cmok_wawelski
05.01.04, 04:37
Przytaczam BARDZO DOBRY art. n/t o którym kiedyś pisałem sam, choć zapewne
znacznie mniej elokwentnie.
Jako nomen-omen fachowiec potwierdzam każde słowo i zakładam się o duże wino
australijskie sprzed powiedzmy 2000 roku, że PC-t KAŻDEJ z Was jest
zainfekowany w taki czy inny sposób, radzę więc naprawdę szczerze poświęcić
chwilę i poczytać:
Spyware & Parisites - a HUGE problem for computers: Most people are unaware
of "spyware" and "parisites", but trust me they do exist, are more
widespread than viruses, and can cause as many computer problems as viruses
can.
Spyware (sometimes referred to as Adware) refers to software that is added
to existing real software and can do things like track things you do on your
PC and report those things to an advertisement/marketing company and can
actually put up ads and popups on your computer at random times.
Parasites refers to tiny plugins that attach itself to your Internet
Explorer and are typically used to track Internet usage. They can actually
change the site you see when you enter a URL, and they can deliver popup ads
to your browser based on your browsing behavior.
Besides the intrusiveness and compromising personal security issues of
Spyware and IE Parasites, the software is very poorly written and can cause
major problems with the stability of your computer. Also, I have run
extensive tests for the past 2 years on numerous different computers with
Spyware things on them, and I found Internet Explorer to crash when visiting
some memory-intensive websites when Spyware/Parasites are on the computer.
There's one website, in fact, that with Spyware all over the computer, it
will actually crash Internet Explorer almost every visit from every one of
the Spyware-infected computers.
If you have virus protection on your computer and think you're completely
safe, you are not. In my experience I found that over 75% of computers
worldwide have some form of Spyware on them. With Spyware comes parasites
that attach themselves to Internet Explorer, and will actually report your
browsing usage to marketers without your knowledge and they may even decide
to trigger popup ads on your computer without you being able to stop them.
There is a way to remove Spyware from your computer, and I highly recommend
that you consider doing this immediately. If you have been using the
Internet actively for at least a few months, you may be shocked at how
bloaded your computer is with memory-hungry Spyware/parasites violating your
computer's activity.
Go to this URL http://www.tucows.com/preview/310138.html and click on the
Windows operating system that you have (where it says Download in the
middle). If you have Windows 2000, click on "Win 2k". If you have Windows
XP, click on "Win XP". This software is "Spybot Search & Destroy" and is the
best software to help eradicate your computer of all Spyware and IE
Parasites.
Once installed, go to Start, Programs, Spybot, and run "Spybot S&D Easy
Mode". It may ask you which language you want, which you will choose the
flag with a red plus (+) on white background, which is English. If by
accident you choose a different language, go under the Language pulldown and
choose English.
Click on "search for updates". If any updates are found, a "Download
updates" link at the top will appear. Make sure the updates are checked (if
any exist) and click on "Download updates".
After the updates are downloaded and the software re-launches itself, click
on the "Check for problems" button. If you find yourself on a screen that
does not have the "Check for problems" button, just go under the File menu
pulldown and choose "Check for problems". It will take about 10-15 minutes
to run on most computers. After it finishes searching, you will see a list
of all detected parasites, Spyware, and other general problems that may hurt
the stability of your computer and browser. Click the "fix selected
problems" button on the bottom of the screen to remove all the problems that
are checked.
After the problems are fixed, you can click on the "Immunize" button located
on the left. That should protect yourself somewhat from Spyware and IE
Parasites.
Once completed, reboot your computer.
I recommend running Spybot Search & Destroy every 3 months. Spyware will
find its way onto your computer somehow.
You may notice your computer will perform a little faster. Almost everyone
that cleans their system from Spyware and IE Parasites has told me their
Internet Explorer runs much faster and more stable.
I have worked with several Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions
that have spent a lot of money on Firewalls and virus protection, but at
every one of those companies I looked at I found most of their computers
infected with Spyware and IE Parasites.
How did all those nasty things get on your computer? Typically three ways:
The most common way: Marketing companies pay huge money for companies to
attach Spyware to their software. For example, last year TurboTax, the most
popular tax software, attached Spyware to their software. When you installed
TurboTax last year, it also attached Spyware to parts of your computer.
TurboTax actually failed to function unless those Spyware components
existed, because Intuit was getting comission from marketing companies who
were continuously receiving data about the software user's computer. Lots of
other software comes with Spyware too. I heard that some digital magazine
subscription software, like a few digital (non-paper) magazine subscriptions
offered by FreeBizMag.com recently, have a nasty Spyware component to it.
Browsing. Yes, simply browsing the Internet can have IE Parasites and even
Spyware attach itself to your computer like viruses. Using Internet
Explorer, sometimes a message will pop up asking if some website program can
be loaded on your computer. Sometimes people say "yes" without thinking. On
some websites I visit, sometimes I see a "Gator Software" message come up
asking if it can be loaded. It appears so often, I am afraid that one time I
may accidentally choose "yes" which would load my computer and IE with
Spyware. Although all IE Parasites claim to be harmless, my 2 years of
investigating Spyware-infected computers have showed me those computers run
slower and even crash more often.
Another way Spyware can get on your computer is by unknowingly installing
Spyware software disguised as shareware. Believe it or not, some Spyware
companies will make shareware that does simple useful tasks. Although the
software does do what it claims to do, it also has a hidden task of
reporting sensitive information about your computer to a marketing company.
After doing research on some shareware products, I discovered that the
makers are actually marketing companies (Spyware companies) and disguise
themselves as shareware makers. WhenU Software is one of those companies.
They make ClockSync (a time synchronization tool) and WeatherCast (weather
forecast on your desktop). Seems like useful tools which are found on most
shareware sites, but are actually full blown Spyware programs. Whenever you
install shareware, I suggest doing 5 minutes of research on a software maker
before you install its shareware software. If the company is actually a
marketing company, the shareware may be Spyware. Also check out
SpywareGuide.com and search their limited database to see if the shareware
is actually Spyware.
A year ago I contacted WhenU Software, a marketing company that disguises
its data-collecting Spyware as harmless shareware, telling them that their
software causes computer and browser instability, and they told me they have
never heard of problems. However, then I realized that some Spyware
companies like Gator were being sued for millions of dollars by numero
