I hope this Q isn’t too techy for the GQMB (I have seen the great debate on to split or not to split) but anyway …
I run M’soft Office’s “Outlook” (NOT Outlook Express) for emails, and use Norton anti-virus software on auto. This scans emails going in & out. Sometimes I send, say, 5 mails; the application notification tells me it is sending 1 of 5, then 2 of 5 etc. (The mails are by now in the ‘sent’ box, but if I disconnect at this point the mails don’t actually go anywhere.) Then after a short pause the Norton panel pops up and tells me it is sending 1 of 6, then 2 of 6 (SIX) etc.
This doesn’t happen all the time, once/twice a week say, and it is most perturbing. Sometimes a receipt has been requested and this accounts for an annonymous and INVISIBLE mail leaving. I never opt to report any errors to Microsoft, so that can’t account for any - can it?
Where has the extra email come from, where does it go? Any clues anyone, please?
Thats’ so odd. I’d guess, with no authority whatsoever. that Norton is sending a report. Ask Norton tech support; you shouldn’t be sending out things you don’t know!!
spyware is programs that are installed w/o you knowleage or consent most of the time and monitor what you do with your computer. Used for marketing reasearch. Download ad-adware and install - let it scan your system for ad-ware (which spyware is a subset of)
As for a backdoor program - unlikely but still possible - and harder to get rid of. YOu can try norton internet security (I think they offer 30 days free). You can also try to locate it yourself. Press ctrl-alt-del and look at all that’s running, identify everything on that list. If you don’t know what it is do a google search for that item.
Gulp! That all sounds very advanced for someone who has only had a proper computer since this January. (I had a Psion hand-held before then.)
I’m supposed to have a firewall to stop such things but I don’t know how to find out about that. All I know is that this has been happening since day one!
No news from Norton AV yet, but thanx for all of your responses.
You can find AdAware at http://www.lavasoftUSA.com - I am its biggest fan, it has rescued countless work PCs and revolutionised my view of the internet (fun -> SCARY!!!)
Is it really safe to get connected up to a website (such as lavasoft) and let them look around in your computer? I mean isn’t that what we are trying to avoid? … and can they do it thru’ a firewall, if I do have a working one, that is?
I’m not knocking your advice but how does anyone tell if it really is OK to ‘let a stranger’ do that? Or am I missing something here because I am particularly green and clueless in these matters?
I think I may have sussed it. Has anyone heard of ActivSurf? A little something from Packard Bell which runs in the background whilst connected to the internet, browsing or sending email etc. I am supposed to be able to subscribe to all sorts of ‘useful’ downloads etc - which I haven’t, but doing the alt ctrl del manoeuvre shows that is indeed active when emailing. I have tried to shut it down, the icon disappears from the taskbar … for a while, and then it sneaks back on again! Curious eh? If anyone has any info on this handy (?) little application, like if it is a spyware of sorts, I’d really appreciate a response. Oh, and by the way, Norton were indignant!
AdAware is a program that looks for spyware and such, just like antivirus software is a program that looks for viruses. You don’t “get connected up to a website and let them look around in your computer” - you download their program and run it; the website never gets the information from the program. It’s like running antivirus software, and in my experience AdAware has worked quite well.
I run both Norton AV and Ad-Aware and haven’t had any problems, and I’m sure I’ve avoided quite a few!
Just so you know, one of the biggest sources of spyware are file-sharing programs. Especially iMesh, KaZaA, and Audiogalaxy. (some of these spyware programs are so bad that they actually change the way certain core programs, like IE, run!) The worst part is that uninstalling the file-sharing program does nothing to the spyware. And uninstalling the spyware could do several bad things if done improperly (which is why Ad-Aware is so good, it does it properly :)) The least it could do it make the program is was accociated with (like iMesh) not work. As an axample of the worst it can do, on my dad’s PC some spyware got on somehow. I tried to fix it by uninstalling the file-sharing programs and whatever programs in the “Add/Remove” programs list seemed sketchy. Then I CTRL-ALT-DEL and looked up suspicious looking programs on google and got rid of the ones I oculd. Well, seeing as that was the wrong way to do it, IE got seriously f*cked up. But I downloaded Ad-Aware, ran that, and everything got OK.
So in short, download Ad-Aware and run it. Again, if you have a file-sharing program espeically, it might not run with it’s spyware removed.
(oh, and k2dave, usually spyware IS installed with your permision. You know all those license agreements you never read? Yup, that’s where it says that they have to the right to install third party software. So most of the time, they do have permission, but not always.)
Yes, I did read the lic’ agreement for Packard Bell, and that’s why I didn’t register it. It says you agree to share things with them AND they might share them with Microsoft, or words to that effect. I looked at registering after a little while and Norton AV warned me off, saying something about malicious scripts!
Incidentally the original set up procedure said connect to a phone - line before doing anything else. Being a little cautious I took it to the next town and plugged in an office phone line, and did some of the set-up stuff, avoiding the registration bits. Although I hadn’t set up any sort of internet connection at all, I never had to set the time and date, it had been off on its own and done that! So I expect that at some point already “the powers that be” at M’soft and P Bell got to know what’s on my shopping list, and a friend’s IP address etc etc.
Back to the plot … will this Ad-Aware remove the ‘legitimate’ spyware things, the ones we have inadvertently agreed to?
I’ll have to find out where things like registry and memory are kept before I can scan them (unless the programme is really, I mean REALLY simple to follow … like ‘hit this button for a full system scan’). This is a deep delve into the unknown for me!
Ad-Aware will scan for all spyware (and yes, it’s as easy as a ‘scan-everything’ button…well, a checkbox and a button.) This icludes the ones you agreed to put on your PC. You might see this as illegal, but I see them installing them in the first place as unethical, so it evens out in the end.
The only problem you might have is in deciding which spyware to remove. Since, as I said, removing them might not allow certain programs to work. What I do is get rid of all of them, and then if certain programs don’t work (and I really want that program) I re-install it and suffer through the bare-minimum of spyware.
I realise it isn’t traditional to keep replying to one’s own post but the plot curdles …
I am still suspecting the ActivSurf is the culprit for the invisible emails. The icon on the task bar (blue A with a ‘wave’ on top) gives 3 options when right-clicked; open, suspend/resume download, and shut down ActivSurf. When downloads are suspended the icon is pale, when shut down it disappears, only to return, in it’s pale guise with every log-on. Since yesterday I have religiously shut it down every time I log-on (here’s the weird bit), but EVERY time I use M’soft Office / Outlook a little box pops up saying a program wants to access my contacts, I keep pressing NO, but this happens literally every minute or so. For the time being I’m just leaving it unanswered in the background, it’s less intrusive that way, and I can’t accidentally be typing an ‘y’ as it pops up and inadvertently agree to it.
The task manager isn’t any help, it just says that it’s M’soft Outlook that’s running as an addition! I looked in the event viewer, there’s plenty to view, but I have no idea what it all means. There all sorts of info icons, alert icons, error icons etc AND the occasional logon by a user marked as anonymous!
I’ll go and have another look to see if I can find my way around the lavasoft site, later, when my internet access is on cheap rate. I wouldn’t mind paying for the software, I don’t suppose it is free, but I’m wary of giving out any credit card details with this security risk. (I am assuming it is a security risk) My Norton AV needs renewing in a week’s time and I don’t want to give out my credit card number to them either, so this has turned into a bit of a race!
Also, does anyone know how risky it is to use net meeting using one’s IP address?
All of the AdAware suite you’ll need to protect your 'puter is freeware. I seem to recall they had some “premium stuff” (correct me here, folks) on the site, but I’ve been using it with good results for free.
Depends how cautious you want to be. Assuming you don’t have a dynamic IP (one that changes each time you connect–depends on your ISP), any time you connect anywhere, your IP can be obtained. See the link in the bottom right of my post that says, IP: Logged? Any moderator can click on that to obtain your IP. They use it to uncover sock puppets and report more heinous violations of board rules to the offender’s ISP.
However, if you are Netmeeting (now comes in two flavors: proper noun and verb!) one-on-one with someone you know, I don’t see that much risk. You can configure Netmeeting to reject unwanted invitations, and I usually include a “friends and family only, please” disclaimer in the profile section any time I use a public ILS. YMMV. If that’s not enough for you, however, you have two more options.
You can use the “secure” mode in NM. This encrypts the data sent, but restricts you to data-only (text messages). Sort of a secure, point-to-point chat room. I primarily use this for business purposes.
Another option is to use a blind ILS such as the one in MSN Messenger Service. It gives one-click access to those on your buddy list, whom you assumedly already know and trust. Profile information is not available through the ILS, although you can look up up users by screen name. Since it’s all Gatesware, the interfaces work together well. I use this option for most personal teleconferencing.
