Hi all -

I'm curious about a situation that a poster stated in the following in
regards to a suggestion to use these programs to see if they would help
resolve their problem;

Quote/Except for CWShredder and Hijack This. I've received virus alerts
when downloading them, so will not use them./End quote

I am really surprised at this statement, as I have not heard or seen anyone
make such a statement, or that this might be possible by a variant of CWS.
Is this possible?

I'd truly appreciate any input on this issue.

Jan

It IS possible, depending on what AV the person is using. I can't give
an example of THAT particular issue but I have seen many virus removal
tools being detected as viruses or trojans by the Antivirus program made
by the same people as the removal tool. Sometimes (depending on the AV
scanner) it will detect elements that are common in trojans etc but
there IS such thing as a "good trojan".
Hope this helps to clarify,
sh4d03

Jan Il wrote:

> Hi all -
>
> I'm curious about a situation that a poster stated in the following in
> regards to a suggestion to use these programs to see if they would help
> resolve their problem;
>
> Quote/Except for CWShredder and Hijack This. I've received virus alerts
> when downloading them, so will not use them./End quote
>
> I am really surprised at this statement, as I have not heard or seen anyone
> make such a statement, or that this might be possible by a variant of CWS.
> Is this possible?
>
> I'd truly appreciate any input on this issue.
>
> Jan
>
>
>

"sh4d03" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:40beda64$(E-Mail Removed)...
> It IS possible, depending on what AV the person is using. I can't give
> an example of THAT particular issue but I have seen many virus removal
> tools being detected as viruses or trojans by the Antivirus program made
> by the same people as the removal tool. Sometimes (depending on the AV
> scanner) it will detect elements that are common in trojans etc but
> there IS such thing as a "good trojan".

I was just so surprised to hear this about these programs, it just caught me
off base.

Thank you for the clarification, I really appreciate it.

Jan

On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 22:44:27 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi all -
>
>I'm curious about a situation that a poster stated in the following in
>regards to a suggestion to use these programs to see if they would help
>resolve their problem;
>
>Quote/Except for CWShredder and Hijack This. I've received virus alerts
>when downloading them, so will not use them./End quote
>
>I am really surprised at this statement, as I have not heard or seen anyone
>make such a statement, or that this might be possible by a variant of CWS.
>Is this possible?
>
>I'd truly appreciate any input on this issue.

Scanner false alarm problems aren't all that rare. There have been
cases of one major product antivirus alerting on another. This occurs
because scanners use heuristics, and not just signatures. In general,
it's a good idea to take scanner alerts with a grain of salt. It's
never a good idea to set a scanner to delete files before you get a
chance to assess the situation. The use of more than one scanner for
"second opinions" is highly recommended.

Scanners will also misidentify sometimes, announcing malware X when
malware Y is actually present.

These false alarm and misidentification problems occur with both
Trojan and antivirus scanners.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

Hi Art -
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 2 Jun 2004 22:44:27 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >Hi all -
> >
> >I'm curious about a situation that a poster stated in the following in
> >regards to a suggestion to use these programs to see if they would help
> >resolve their problem;
> >
> >Quote/Except for CWShredder and Hijack This. I've received virus alerts
> >when downloading them, so will not use them./End quote
> >
> >I am really surprised at this statement, as I have not heard or seen
anyone
> >make such a statement, or that this might be possible by a variant of
CWS.
> >Is this possible?
> >
> >I'd truly appreciate any input on this issue.
>
> Scanner false alarm problems aren't all that rare. There have been
> cases of one major product antivirus alerting on another. This occurs
> because scanners use heuristics, and not just signatures. In general,
> it's a good idea to take scanner alerts with a grain of salt. It's
> never a good idea to set a scanner to delete files before you get a
> chance to assess the situation. The use of more than one scanner for
> "second opinions" is highly recommended.
>
> Scanners will also misidentify sometimes, announcing malware X when
> malware Y is actually present.
>
> These false alarm and misidentification problems occur with both
> Trojan and antivirus scanners.

I know there are possibilities of AV's giving false alerts to existing files
on the machine, and some types of general programs during download, but, I
had not heard of anything regarding these programs during downloading. The
poster did not state what AV they were using, so it will be interesting to
see which one he has and which site he was downloading from. As you no
doubt are aware, there is a program out called SpyBlaster claiming to help
keep crud off the system, and when you click the link it leads back to
'SpywareBlaster'. But, it is from various links. I found that very
suspicious. Maybe I'm just a Nervous Nell, but, when something named that
close to a legitimate and well known and trusted program, has several
different links that go to the SpywareBlaster home page, I tend to be wary
of the links.

Thank you very much for the additional information, I really appreciate it.

Jan

On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:18:10 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>> These false alarm and misidentification problems occur with both
>> Trojan and antivirus scanners.
>
>I know there are possibilities of AV's giving false alerts to existing files
>on the machine, and some types of general programs during download, but, I
>had not heard of anything regarding these programs during downloading. The
>poster did not state what AV they were using, so it will be interesting to
>see which one he has and which site he was downloading from. As you no
>doubt are aware, there is a program out called SpyBlaster claiming to help
>keep crud off the system, and when you click the link it leads back to
>'SpywareBlaster'. But, it is from various links. I found that very
>suspicious. Maybe I'm just a Nervous Nell, but, when something named that
>close to a legitimate and well known and trusted program, has several
>different links that go to the SpywareBlaster home page, I tend to be wary
>of the links.

Is this the SpywareBlaster you mean?:

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

If so, it seems from the description that it's aimed primarily at IE
users having activex enabled <shudder>. It allegedly blocks spyware
from being downloaded for such high risk and unknowledgeable users.

Programs like that are unnecessary when Mozilla or one of its cousins
is used in place of IE. Gone then is all the nervousness about links,
etc.

>Thank you very much for the additional information, I really appreciate it.

You're wecome.


Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 20:20:16 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:18:10 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>wrote:
>
>>> These false alarm and misidentification problems occur with both
>>> Trojan and antivirus scanners.
>>
>>I know there are possibilities of AV's giving false alerts to existing files
>>on the machine, and some types of general programs during download, but, I
>>had not heard of anything regarding these programs during downloading. The
>>poster did not state what AV they were using, so it will be interesting to
>>see which one he has and which site he was downloading from. As you no
>>doubt are aware, there is a program out called SpyBlaster claiming to help
>>keep crud off the system, and when you click the link it leads back to
>>'SpywareBlaster'. But, it is from various links. I found that very
>>suspicious. Maybe I'm just a Nervous Nell, but, when something named that
>>close to a legitimate and well known and trusted program, has several
>>different links that go to the SpywareBlaster home page, I tend to be wary
>>of the links.
>
>Is this the SpywareBlaster you mean?:
>
>http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
>
>If so, it seems from the description that it's aimed primarily at IE
>users having activex enabled <shudder>. It allegedly blocks spyware
>from being downloaded for such high risk and unknowledgeable users.
>
>Programs like that are unnecessary when Mozilla or one of its cousins
>is used in place of IE. Gone then is all the nervousness about links,
>etc.

I continue to use SpywareBlaster as it prevents tracking cookies
in Mozilla/Firefox. Between my HOSTS, SpywareBlaster and WinPatrol,
Adaware never finds anything.

>>Thank you very much for the additional information, I really appreciate it.
>
>You're wecome.
>
>Art
>http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

BoB

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 19:59:06 -0400, BoB <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 20:20:16 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:18:10 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>> These false alarm and misidentification problems occur with both
>>>> Trojan and antivirus scanners.
>>>
>>>I know there are possibilities of AV's giving false alerts to existing files
>>>on the machine, and some types of general programs during download, but, I
>>>had not heard of anything regarding these programs during downloading. The
>>>poster did not state what AV they were using, so it will be interesting to
>>>see which one he has and which site he was downloading from. As you no
>>>doubt are aware, there is a program out called SpyBlaster claiming to help
>>>keep crud off the system, and when you click the link it leads back to
>>>'SpywareBlaster'. But, it is from various links. I found that very
>>>suspicious. Maybe I'm just a Nervous Nell, but, when something named that
>>>close to a legitimate and well known and trusted program, has several
>>>different links that go to the SpywareBlaster home page, I tend to be wary
>>>of the links.
>>
>>Is this the SpywareBlaster you mean?:
>>
>>http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
>>
>>If so, it seems from the description that it's aimed primarily at IE
>>users having activex enabled <shudder>. It allegedly blocks spyware
>>from being downloaded for such high risk and unknowledgeable users.
>>
>>Programs like that are unnecessary when Mozilla or one of its cousins
>>is used in place of IE. Gone then is all the nervousness about links,
>>etc.
>
>I continue to use SpywareBlaster as it prevents tracking cookies
>in Mozilla/Firefox. Between my HOSTS, SpywareBlaster and WinPatrol,
>Adaware never finds anything.

I like to run lean and mean without all kinds of useless
encumberances. AdAware/Spybot never find anything on my PC either
except maybe new tracking cookies. My autoexec.bat file is set to
clean out various cache and temp folders, including cookies (which are
harmless anyway).

..
Art
http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:18:10 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >> These false alarm and misidentification problems occur with both
> >> Trojan and antivirus scanners.
> >
> >I know there are possibilities of AV's giving false alerts to existing
files
> >on the machine, and some types of general programs during download, but,
I
> >had not heard of anything regarding these programs during downloading.
The
> >poster did not state what AV they were using, so it will be interesting
to
> >see which one he has and which site he was downloading from. As you no
> >doubt are aware, there is a program out called SpyBlaster claiming to
help
> >keep crud off the system, and when you click the link it leads back to
> >'SpywareBlaster'. But, it is from various links. I found that very
> >suspicious. Maybe I'm just a Nervous Nell, but, when something named that
> >close to a legitimate and well known and trusted program, has several
> >different links that go to the SpywareBlaster home page, I tend to be
wary
> >of the links.
>
> Is this the SpywareBlaster you mean?:
>
> http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

No, I have SpywareBlaster, and I know it is a good app, the one I am not
sure of why it is doing what it's doing is this one.

http://www.ryckz.com/

Here it is promoted the same as SpywareBlaster, and when you click the link
it takes you to the SpywareBlaster home page. While it does lead to the
SpywareBlaster home page, which is a legitimate program, it is from
questionable sites first. Perhaps it is legit. I dunno, we have not found
anything on it yet. As it has the similar name and promotion exactly as
SpywareBlaster, which in the end, it is, is very confusing to people who are
not that computer savvy. This is how my elderly cousin wound up buying
SpyHunter, which really did a number on his system, instead of getting
SpywareHunter. Guess I'm just more alert to same looking or sounding names
these days. So to me, this one looks suspect.

Thank you for the update and additonal information.

Jan

On Fri, 04 Jun 2004 00:46:34 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 19:59:06 -0400, BoB <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 20:20:16 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:18:10 -0700, "Jan Il" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>>>wrote:
>>
>>I continue to use SpywareBlaster as it prevents tracking cookies
>>in Mozilla/Firefox. Between my HOSTS, SpywareBlaster and WinPatrol,
>>Adaware never finds anything.
>
>I like to run lean and mean without all kinds of useless
>encumberances. AdAware/Spybot never find anything on my PC either
>except maybe new tracking cookies. My autoexec.bat file is set to
>clean out various cache and temp folders, including cookies (which are
>harmless anyway).
>
>Art
>http://www.epix.net/~artnpeg

Available space on drive C: 34935MB of 38152MB (FAT32). I strive
to be lean and mean here too. Monthly defrag takes only minutes.

1,234MB of used space is backup material, so less than 2gig is
actually programs and data. A small removable HD stores another
copy of backup data.

BoB