Messenger Service pop-up ads

P

Patrick H.

About a month and a half ago, I got a new Dell computer
w/ Windows XP. Every time I sign onto America Online, I
start getting these ridiculous pop-up ads for websites
and other stuff. The ads are titled Messenger Service,
and they're blue and grey, which is why I think they are
Microsoft Internet Explorer ads. How do I stop them?
 
P

Perdita X. Dream

rory said:
Enable your firewall. See Help and Support.
Then test it:
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&v
enid=sym

If you stll get them, they may have been "planted" on your system.
Download
and run these free programs:
Spybot:
http://www.safer-networking.org/
Ad-aware:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com
Click to expand...

Rory - he has AOHELL which over-rides the default port settings and renders
the native firewall completely useless. The only way to stop this intrusion
whilst running AOHELL is to purchase and configure a 3rd-party firewall.
This is the reason I advise people to *NEVER* allow this legal trojan within
spitting distance of their systems.
 
P

purplehaz

If they say messenger service in the title bar, these popups have nothing to
do with MSN messenger or Windows messenger. What this is a new way for
spammers to attack your computer and send you pop-up ads. If you receive
these ads it means that your computers netbios ports are wide open to the
internet and this could be a real security problem. What you should do is
install a good firewall that will block the ports the spammers use and stop
the ads. A good place to start is Zone Alarm ( www.zonelabs.com ) for an
inbound/outbound blocking firewall or use the inbound blocking only firewall
built in to XP. If needed configure the XP firewall to block ports 135,
137-139 and 445. Zone Alarm will block these ports by default.

Use this site to test some of your ports security:
https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

You can disable the messenger service, which is the service the spammers
exploit, but it isn't needed to stop the ads and disabling the service will
not secure your computer from outside attacks or block the open netbios
ports.

Note: If the Messenger service is stopped, messages from the Alerter
service (notifications from your antivirus software, for example) are
not transmitted. If the Messenger service is turned off, any services
that explicitly depend on the Messenger service do not start, and an
error message is logged in the System event log. For this reason,
Microsoft recommends that you install a firewall and configure it to
block NetBIOS and RPC traffic instead of turning off the Messenger
service.

If the pop-ups appear while surfing web pages then download and install one
of the many pop-up blocker programs. Search www.download.com for popup
blocker, you'll find many free ones.

Also get a good spyware cleaner -- http://security.kolla.de/
 
J

John

You can turn off the messenger service by going into
control panel and opening up administrative tools. Click
on Services and scroll down until you see the one labeled
messenger. Right click on properties and click disable.
Hope that cures your problem
John
 
P

Perdita X. Dream

John said:
You can turn off the messenger service by going into
control panel and opening up administrative tools. Click
on Services and scroll down until you see the one labeled
messenger. Right click on properties and click disable.
Hope that cures your problem
John
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't - it merely masks the symptoms, like mending a broken leg
with a band-aid. The messages serve as a valid security warning and the
correct response is to install and configure a firewall (you could turn on
the native one but this doesn't work for any internet service with its own
front end - e.g. AOHELL or CompuServe). How is turning off the warning
helpful.
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Greetings --

This type of spam has become quite common over the past several
months, and unintentionally serves as a valid security "alert." It
demonstrates that you haven't been taking sufficient precautions while
connected to the Internet. Your data probably hasn't been compromised
by these specific advertisements, but if you're open to this exploit,
you may well be open to other threats, such as the Blaster Worm that
recently swept cross the Internet. Install and use a decent,
properly configured firewall. (Merely disabling the messenger
service, as some people recommend, only hides the symptom, and does
little or nothing to truly secure your machine.) And ignoring or just
"putting up with" the security gap represented by these messages is
particularly foolish.

Messenger Service of Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;168893

Messenger Service Window That Contains an Internet Advertisement
Appears
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904

Stopping Advertisements with Messenger Service Titles
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Oh, and be especially wary of people who advise you to do nothing
more than disable the messenger service. Disabling the messenger
service, by itself, is a "head in the sand" approach to computer
security. The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups;
they're actually providing a useful, if annoying, service by acting as
a security alert. The true problem is the unsecured computer, and
you've been advised to merely turn off the warnings. How is this
helpful?

You'll either need to find a 3rd party firewall that is compatible
with AOL, or switch to a real ISP that is compatible with the real
Internet..

AOL is an on-line content provider that ignores international
Internetworking standards in favor of its own proprietary products,
and has deliberately made its connection software incompatible with
both WinXP's built-in firewall and WinXP's Internet Connection Sharing
feature. AOL's proprietary connection applet is deliberately designed
to preclude your setting/adjusting any of its properties, to include
enabling/disabling WinXP's ICF and ICS.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Greetings --

Please stop deliberately posting potentially harmful advice.

Disabling the messenger service is a "head in the sand" approach
to computer security that leaves the PC vulnerable to threats such as
the W32.Blaster.Worm.

The real problem is _not_ the messenger service pop-ups; they're
actually providing a useful service by acting as a security alert. The
true problem is the unsecured computer, and you're only
advice, however well-intended, was to turn off the warnings. How is
this helpful?

Equivalent Scenario: You over-exert your shoulder at work or
play, causing bursitis. After weeks of annoying and sometimes
excruciating pain whenever you try to reach over your head, you go to
a doctor and say, while demonstrating the motion, "Doc, it hurts when
I do this." The doctor, being as helpful as you are, replies, "Well,
don't do that."

The only true way to secure the PC, short of disconnecting it from
the Internet, is to install and *properly* configure a firewall; just
installing one and letting it's default settings handle things is no
good. Unfortunately, this does require one to learn a little bit more
about using a computer than used to be necessary.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH
 

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