Slashdot Mirror
Spyware Becoming Worst Tech Support Problem
teknurd writes "Wired has an article about the growing problem of computer users having to call tech support to get help removing all of the spyware on their computers. 'The fast-growing phenomenon is already responsible for more than 12 percent of all technical support calls in Dell's consumer hardware division, the biggest category of complaints this year, company representatives said.' Personally, I have had to remove this plague from the computers of several friends and family members."
how about NOT installing shit on your systems duh?
Im the IT manager for a 100+ person software compandy (actually, the ONLY IT person...)
Over the last 6 months, I've had to spend more and more time cleaning this crap off peoples machines. I've got it down to a science, though - I keep a disk around with a whole lot of useful tools on it such as:
Spybot search and destroy
stinger
all windows XP / 2000 patches since the latest SP
spywareblaster
and others
Takes me about 15 minutes to clean a machine now. Of course, that is 15 minutes that I could be doing something USEFUL...
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." - Thomas Jefferson
Spybot Search & Destroy [Best spyware cleaner IMHO, also immunizes against re-installation]
Javacool's Spyware Blaster [works well in conjunction with Spybot]
I used to use Lavasoft's AdAware but after it wasn't updated for a while someone recommended Spybot which I've stuck with.
Trolling is a art,
http://www.spybot.info . That's all it takes.
When you're Joe Blow at home, that's fine. But when you administer dozens, hundreds, thousands of Win boxes and you can't automate installing/configuring/running Spybot, things are a bit different.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
(Come on, didn't people see this coming when Microsoft came up with ActiveX back in the day?)
sulli
RTFJ.
get on it Symantec etc. this getting to be as big if not a bigger problem than viruses. All the computers of family and friends are rife with this stuff, and they won't stump for Ad-aware pro as well as AV sw
I've got some photographs, I'd like to show them to you. Though you don't know the girls You'll recognise the view..
I'm going to make the assumption that XPI can be abused in the same way -- but why abuse 5% of the browser population (and the 14 users of Netscape Navigator) when you can abuse 95% of your browsing audience?
Personally, I have had to remove this plague from the computers of several friends and family members.
Not to sound snide, but this is exactly why all my family & close friends run Macs now. It's easier on them, and it's a hell of a lot easier on me, since now I don't have to stop over, run Adaware, and clean their systems for them.
thanks capt obvious not like the people that read ./ dont know how to clear spyware off their machines.
The point is my company is paying me money to clean off advertisements from our computers. Its a waste of time, resources and money.
And just like virus software ad/spyware removers and blockers 1) dont always work 2) have to be constantly updated.
You forget that the user can still download and install WeatherBug, Precision Date Time Manager, and many other helpful products. Using an alternative browser does not prevent this action.
For some reason a lot of people seem to believe that using Mozilla/Firefox/Opera makes their box invincible. It's a good start, but should only be one layer of your security.
In the last couple of months I've seen four or five computers that were rendered completely useless by spyware. The owners literally could not open their browser and get on the web.
Many of the newer programs should not really be called "spyware". They are really a form of hijack-ware. They seize control of a users browser and send up an endless stream of ads.
And no, the average user will never be able to cope with this. Most people just want to buy a computer and use it. They are no more interested in learning how to maintain a computer than they are in learning auto maintenance. It's up to the computer industry to deliver usable products to the end user.
I don't understand the problem.
My wife is relatively computer literate. But it comes down to a simple rule.
Don't download anything, don't install anything. Ignore all those taskbars and toolbars and toys.
we've had no trouble.
If you're an educated user, shoring up your home network is extremely simple:
1) Install a hardware firewall.
2) Install a software firewall.
3) Install a quality antivirus program.
4) Install Ad-Aware - preferably the Pro version with Ad-Watch.
5) Install Spybot.
The problem is that if you have family or friends that don't know anything about computers and don't seem to care to learn, doing the above will help you out temporarily... and then cause you a huge amount of problems on Windows.
For example, every time the software firewall asks them to approve a connection, they'll either always deny them (screwing up their software) or approve them (screwing up their security). They'll be upset when they can't use a program because it needs ports opened on the firewall. If you show them how to open ports up, they'll eventually just open ALL ports, thinking "now I won't have to worry about doing it every time a new program wants new ports available". The other option is not to tell them how to do this and just do it for them. You are now their bitch.
The other problem is that they'll want to install applications. In Windows, you can set several user levels. You can set a very restricted one that doesn't let users install software or access/modify any documents but their own. Then there's a level that will let them install software and use all documents. Then there's the full power user, backup user and admin user levels.
For security purposes, you would of course want to set their account to a level that will not allow them to install software. Otherwise they're going to be installing every stupid spyware riddled, adware plagued, malicious, wasteful, resource-eating piece of shit they come across. So, now every time they want to install a program, they're going to come to you. You're their bitch.
So the only way to achieve true security is to prevent them from doing anything they really want to do and now you're going to be bothered by every person that you've set up every time one of them wants to install a program or open up some ports. Every time they want to install a game, application, office software, utility, etc.
It's a hassle just dealing with this for one person. Now imagine if your grandmother, an uncle, your mom, two siblings, a neighbor, a girlfriend and two family friends all have you on the hook like this? It never ends. And then people wonder why techies are becoming more and more reluctant to help and more abrasive. Look, it's like being a car mechanic. As a car mechanic, I would not expect my friends to repair their own engine block or diagnose and fix other complex problems - but I certainly expect them to fill their own gas tank, change their own oil, refill their wiper fluid, check and refill their power steering, check and fill their tires, replace signal lights, screw on their license plates, adjust their rear-view mirors and side mirrors and adjust their seats into position.
However, for people who aren't willing (or maybe can't in the case of some elderly people who just can't fathom the concepts) to learn the basics, you'll find that if you don't help them they will end up with myriad of crap on their machines. Dozens of viruses, spyware, programs running in the background to steal resources and processing time, adware programs that pop-up crap all the time, hijacked browsers, three p2p networks starting at launch time and running in the background (eating up memory, cpu, storage, bandwidth), p2p utilities that go with them, "weatherbug" software, msn, yahoo, aim and others, and countless other things. I've seen people with so much fucking shit on their machines like the above mentioned that their machines would start-up and then die, crash or reboot before finishing displaying the desktop. Just too much crap running.
It isn't my job to baby people, teach them every little thing and care for them. They can buy books, play around and learn on their own just like the rest of us had to. If you can't appr
My wife's a librarian, and she's one of the few people I know who I'd let use the computer without my supervision.
Just tell your wife that she could get fired by installing that crap. It's like letting someone into the building to spraypaint the walls. Company computers aren't yours, and installing crap is akin to damaging company property.
I mean, you wouldn't take a sledgehammer to a company printer or fax machine, would you? (insert obligatory Office Space joke here)
Are we computer specialist really any better than the Anti-Virus camp? We make money on both sides of this equation. Were becoming like lawyers.
The default settings in Internet Explorer are one of the biggest causes of spyware insertion. The problem is that spyware on a page causes IE to come up with a message window that says "Would you like to install FREE toolbar from foo.bar?" and then at the bottom it says something about a security certificate.
Well, as you all know, anyone can go to Verisign and buy a certificate for authentication purposes, but most people take certificates to mean that it's certified safe software. For the uninformed user, there's little difference between this and the latest Macromedia Flash plug-in.
Even worse, there are a lot of sites that cause Internet Explorer to go into a loop with the plug-in. By that I mean:
1. Plugin for "FREE SphyWhere Inc. ToolBar Search!" presents itself to user.
2. User presses "No" button or the close window button to avoid installation.
3. IE comes back with a dialog that says "You MUST install free toolbar to gain access!" and then has to click the "Ok" button or the close window button on THAT dialog.
4. Process repeats itself at Step 1 and continues in perpetuity unless the user is fast enough to be able to close the actual browser window before the plugin pops up, or until the user consents, or unless the user shuts down Internet Explorer.
This occurs primarily on porn sites, but it will occur many times on legitimate sites (e.g. VG-Network, formerly Dave's Video Game Classics for classic games and one of the music lyric sites (can't remember which off the top of my head).
The root of the problem here is that - surprise - Microsoft has continued to let websites exploit this peculiarity in its browser. The end result is that users get frustrated and either inadvertently or out of frustration simply allow the spyware to be installed. Even worse, if the user is dumb enough to have "Low" set on their security settings due to their own inability or unwillingness to learn about basic browser functionality, all this spyware will get installed automatically. Some users I believe continually complain about their computer being slow to the point where they're prompted to upgrade unnecessarily because of spyware they don't know that they have.
So...on every fresh Windows install I do, I do it behind a NAT router to begin with, install all service packs and security updates and drivers, then put a software firewall on the computer, then an antivirus app with Trojan detection, and finally a spyware removal app. Then I instruct people to go to Windows Update every day, their virus update every day, and Spyware check every week.
Isn't spyware fun?
What are the worst offenders? Those programs offering either "cute" or "informative". Desktop wallpaper, custom cursors, so many toolbars and geegaws to make your browser look like CNN's Headline News. A time updater. A date updater. A weather notifier. Hate to tell you, but I have a watch, a calendar, a radio, and a window. Between these four things, I think I'll know what the day/time is and what weather is coming.
What would these same users do if they drove up to a street corner and there was somebody waiting to plaster their car with a flashy bumper sticker in exchange for their friends' email addresses? I would hope that these folks would just drive away. So why does it work on a computer screen?
Hell, half the problems business have could be solved if companies just banned access to all the websites that produce these programs. Can't download Weatherbug or Webshots if you can't get to the websites in the first place. No need to visit each individual computer if you can use the firewall to do your job for you. Anyone have a list of those evil IP addresses they'd like to share? (and by "evil" I mean, well, "evil")
The thing that comes to mind is the old saying, "people should need a liscense to breed" or some variant. People should honestly need a "liscense" to own and run a computer.
It is the uneducated that are wasting the internet away with installing this "cool" software that is chalked full of spyware, dragging the internet to its knees. Education is the key to a solution.
Require a class, shit even offer a class for new computer buyers at retail stores. That would make a tremendous difference.
Windows has the "Run As..." capability (right click any app, select Run As... and enter the administrator account), so that somewhat simulates doing a 'su' in linux.
But I totally agree that many application developers don't understand the concept of running at the least priviledge necessary. So many apps write their config to C:\Program File\APP\ and HKLM, which requires elevated access, instead of writing to C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings and HKLU. Hopefully more people will read 'Writing Secure Code' (from MS, ironically), and windows apps will improve.
Folks have been trained since the DOS days that they just turn on their computer and use it. Programs have been written for that environment with this assumption in mind (no user-admin privilage distinction).
So the "Problem" is more Microsoft's failure than it is the users failure. Users use, and are taught how to use. Microsoft perpetrated the "run as admin always" problem, and they directly trained (through the use of their software) vast armies of average users and software developers to embrace this road as the norm and the expected software "reality". Unfortunately it is was a disasterous mistake in many regards (virii, worms, spyware, blah blah)
They need to fix this basic architecture problem, and this will hurt users (learning curve, potential invalidation of older software) and the software industry (re-tooling their software code).
Garbage in, Garbage out?
Is the juice worth the sqeeze?
If you're assuming the user isn't stupid then perhaps you haven't worked very long in IT ;)
I liken our users to toddlers. If there is any way, no matter how ridiculous, for a toddler to injure himself with a toy, he will do it. After only 6 months in IT, I see the user as a toddler and computers as their toys.
I tell them time and again that their Windows XP computers synchronize their time with our servers, but they still install Gator's time manager because the banner says "OH NO YOUR COMPUTER CLOCK COULD BE WRONG!!! IF YOU DON'T INSTALL OUR SOFTWARE YOU SUPPORT TERRORISM!!!" As many posters in this thread have stated, you tell them time and again that MyComet cursor and all those goodies are what makes their computer run slow, but by the week's end you will return because they have installed it again and now their box is hosed.
It's even worse when the computers on the production line turn up with these things. The cost of a stopped line per minute is quite a good bit more than my annual salary. Whoever wrote Sasser owes me a lunch break, because I had to skip it to deal with infected machines on the line. (Yeah yeah, "You should have patched sooner". No one mentions the issues that were reported with early patchers, such as frozen computers, 100% CPU usage, and inability to log in to Windows. We chose to wait until the issues were settled, and it bit us. What good is an uninstall, Mr. Anderson, if you can't boot your box?)_
Thanks for your insightful and informed post. (but doesn't help much for us win 9x users [the ME users were beyond help anyway])
This suggestion won't much help the Joe Smoe user who doesn't know 'Administrator' from a garbage heap, and just wants to be able to surf the web and check his email, and install the occaisional piece of software without trouble.
I manage an office of about 70 Windows PCs. When I first started many of the PCs had spyware on them. Every other day someone would complain and I would clean it off. When the same people kept asking for spyware removal it became clear that to solve the problem you have to prevent the average user from installing software on their PC.
Want to stop spyware? Do not log in with Administrative rights! 99% of spyware requires administrative rights to install. In the corporate environment this is simple: don't give out the local administrator password to anyone Ever! And don't put regular users in the Administrators group. For home users, create two accounts - one for installing software with admin rights, and one for everyday use without admin rights.
UNIX admins figured this out years ago. You only use root when you must, why don't most Windows users do the same thing? My suspicion is most home users don't like the concept of windows login's and passwords. To solve this I wish XP home had a simple switch for a user to enable or disable software installation.
Like a lot of the /. crowd, I do tech support for an extended group of family and friends. Most of these folks have no idea that leaving an unfirewalled unpatched win98 machine sitting on a broadband connection is a bad thing. All they know is it doesn't work anymore and can I fix it?
If they're on a broadband connection I get them a hardware firewall. I don't even ask, I just buy it and hand them the bill. I also enable automatic updates. I generally use free tools like ad-aware and spybot, tiny firewall, a free av scanner if they're too cheap, etc.
In what has to be the most painful bit for them, I give the Inevitable Security Lecture. Their attention span being what it is, I only hit the high points. I point to the Windows Update icon, explain what critical updates are, explain what spyware is (and how to use ad-aware & spybot), etc. It's probably a waste of time, but you never know.
There you have it. I've been through it over and over. Like I said, old hat.
Or adaware or hijack this, yadda yadda...
Problem is, we're talking about computers owned by the unwashed masses (at least in my tech support job). These are people that call up with a chip on their shoulder demanding that their ISP fix what has happened to their computer. Wonderful ads lik "Earthlink with a free Pop-Up blocker" etc. have now in the perception shifted the responsibility of parasite problems onto the ISP.
A lot of these people don't understand the basic directory structure or how to find something that's been downloaded onto their computer, and walking them through a download of a parasite removal tool, updating it, running it, and then guiding them through what to do with what it has found can EASILY turn into a 2-hour procedure. Most of us have more important shit to do than that. Double that amount of time if they don't have two phone lines and/or cannot be connected to the internet. Any coincidental problems are blamed on your removal tool.
Also, the latest trend i'm seeing, is people calling up to complain about all these popup ads and homepage hijackings/search pages thrown in. You start pointing to all the free games they've downloaded, bonzai buddy, Desktop Calendar, Weatherbug, etc, and you are met with "but i LIKE having my weather updates, i LIKE having my Calendar there" etc.
THEY WILL REFUSE TO LET YOU HELP THEM
Doesn't stop them from still calling you up "i'm still having a problem with all these popups..."
Most machines i've cleaned up (like HUNDREDS of parasites), i'll hand it back to them and tell them what not to do again, and they are in the exact same state in a week's time. They simply go and install all the same crap they had before.
I was warned by many that doing Tech Support for a living was a burnout job, and borderline emotional abuse. But the last couple years of parasites have made it pure insanity. Tech Support is at a whole new low...
"i need to find a new job" is an understatement.
do() || do_not();
Why are your users allowed to install software? The evidence supports locking down user machines to doing tasks for work only, because they have abused the previous system.
And why are critical systems running an insecure OS with a long colourful history of security vulnerabilities? In fact any machine that doesn't need to be connected to a network shouldn't be.
I tried that when I upgraded from 98 to 2000 at home. I set up a regular account that had as few priviledges as possible for day to day work and an administrator account for everything else. I lasted about a day and a half before I changed my account to have administrative access.
Nothing worked properly. I would get all sorts of weird access denied errors for things that shouldn't have required administrative access to begin with (like changing default settings in Word). I had to log off the machine and log back on as administrator to install games. When I tried to play them under my user account it would prompt for the administrator password.
I don't think that users running as administrators is the fundamental problem. The fault lies with software developers who don't write software under the theory of least priviledge and with Microsoft for designing their OS so that gaining superuser access for administrative tasks is so awkward.
"Seek first to understand." - Socrates
Because the CEO/CFO/president of the company said so.
End of story. Set it up that way or get fired. Job security (lots of it) or none. Your choice.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Also look under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch, under the same registry keys. Some programs will hide some startups in there, knowing most people who know about HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE still don't know to look in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Also take a look at your BHOs (Browser Helper Objects). This program should help you sort them out without having to dissect your registry: BHODemon
If you have disk imaging software (Drive Image, etc.), after updating everything make an image and burn to CD. The next time you have to redo his system (and it sounds innevitable) just blast back to the base image.
Drink blood - 50 trillion mosquitoes can't be wrong.
1) Install a hardware firewall.
2) Install a software firewall.
3) Install a quality antivirus program.
4) Install Ad-Aware - preferably the Pro version with Ad-Watch.
5) Install Spybot.
Besides the 4+ hours of work that this entails, the specialized knowledge and cash required, a five item list like this is hardly what I would term "extremely easy."
In fact, it's more like saying "Any educated person can boost the performance of his car in 5 easy steps! Just install a turbocharger..."
And it's also worth noting that installing two firewalls like that is paranoid and stupid. Especially if the first one isn't even forwarding ports, something some 90% of computer users don't even need to do. And if you are forwarding ports, then what are you going to do on the client machine? Block those ports? What was the point of forwarding them again?
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
> On MacOS X, user processes pop up a dialog box asking for an administration password when installing new software.
And users react in one of two ways, if not both:
a) they routinely put in the password for everything
b) they bitch about "this is stupid, why can't it be like windows where I never have to enter a password" and if they're really troublesome, they'll find a program that will enter their password FOR them
This is the same reason I roll my eyes at "Linux has user accounts and only one root so it is perfectly secure" posts. Most people would then run, day-to-day, as root. People would still install every trojan horsed piece of shit that comes along.
It doesn't matter how many locks you have if you hate unlocking them, so you leave them open.
if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
I don't understand why antivirus companies don't include spyware removal in the virus tables. It wouldn't require any additional programs - they just have to get a signature for each type of spyware and put it in the table. It seems like such a logical, easy step, that you have to wonder what would motivate the antivirus companies to not clean off spyware. Are they just big, slow, stupid corporations who can't see **THE NEXT BIG THING**? Are they afraid of a lawsuit from spyware companies like Claria (Gator)? Do they have an unwritten agreement with spyware companies to stay out of their territory?
I visit lots of sites. I get lots of email
The problem is that people install random crap that they don't need, and it causes trouble.
You only need a few plugins or helper apps.
Flash is nice, Acrobat is a must, I grab mozilla too.
I don't find my online experience lacking, I get my emails, I find phone numbers, and get information on other stuff I need. Ebay and online banking work just fine.
I really don't think people should have to treat their computers like a fortress by installing millions of lines of complex and potentially unreliable code on their computers, just to guard against outside attacks. It's like being forced to run an armor plated car, and accepting the huge performance and fuel economy hit.
So I run Macs, which solves all those problems and more.
Macs are a little more expensive, yes, but the amount of time and aggravation saved is worth every penny.
I run all Macs at home and I never get virii, never get spyware, and they keep on running at good speeds virtually forever.
Frankly, I'm not a paranoid enough person to run Windows, and in all honesty I don't want to become one.
I don't understand why Apple's market share hasn't soared thanks to this and other similar advantages.
I know that one day there will be a Mac virus or two, but the economic motive just isn't there for spyware, thanks to Apple's low market share. I think it would have to double or triple, which it isn't doing any time soon, to justify spyware development.
So my answer is: Get a Mac. You'll be happier. It's prettier than Windows. It's slicker, too. And you won't get these pesky problems. Are they slower? In some cases, but armor-plating your PC is going to make it run a lot worse than the Mac, if the complaints in my company about our AV software are any indication.
D
I think it needs to be reiterated: It's a good start.
It's a huge first step. I now run firefox, it's the default browser on my windows box. If you've read my comments in the past, I've always been a fan of I.E., and I still am, to be honest with you. I think I.E. is faster, and renders things better than Firefox, firefox (even though it's no where near moz's bloat) still uses more memory, plus there's this annoying javascript transparent thing that Firefox doesn't deal with well, and it just has several little annoying things I don't like.
BUT.
After casual surfing the web (with google toolbar installed to block popups) on I.E. a couple of months ago, I proceeded to get spyware left and right that I didn't even know about! The damn javascript buffer overflow that installs cool web search got me. I had no idea I got it until I ran adaware. Then I got some freaking spyware bug that deleted windows media player and replaced it with a spyware app or a virus or something.
This is just from CASUAL web surfing. I didn't download anything, I didn't run anything, I never clicked "ok" on any of the "you are about to download and install 'CLICK HERE TO ACCEPT OUR AGREEMENT'" things. This was all exploits that hijacked my browser and installed spyware.
Fuck. That.
Firefox only has two advantages over IE+google toolbar: Tabbed Browsing (which i'm starting to like), and security. Until recently, they weren't reason enough to switch. Now, they are.
So, it needs to be pointed out: Yes, there are still ways to get spyware even when running firefox. It's true. BUT, firefox is a HUGE first step. I don't have anything worse than a few tracking cookies now.
AND it needs to be said: It does not mean you're a n00b l00ser if you run I.E. and you get spyware. It's nothing you did wrong. Even powerusers, whatever that means, still get spyware in I.E. You don't have to click to install anymore. It used to be enough to know that you shouldn't download and run stuff that you didn't know what it did. It's not anymore.
~Will
sig?
My primary workstation at home runs Linux. However, to keep peace in the familiy, I got my wife a laptop running Windows (98SE to be precise; don't laugh, it does everything she needs, & I installed Eudora so to avoid Outlook & all of its problems, a step that prevented her from virus infections countless times).
So last week while playing one of the online games at Yahoo, she is bombarded by countless pop-up ads. While she is a competent user, she knows this is beyond her & asked for my help. So I sat down & started digging thru the guts of Windows.
Now keep in mind that for the last several years, I have dealt almost exclusively with Linux, Solaris & other flavors of UNIX; I was drawing from my memory of Window 3.1 (& a hazy idea of the Windows Registry) for what to look for. And after 2 hours of hunting, I killed a couple of the easier bits of malware, but it wasn't until a colleague told me about Ad aware & Spybot that we truly started to make a difference.
The moral of my story? Unless you're willing to live in a Windows-free world, its defects will still make your life miserable; & ignorance of Windows is not strength.
Geoff
I think I see a trend here. Maybe for them it really would be easier to muzzle the entire internet than to produce p
That really isn't four hours worth of work. If it's your first time, it might be - but I'm not talking about how extremely easy it is for grandma. I'm talking about how easy it is, in the grand scheme of things. Certainly, to do the above you would need to have some rudimentary education about the machine in front of you to perform those five steps - but in my experience, only those who have that education (beyond how to login, surf and manipulate the max/min/close window buttons) are even aware of the problem and the steps needed to handle it.
It isn't as difficult as you seem to suggest, though. A hardware firewall is common sense and even your ISP will instruct you to install one when you pick up your cable or DSL modem (or when they come out to install it). Not knowing you need a hardware firewall is like not knowing you need to buy a modem to use the internet. And they aren't that expensive. A high quality new one is about $80. A decent one can be had for $50. Basic installation is simple. Plug it in, change the admin password. Done.
Installing an antivirus program is also simple and has been drilled into every user. Most computers come with one, even if it's only a trial subscription. You can get decent ones for free (Grisoft's AVG, for example). They're easy to configure and usually have adequate walk-throughs.
Ad-Aware is easy to install and free. Same with Spybot. You might need to read a little before making full use of them, but just having them installed offers more security than not having them at all.
As for having both a hardware firewall and a software firewall - sure it's paranoid. The thing is that software firewalls are inadequate and ineffective. If you allow what you think is a legitimate program to have acces to the net (a windows service or MSIE for example), you may also be unwittingly allowing a sub-component to piggy-back with it.
I don't expect a software firewall to protect me or the family/friends I install them for. I like having one installed so I can see what applications are trying to get out. If something strange is trying to get out and it hasn't been caught by Ad-Aware, SpyBot or AVG/Kaspersky - I want to know about it. I could watch a netstat all day long - or I could just watch for pop-up notification sin the system tray.
In fact, it's more like saying "Any educated person can boost the performance of his car in 5 easy steps! Just install a turbocharger..."
But it isn't. This isn't about boosting your performance. This is about knowing to lock your car's doors, not locking your keys in the car, not leaving your keys in the ignition or the car running while you stop at 7-11, changing your oil regularly, checking the tire pressure occasionally, keeping your tags up to date and possibly having a car-alarm installed.
Any educated person should know not to drive their Lexus through the worst part of town, stop in front of a 7-11 with a bunch of crackheads standing outside by the pay-phones and leaving their keys in the car and the engine running while they go into the store and buy a coke and nachos.
I saw in a couple of comments that folks referred users off to their ISP for help removing these items.
DON'T! Please!
A comparison I had to use yesterday with a customer because they were getting angry that we(ISP) would not help them was:
If you have a car, don't maintain it, ignore the recall notices, drive without your seatbelt and slam it into park while still moving, you're going to have an accident or break the damn thing.
Do not call the DOT/highway department because of it. We can't and are not going to help you.
An ISP's job it to provided a customer an internet connection. Not to be their free tech bitches for any and every issue that comes along. We view virii and spyware as OS issues and not the ISP's connectivity issue.
Our qualifying test is.....if your computer was in perfect working order, can you get on the internet. If it's not.....call us back when it is and we'll help you with the internet.
That may sound a little customer unfriendly but when queue hold times are over 30 minutes and every customer is pissed off, you have to draw the line somewhere.
If we fail to hold computer users responsible for their own actions, we are enablers of the behaviors we are complaining about.
I try to teach them how to take care of it themselves, and they have no interest in learning.
Most lawyer tasks are the same, easy to do yourself, but there's a whole bunch of info to learn before you can get it right. I have no interest in learning law-craft.
Kinetic stupidity has a new brand leader: Allen Zadr.
Spyware has always baffeled me. I don't see why anyone would ever follow any link that pops up on their desktop. It's annoying, and I just want to close it instead of buying anything from a pop-up company. Is it even a good marketing scheme? ...
Unless you like hanging out with Joe Sixpack's teenage daughter.
It take more faith to believe in evolution than it takes to believe in God
Sometimes, that's impossible. Try to syncronize a Palm Pilot or compatible with Outlook when you're not running as a system adminstrator under XP. It won't work.
The unfortunate thing is that those people who have PP's are often the ones paying your salary, and they would not be happy with the idea that they might be blocked from updating them.
Trying to argue security with them is (usually) pointless - they've already made several bad security decisions (Windows servers, Exchange running on those servers, Outlook running on the local machine), so your piddly little concerns with security are unimportant!
The funniest bit is all the people that you do wind up helping. At least with me, they always ask me stuff I have no idea about. "How do I do this in Excel?" or "why does it keep doing that?" So I click around for a bit and fix it for them, and they assume it's something that all geeks learned how to do in geek school. Like, day 41 of geek school is how to change the header options in Word. But really, they're just too scared to go clicking on new and weird menus that they've never clicked on before, so they don't even try.
Because Winders has a fundamentally flawed security implementation. No, I won't defend that statment. Res loquitur ipsa.
Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.