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Given Up to Spyware?

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the unset-passwords-and-publicly-writable-shares dept.

Khuffie writes "Wired has an interesting article about how some people have given up to spyware, knowing that the software they're installing virtually takes over their internet connection. What's even more ironic is that they claim it's a necessary evil for free software, when things like the Google Toolbar virtually replace Gator, and there are many spyware-free P2P programs available."

15 of 733 comments (clear)

  1. For the uninitiated... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Spybot
    Adaware

    Oh, and Linux.

    1. Re:For the uninitiated... by l810c · · Score: 4, Informative
      I clean up PC's all the time for friends. Got one here just tonight. I charge one 12-pack of beer per 500 infections :)

      Now a couple of things about those programs. I do install each and most importantly Run Them For Each User account on a XP PC. Adaware I believe has a larger database/scope and catches more things. Spybot is able to get things running in memory by running first thing on reboot. One other free tool that I find very useful is this control panel applet that is what msconfig should be.

      There are Many things that these programs do Not catch even when updated. I ran into reaIplay.exe tonight. I had to boot into Safe Mode command line to manually delete it. A couple of weeks ago I had to delete a file from an alternate Windows file Stream. There exists this netherworld of alternate data in XP that is not accessable via any of the regular tolls.

      And the last thing I do is install Firefox and tell them to Use It Damnit or I'm upping the charge to a case per 500 infections.

    2. Re:For the uninitiated... by mankey+wanker · · Score: 3, Informative

      Ummm...what's wrong with using the registry instead? Try regedit, you'll like it...

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\C ur rentVersion\Run]
      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Mic rosoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\RunOnce]
      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software \Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\RunServices]
      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Soft ware\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit]

      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cu rr entVersion\Run]
      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Micro soft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunOnce]
      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\M icrosoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunServices]
      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Softwa re\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunServicesOnce]
      [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\So ftware\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]

    3. Re:For the uninitiated... by inquisitor · · Score: 4, Informative

      Basically, that's my disinfection routine for other people's PCs. I don't get spyware infestations either, but that's because I know about Windows Update and antivirus software.

      1. Run AdAware SE, updated to most recent definitions. Detect 400+ hits (my record so far).
      2. Run Spybot S&D, updated to most recent definitions. Detect 100+ hits AdAware missed, and reboot.
      3. Wait 30 minutes whilst Spybot scans again, and turns up a solitary bit of Gator. Go through Spybot's advanced mode settings and clear out their Run tools to dump all sorts of run-on-start crud that Compaq/Packard Bell etc. stuck on there - bloated keyboard-multimedia-button utilities et al.
      4. Run HijackThis! (which isn't really an antispyware tool, just a system startup editing tool with knowledge about really obscure system startup Registry keys and IE settings) and get rid of the really obscure spyware toolbars and other run-on-startup fun that AAW and Spybot missed.
      5. Go through the root, Program Files and Windows directories manually and delete the 10+ dialers and other unwanted crap that's made their way into the system, plus hosts file.

      No-one ever asked for this stuff to be installed on their system (and in case you're wondering why I believe them, take a look at this). I put it down to ActiveX exploits; inevitably, the worst infected systems I see are Win9x/Me systems which haven't ever had a Windows Update run. This routine - plus installing Firefox - usually helps fix their problems, but these shouldn't have happened in the first place. I don't blame Microsoft as much as I blame the prevaling culture that it is better to make more money than it is to have ethics - thus allowing for Gator/Claria, WhenU, 180solutions, all the fake 'anti-spyware' vendors et al. It's amazing that we can allow these people to go on.

  2. It's called apathy by lordkuri · · Score: 5, Informative

    People just don't care... they can't be bothered to think about it. I've talked to so many people, "yeah.. I need to get a new computer, this one's slow" their system gets hosed, they just get a new computer. wtf is with that?

  3. Re:Link is incorrect by tmbg37 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nevermind, something seems to have gone wrong at wired.com, but it's fixed now and both links are working. Ignore my post.

    --
    This comment was thought up very late at night and does not necessarily reflect my views at a more reasonable hour.
  4. Hidden vs. Visible Costs by Geckoman · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's not really a trade-off between privacy and free software, it's a trade-off between privacy and convenience. Many people have made the value judgment that the time and effort necessary to fight spyware and find non-treacherous alternatives is worth more to them than the privacy they give up.

    The cost of the privacy lost is invisible and (apparently) non-intrusive, while the cost of the time and effort is obvious and immediately quantifiable.

    Think about how many times you've heard someone say things along these lines: "Can you believe I spent 6 hours cleaning spyware off my system and had to reinstall Windows twice? Then I had to find new software with a privacy policy acceptible to me, and it took hours to download and install it all."

    Compare that to how many times you've heard someone say something like: "Wow! I had spyware all over my system. It was tracking my shopping and browsing habits, reporting my computer usage stats to ad agencies, and sending my IP and passwords to a scam company in Russia!"

    The cost former is obvious to even the most ignorant users, while the cost of the latter requires much more insight and knowledge.

  5. next time take a router, by way2trivial · · Score: 3, Informative
    or real hardware firewall, set to refuse all unasked for connections...

    open ports one at a time.....

    just having a 1 port router will keep most of the fresh install vulnerabilities off line to the net, and allow you to get what you need.

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    1. Re:next time take a router, by monkeymanatwork · · Score: 5, Informative

      Good idea, but many ISPs (Comcast) don't support routers. I have called Comcast when their crappy connection goes up and down (happens about once per week these days for a whole day). The first thing they ask is if you have a router. If you say yes, they tell you they do not support routers, and refuse to help you any further. I asked them if they sell a router solution, and the answer is "no." Apparently their solution to the problem is for you to use WinXP and enable firewalling, or buy ZoneAlarm (which they also don't sell).

      Comcast is a monopoly where I and many others live. Let's hope the Supremes force them to open their cable lines to competitors. The result of them forcing BellSouth to do so has resulted (finally) in my recent switch to an unlimited local and long distance provider for $45/month.

    2. Re:next time take a router, by Osty · · Score: 3, Informative

      Good idea, but many ISPs (Comcast) don't support routers.

      They don't do tech support on the routers because they don't know how you've set them up. If your router is the cause of a problem (you've blocked all outgoing traffic, asked-for or otherwise, for example), they don't want to waste the time on you. That doesn't mean they don't support routers on their network (as in, routers won't work). They do. If you know your router is fine, next time lie to them. They can't tell.


      have called Comcast when their crappy connection goes up and down (happens about once per week these days for a whole day).

      I had a similar problem where my net connection would go down at night, and come back up during the day, making it completely useless to me (I'm at work during the day). After months of dealing with this and several technician visits, one finally decided to check the connections from the street to my house. Lo and behold, there was water damage at one of the connection points. During the day when it was warm, the connection would warm up and expand enough to work. At night when it cooled down, it would contract and lose signal. A 5 minute splice job later and everything worked perfectly. That was almost a year and a half ago, and I've not had any problems since.


      Comcast is a monopoly where I and many others live. Let's hope the Supremes force them to open their cable lines to competitors. The result of them forcing BellSouth to do so has resulted (finally) in my recent switch to an unlimited local and long distance provider for $45/month.

      I take it you've never had a DSL line. The infrastructure owners are required to allow others to sell their lines, but it results in no lower prices, no better service (tech support), and in fact causes even more problems by adding layers. When I was on DSL and had a problem, I first had to call my ISP (Speakeasy, who have some shady business practices regardless of the good geek press they get), who would then have to call my CLEC (Covad) if it wasn't Speakeasy's problem, and Covad would then have to call my ILEC (Verizon) if the problem was anything other than their DSLAM in the local CO. Verizon was quick enough to come out and solve any loop issues if it really was their problem, but you could literally spend days trying to figure out what was going on and where the problem was at (you're only allowed to contact your ISP directly; Covad and Verizon wouldn't even recognize me as a customer when I tried calling them directly). I'm not saying that the local monopoly of cable is any better, but in this one case I can know where the problem is -- if it's not my equipment, then it's Comcast.


      Of course, Comcast's tech support is pretty much teh suck, anyway. Their extent of knowledge doesn't go past, "Did you reboot your modem?" If that doesn't work, you have to schedule a technician visit, in 4 hour windows, during working hours (ie, if you work a normal day job, be prepared to call in sick or late while you wait for the Comcast van to show up, typically at the very end of their 4 hour window).

  6. Spyware in Developing Countries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just returned from Sierra Leone, likely the poorest country in the world.

    A good internet connection is 8kbs and that's when the power hasn't failed or you have petrol for your generator and the phone system delivers a dial tone.

    Even so, the 8kbps costs $200 a month in a country where an OK wage for a laborer is $2 a day -- when a job can be had at all.

    When time after time I see 30-50 percent of that 8kbs bandwidth wasted by spyware, it really makes me angry.

    Spyware hurts entire developing countries.

  7. Re:Demand spyware scanning in your virus scanner. by deaddeng · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's actually worse than you portray-- the worst spyway is not even a minimally legitimate commercial venture-- it is theft, run by international criminals and organized crime. So-called "legitimate" spyware and adware have conditioned people to think that a windows box encrusted with this shyte is normal.

    The newest stuff is delivered by a trojan downloader, that also installs a keylogger--or several. The browser hijackers they install do one--or several things--to send you to their fake websites so they can steal your credit card, or even your identity:

    -- They take over your HOSTS file so that legitimate urls are translated into THEIR IP addresses, not the real ones.

    -- They add THEIR fake banking, paypal, amazon, etc. sites to your "trusted sites" list.

    -- They may even change your proxy settings to accomplish or reinforce the same thing.

    If you try to clean this crap off with AdAware or Spybot S&D, the trojan downloader--which also disable your AV software and/or Spybot--will NOT detect the trojan downloader, and it will reinstall the malware faster than you can clean it.

    Some of these were spread the old fashioned way-- email attachments. Others used the Windows RPC 445/tpc buffer overflow exploit, or the latest IE IFRAME exploit, or one of the 16 other exploits out there for IE alone that MS has not patched.

    This shit crossed a line about six months ago from being a commercially-oriented nusiance to being outright theft, run by the same criminals that run phishing scams.

    I clean up PCs as a sideline, and the trend is very ominous-- the utility of the PC as a productive tool is threatened, as is the integrity and trust of the Internet.

    Thanks, Microsoft. I'd like to see the Dept. of Homeland security take your ass to court for criminal negligence.

    --
    --- .085 as cool; proving that a little knowledge is dangerous
  8. May be a bit off topic, but... by jaeson · · Score: 5, Informative
    Here is an interesting article

    This is one of my two favorite parts from this article:
    "...a clause inserted by Claria about 3,000 words into a 5,936-word licensing agreement. It reads: 'You agree that you will not use, or encourage others to use, any unauthorized means for the removal of the GAIN Adserver, or any GAIN-supported software from a computer.'"

    Of course the only "supported" way is through Add/Remove Programs, and NOT through the use of Spybot, etc.

    And here is the second tidbit (also from the linked article):
    "Edelman also found that Claria's licensing agreement tries to prohibit users from deploying network monitors to inspect and report transmissions made between their computer, their local network, and the GAIN servers."

    Fucking Asshats.
  9. Re:bad idea by Motherfucking+Shit · · Score: 3, Informative
    How does one offer 500 times more space than their closest competitor, and still manage to suck?
    I'm not the original poster but I'll give this a shot.

    How about not allowing me to mass-delete the 151,095 messages in my Spam folder? I'm sure as hell not going to manually delete them out of Gmail 100 at a time.

    How about keeping messages dating back to September in my Trash folder, and messages dating back to October in my Spam folder, despite clearly stating that "Spam messages more than 30 days old will be automatically deleted" and "Trashed messages more than 30 days old will be automatically deleted?" How about when the combined messages in Spam and Trash are using 906 MB (91%) of my Gmail storage?

    There's nothing I can do to purge them, unless I want to click through more than 1,500 pages worth of spam listings, waiting for each page of 100 spams to load, hitting Select All, and selecting Permanently Delete. It's not going to happen, and there's no reason anyone should have to do that. AOL's mail interface is more intuitive than this, for god's sake.

    At Yahoo Mail, I can empty the entire Bulk folder permanently with one click and the drive space is immediately credited back to me. Sure, I don't get a gig of storage there, but seeing as how I have control over what does and doesn't get stored, I don't need it. Gmail is unusable to me until there is a way to mass-delete the contents of the Spam folder all at once.
    --
    "BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
  10. Re:Azureus doesn't.... by ZonaldRumzfeld · · Score: 3, Informative

    I got this warning too (and I'm using Gentoo, heh)
    Seems there were sites distributing a spy/malware version of Azureus to people (this includes download.com, shame on them). I hope people wise up.

    Just look at this user comment:
    "one of the worst bittorent program I ever had. yes, this program can download fast, but it's filled with so many spywares. This program will kill your computer! made my pc ran like turtle and had to reformat it."

    Have any of you had this problem? Not me.

    It's sad that people would do this with GPL opensource code in an attempt to spread more crap to everyone.