I’ve got Spybot S&D-question-it says it’s creating a “restore” or whatever, and then takes hours. I don’t even have that much on my machine, given it’s new-what gives?
As someone else said, Spybot S&D has this feature for the Hosts file. I’m blocking 780 lines; I think that more than Spybot, but I’m ruthless, undiscerning, and prone to block sites with little predilection.
I guess that means I’m not particularly fair or non-judgmental when it comes to potential spyware or ad servers. In one or two cases, I’ve made pseudo-educated guesses: for example, c1.[adserver].com and c4.[adserver].com were blocked, so I guessed that there might also be c2. and c3. adservers. I’ve also borrowed lists of block sites from other sources.
You’re welcome to a copy, however, if you name a place or location to send or upload the file.
This reminds me of a bit I heard on NPR this morning. There was some computer security expert who was saying that Joe Schmoe internet user needed to take more responsibility when using the internet. Stuff like keeping Windows updated, getting anti-virus software and keeping it updated, installing a firewall, using common sense, and “not being greedy.” His example in the last case was the infamous Nigerian scam, where people were trying to help embezzle money (I guess the subtext is those people deserved what they got). While I realize this sounds a bit harsh (especially in print as opposed to hearing it on the radio), I tend to agree with him. Granted, there are a lot of people out there who still aren’t very comfortable with computers and are afraid they’ll break them, but people do far less “preventative maintenence” on their computers than their cars.
That said, virus distributers, hackers (or crackers, I don’t want to get into semantic argument), and spyware folks are scum.
I’m still thinking of legal remedies. How about suing the advertisers who appear on the damn popups. Unlike the popup creators, they HAVE to be traceable to get your money, and they are the ones funding the damn things. A few companies sued into bankruptcy might raise the stakes for popup advertising.
Malware bastards ought to be strung up by the taint with electrified piano wire, no doubt about it, however.
I’ve got a small, yet extremely critical, public safety network I manage, and with aggressive updating and the use of one of several registry management utilities (i.e registry mechanic) spybot, and tenebril uninstaller, I have effectively been able to keep these filthy bastards at bay for every one of my 15 daily EUs’ who cannot migrate to Mozilla because of wider network issues and plug-ins that don’t exist (and will likely never exist for this particular app).
The analogy I use is this; It’s a bit like going into a dodgy area for something you really want but don’t necessarily need. If you don’t prepare for the trip, you shouldn’t be suprised when bad things happen, but you should be thankful when they don’t. There’s a cost to surfing today, that cost is malware/spyware/scumware. Sure, it would be wonderful if the legal eagles could make it all go away, but it’s unlikely, given the glut of advertising 2004 America is being subjected to.
In any case, until SOMETHING else comes along, I’ll stick with the old Boy Scout Motto…Be Prepared!
Anyone have a cleaner that works for the macintosh?
I was going to say that there are no Mac spyware cleaners because there’s no Mac spyware, but a Google search shows that some forward-thinking developers have made a program to search for “spyware-like” software in OS X. You can download it here:
Download- Stopzilla free for 15 days simple and works great.
I have heard the the originator is in Russia. Hmm, how much does the Russian Mob charge…? 