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McAfee lists Adware in Top 10 Viruses
joelethan writes "In the new sensitive, caring world of Windows security McAfee Virusscan detects adware/malware, just like its competitors. A surprising consequence is that the McAfee's Regional Virus Info now regularly shows adware in its infection top ten. It feels so good to see old favorites like 180Search and DFC listed. "Now for your listening pleasure it's Adware.Gator at number 7 with a bullet..."
"
But when will the financial geniuses at Symantec decide to start exacting a "fee" to spyware vendors to remove their malware from the list????
rather one of my users have a current-day virus than a malware product anyway! Virii don't invite all their little friends to come and play like malware does either or slow the box down to uber crawl speeds!
ADWARE OWNZ JOO!!
this is the reason why i dont use windows.. one minute after your installation is done, you already got lots of spyware.
Not every computer related problem has Microsoft to blame. Though it is tempting to blame them...
It's not spyware, it's a virus! McAfee says so.
..it was recognised for what it is. Here, in the UK, such software falls foul of the Computer Misuse Act (which is due for an update). Personally, I already spend far too much time removing Adware, Spyware, BHOs, et cetera from Windows machines, especially at one site, where they seem to actually think CoolWebSearch really is cool.
This is a good move, currently I'm helping my mom's next door neighbor trouble shoot her Dell...1000 miles away! My mom has dial up, but her computer is just chocked by viruii and adware. She's new to the internet, so she thinks if she just does whatever she'll be ok.
Also, the McAfee trial she was using didn't catch much, I suppose she didn't have updated pattens, but with a dial up, is it possible/easy to get updates?
I'm leaning on her to get Broadband, and then let me put Linux on that Dell...
CB_)EW____>>>
free ipod and free gmail!
The way Gator tries to install is absolutely unacceptable. I really think that it should be stopped, one way or another.
Claria sounds like some sexual desease.
Considering there is zero spyware for Macs or Linux... you're damn right I'm going to blame Microsoft.
Magic Lantern, carnivore, omnivore...
So how do you keep the feds from snooping you?
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
Could companies be prosecuted for exploiting bugs and vulnerabilities to install their garbage on people's machines? I don't know how many reinstalls I've went through, forgot to turn off the fifteen different settings in IE, and ended up with webpages spamming my desktop and taskbar as hard as they could by going to a seemingly harmless website, or mistyping the name of a popular website.
I recently fixed someone's computer that had so much spyware, it was running like a 66MHz machine on Windows 98SE. They were using a 2.5GHz with 512MB of RAM. The start button would take three seconds of griding to hit, and hitting it made three or four spam windows pop up, mostly about gambling, porn, or pills.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
McAfee lets you delete the specific executable that comprises the malware application, but doesn't help you delete the associated data files. I find I have to go in afterward and clean up after McAfee does its thing. (I suppose I should get a copy of Ad-Aware or one of the other anti-adware apps, but, frankly, most of them LOOK like the ads they're trying to kill - these guys need to get better GUI designers and look more "professional".)
Still, it's better than nothing.
BTW, have I said lately that adware/spyware authors should DIE A HORRIBLE, PAINFUL, LINGERING DEATH!
Don't underestimate the power of The Source
I wonder how much money McAfee spent in legal advice before doing this... I wonder how long before the spyware vendors sue, saying that their software performs a valuable service, as shown by the fact that users deliberately and knowingly install it...
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
What was it Phillip Morris (Tobacco co.) changed its name to? Altria?
This is also a common practice in the adapted (as in, for the disabled) vehicle industry; most (not all) vendors do crappy work, overcharge, then change their names and/or move/disincorporate/reincorporate every few years to avoid bad PR and lawsuits. It's a very disgusting industry. And if you want to be independent, there's no real choice - it's them or nothing.
seriously, I wonder how long it is before they sue mcafee and others, just because of this point they want to make. Not that anyone will believe them.
I actually came across one that had an unistall utility, complete with a massive EULA for this uninstaller, and a license key for the uninstaller, which is emailed to you, if you decide to actuaslly trust them (description here, with company info) It's blackmail, of course, and probably not enforcable.
Legitiamte businessmen indeed.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Is faster than Spyware removal tech.
An instance on a system I was removing spyware from was so infested that no matter what I did I could not remove it. Adaware/Spybot could not remove it. The user in question happened to frequent weatherbug et. al so had the latest and greatest spyware. Now in my situation our upline is blocking spyware sites as they find them.
What ended up happening is, our busy spyware installer guy put found a site that wasn't blocked and installed the latest and greatest. Soon thereafter his browser stopped taking him anywhere. Our upline was blocking all requests his browser made because they were all being superceded by the spyware address.
I download all of the newest updates, nada. I speculate that it may be a newer spyware/adware infecting his system and offer him a reimaging of his station, or waiting a day to see if there is a fix. One day goes by, no fix. I spare his system out and give him a replacement while I image his old one. Well the system sits for a while, and eventually I get back to it (4 days after the initial problem.) I figure, hell I'll run Adaware again. Update...scan... remove... reboot... scan...remove... and finally the spyware is removed.
The moral of this story is use Firefox.
I figured you guys would love this...
The firm i worked at up until recently decided to do some "sponsored marketing" thru Claria/Gator. I tried to preach their evils to the marketing department, but my protesting fell on deaf ears. A few weeks later, one of the marketing folks called me into his office because he was having terrible troubles with I.E. Turns out, as expected his lappie was riddled with spyware, w/ Gator/Claria products being the chief offender. When he asked what the major problem was, and I showed him the ad-aware, hijack this, and spybot entries w/ gator/claria all over them - i think he finally realized. The initial short term advertising contract wasn't renewed, or so i hear.
If more comapnies knew how bad these apps are, and what problems they created, maybe they wouldn't want their services and products advertised in this manner.
But does McAfee do anything effective with them? How about McAfee Corporate (good) vs. the home user version (ukkkk!)?
The latest Norton (2004) detectes malware, but doesn't seem to do anything effective about it.
The best prevention is good surfing habits, and giving most Windows users no rights at all to install stuff.
When is somebody going to step up to the plate and sue these companies for defacing personal property? They get away with it every day and there are laws against it. Plain and simple they are destroying people's property without their permission, at least not any signatures that would hold up in court. All it will take is for one company to sue these companies, and others will follow...at least our company will!
If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be fucked up. - Comedian Mitch Hedberg R.I.P. 03/30/68-2/24/05
The problem with Adware/Spyware/whatever isn't so much the invasion of privacy part. After all, in most cases, you did click accept at some point. That's what happens when you need your pr0nzor or bikini calendar so much that you don't care where it comes from, you deserve it. The problem is the lousy implimentation of the invasion of privacy.
I helped a friend diagnose his constantly crashing computer remotely one time and found that he had over 18,000 individual copies of some type of CoolWeb in his Windows\System folder.
The real problem isn't with New.net hijacking and sending people to other domains; the real problem is when their software breaks and you can't use any TCP/IP related applications until you find someone with some technical know-how to fix it.
These bastards should be liable for this sort of thing. Actually, they probably are.
I keep forgetting my place. Jesus is for losers. Why do I still play to the crowd?
Mcafee is starting to mark adware/spyware as viruses.
Great!
Now make an AV app that effectively removes them when it's detected.
Right now, not one virus scanner cleans adware/spyware effectively. You always need to use either spybot or adaware to get rid of it for good. The reason for this is simply because every antivirus firm uses scanning techniques dated from the DOS era to scan and remove this stuff.
If you work for symantec, or mcafee, or any other AV firm for that matter, pleast drill it in your AV scanning division that the Windows Registry Must be scanned for viruses/adware/spyware entries First then all the files on the system. Then once it's found, remove all traces of it including folders, leftover installer files and temp files. I've seen spyware and adware that is just about impossible to remove unless you scour the entire registry for any possible method of entry, then scour the drive for installers that will reinstall it if it's removed. That is why adaware and spybot are so effective at removing this stuff. it removes it from executing and gets it all on the next restart.
Lavasoft Ad-aware is better at removing even some common viruses than most virus scanners today. It's almost second nature that you have to get a "Virus Cleaner" to remove viruses for some AV scanners that adaware removes on the first try.
Until AV firms understand that the registry is just as important to scan as the files, they will never be effective in removing these threats. Dont think that Virus writers aren't looking at these techniques these spyware groups are using to get around you guys and aren't implementing these techniques in their next virus.
In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
A computer is a property like a house. Enter it without permission and you are jailed for 5 years. period.
Now, if we get the DMCA shit here in US to be revoked, we can enact this law.... But then Orrin Hatch will have passed the INDUCE act by then...
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer