Registry - ZoneMap\Domains

[The Cleaning Wonder Boy]

Can someone explain to me the entries in this registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings\ZoneMap\Domains

Seems there are quite a bit of advertising, spam-related, and porn
domains listed there. WHY and WHAT are these for?

 

[Chuck]

Can someone explain to me the entries in this registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings\ZoneMap\Domains

Seems there are quite a bit of advertising, spam-related, and porn
domains listed there. WHY and WHAT are these for?

Look in Internet Properties - Security. You have 4 Zones, with varying degree
of trust to each one:
Restricted (totally untrusted)
Internet (slightly trusted)
Trusted sites (somewhat trusted)
Local intranet (totally trusted)

Some information:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=182569

Depending upon what zone a domain is in, Internet Explorer will use a varying
amount of scripting, and other code, from the web pages provided by that domain.

Products like IE-SpyAd
<https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm#IESPYAD> can populate the
Restricted zone for you, so when you (inadvertently) surf to one of those
domains (ahem), the potentially hostile code provided by the crackers and
spyware writers will be ignored. Of course, you do not get the rich multimedia
content provided by the advertisers and porn pushers, but you can't have
everything.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[The Cleaning Wonder Boy]

Look in Internet Properties - Security. You have 4 Zones, with varying degree
of trust to each one:
Restricted (totally untrusted)
Internet (slightly trusted)
Trusted sites (somewhat trusted)
Local intranet (totally trusted)

Some information:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=182569

Depending upon what zone a domain is in, Internet Explorer will use a varying
amount of scripting, and other code, from the web pages provided by that domain.

<SNIP>

But HOW did the URLs get in there? Did MS provide them with XP install?

 

[Chuck]

<SNIP>

But HOW did the URLs get in there? Did MS provide them with XP install?

Good question. Probably not M$. What security programs do you run? I use
IE-SpyAd (among others), which populates MY Restricted Zone. AntiVirus? PopUp
Blocker?

Any security program MIGHT slip those in there, as it's good security to block
all that crap. You'd hope that they would tell you though.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.