and to get the full version with automatic behind the scenes monitoring and configuration for custom apps. I'm sorry I did not know they had changed.........


48 posted on 05/25/2006 5:26:03 AM PDT by Red Badger (Liberals ignore criminal behavior, reward sloth and revere incompetence...........)
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To: phantomworker
Not familiar with the terminology 'pups' - is that popups? I've never understood how people think popups can be downloaded to your hard-drive. It's impossible. However, a program (stored on the hard drive) running that initiates popups randomly, that I believe. How you got the program - I have no idea. But it didn't just magically appear. It probably came along for the ride with a piece of software you downloaded once.

Specific case example: my husband and I both have desktop computers at home. They both live behind our router, which protects us from hackers. On my computer, I run simply Norton Antivirus and typical programs like Word, IE, Netscape, and a few games. On his computer, he runs all the anti-spyware, anti-popup, anti-whatever software. His computer has more virus-like symptoms than mine. Coincidence? Maybe, but I know of many other examples like this. I honestly think that spyware and viruses piggyback on common anti-spyware type software. Do I have proof? Nope.

49 posted on 05/25/2006 8:53:36 AM PDT by Kaylee Frye
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To: Kaylee Frye

pup: Potentially unwanted program. It is a message I get from my anti-virus software.

http://vil.nai.com/vil/pups/configuration.aspx

Just curious if you googled those potentially dangerous searches that are the subject of this thread, what would happen on your computer. Maybe you are just visiting very 'safe' sites and your anti-virus software works fine. I am surprised you don't get pop-ups from some of the attachments on FR.

You don't want to be too naive about viruses either. My son, the computer guru showed me all kinds of (benign) programs such as adware that was resident on my hard drive. They are not viruses per se, but how did they get there. The definition of a "virus" is often different for different people, too. "Virus" doesn't have to mean invasive and harmful to the computer.


50 posted on 05/25/2006 12:28:06 PM PDT by phantomworker (And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds...)
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To: Steely Tom
Since I dare not use Google to discover their meanings, does anyone here know what Bearshare, Winmx, and Lime wire are?

Weren't they the three guys who walked through the furnace and weren't burned?

51 posted on 05/25/2006 12:29:44 PM PDT by N. Theknow (Kennedys - Can't drive, can't fly, can't ski, can't skipper a boat - But they know what's best.)
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To: cloud8

dialer


52 posted on 05/25/2006 12:38:41 PM PDT by BykrBayb ("We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest." Þ)
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To: phantomworker
Yeah, that could be part of it. I do try to avoid really strange websites. But I visit some pretty strange ones at work and I haven't gotten a virus here yet. I almost never get popups anymore since I use either IE 6.0 or Firefox, which both have built-in popup blockers. In fact, it can be annoying when I need a popup!

I don't consider myself naive - my job every day is programming on computers, so I consider myself pretty savvy. I know a lot more than your average joe, anyhow. But I do think that a lot of people engage in activity that puts them at risk without knowing specifically which things they are doing that are risky. And if someone hasn't ever looked at their security settings in their browser, they are probably putting themselves at risk too.

53 posted on 05/25/2006 1:40:50 PM PDT by Kaylee Frye
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