Scumware

[Chris48178]

I have scumware loaded on my computer. Microsoft Anti-Spyware has not fixed
this issue even with the latest updates installed. Ad-Aware could also not
remove this annoyance. Any ideas?

Below is an article detailing what Scumware is. It looks as though it also
copied the unwanted links in the text.

This month, my featured article is on an issue which is causing outcry among
the webmaster community, namely Scumware. Scumware, in case you haven't yet
heard of it is a webmaster's worst nightmare! Imagine a program which could
place links on your site which you didn't want there. Links to your
competitors, links to pornography and changes to your advertisements so that
they don't earn you any money. Just last year, people would have dismissed
this as impossible but today this is a real problem.

So how does this scumware affect your site like this? Basically, scumware is
software on your computer. Sometimes you get it with software you download,
other times you may download the software for something else and it will
also change websites you view. The scumware is a browser add-on which allows
it to recognize words in web pages, then underline them so that when they
are clicked a menu pops up asking if the user wants to go to an advertiser's
site. Some current scumware includes Gator, Surf+ and TopText. You may not
have downloaded any of these but if you have programs such as KaZaa, you may
have inadvertently downloaded one of these with it.

So what does this mean to webmasters? Basically, all your hard work has gone
to waste. All the time and money you have spent getting people to your site
is useless when, as soon as they arrive, TopText or Surf+ turns your website
into a link to a competitor! Even worse, in my opinion, is Gator, it doesn't
make links in text in your website, it actually finds the banner adverts on
your site and replaces them with its own. For thousands of webmasters across
the globe, this will remove their only tiny revenue stream.

It is not only the links to competitors and removal of advertising which
makes these programs so terrible. One of the main things that Surf+ does is
place links to pornography on sites, and this includes supposedly child
friendly sites like Disney's site. Although these programs don't actually
change the website, any user with scumware installed will see these links.
Another major concern over these programs is the copyright issue. They are,
without your permission, making changes to your website which is an obvious
copyright violation.

As you can see, both internet users and website owners should be very
concerned about scumware, so what can you do? I have 2 suggestions. Firstly,
visit scumware.com. This excellent website has details on how to check if
you have any scumware installed, gives all the latest scumware details, has
code which you can place on your website to stop scumware and has links to
conversations about it on forums around the web. Secondly, tell everyone you
can about scumware: post messages about it, contact offline media, tell all
your friends. If the online community turns against scumware then it will be
stopped.

 

[AndyManchesta]

Sorry I didnt read your story as Im abit busy if you have
problems with malware just say what it is and it will be
easier to respond,

This looks like Junk Mail so I havent got the time to
read it as Im helping genuine people on other forums and
through emails with malware, If you have a problem I will
assist in helping to remove that and so will alot of
other helpers on here but If this is junk mail then MS
will delete it within a day or two

All the best

Andy

 

[AndyManchesta]

Maybe I was abit harsh there I didnt mean to be rude it
was just the way you started the mail saying:

I have scumware loaded on my computer. Microsoft Anti-
Spyware has not fixed this issue even with the latest
updates installed. Ad-Aware could also not
remove this annoyance. Any ideas?

Then went on to tell a story so the above is false.

If you do have malware problems that no scanner is
removing then Im sure you would of listed these problems
in the post so there's not much we can do to help if you
are just commenting on scumware.

I do not believe that gator replaces banner ads on sites
with thier own as the banner ads are written into the
pages so there is no way Gator can change this without
having full access to the html code side of the site's,

Gator isnt a big problem for users these days and is
easily removed by add/remove screen or MS Antispy and
Toptext is just eZula so again not a big problem and
easily removed by MS Antispy or Add/Remove screen so I
cannot see any issues there that cannot be removed easily.

SurfPlus is from Spedia International and years old and
not a problem for spyware scanners and can easily be
deleted manually if required but Im not sure if you have
these problems so I will not post the file names unless
you need them.

The link you posted was this:

http://graphicdesign.searchking.com/aug2001.html

as you can see its 4 years old so none of the issues
raised there are a problem today and todays scanners
would easily remove these problems (so will add/remove
screen in many cases)

Regards

Andy

 

[Tom Emmelot]

Hello Cris,

try this program from Trend:
http://www.trendmicro.com/en/products/desktop/as/evaluate/overview.htm

Like to here of this work t for you.

Regards >*< TOM >*<

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE]

I have scumware loaded on my computer. Microsoft Anti-Spyware has not
fixed this issue even with the latest updates installed. Ad-Aware
could also not remove this annoyance. Any ideas?

Below is an article detailing what Scumware is. It looks as though it
also copied the unwanted links in the text.

This month, my featured article is on an issue which is causing
outcry among the webmaster community, namely Scumware. Scumware, in
case you haven't yet heard of it is a webmaster's worst nightmare!
Imagine a program which could place links on your site which you
didn't want there. Links to your competitors, links to pornography
and changes to your advertisements so that they don't earn you any
money. Just last year, people would have dismissed this as impossible
but today this is a real problem.
So how does this scumware affect your site like this? Basically,
scumware is software on your computer. Sometimes you get it with
software you download, other times you may download the software for
something else and it will also change websites you view. The
scumware is a browser add-on which allows it to recognize words in
web pages, then underline them so that when they are clicked a menu
pops up asking if the user wants to go to an advertiser's site. Some
current scumware includes Gator, Surf+ and TopText. You may not have
downloaded any of these but if you have programs such as KaZaa, you
may have inadvertently downloaded one of these with it.
So what does this mean to webmasters? Basically, all your hard work
has gone to waste. All the time and money you have spent getting
people to your site is useless when, as soon as they arrive, TopText
or Surf+ turns your website into a link to a competitor! Even worse,
in my opinion, is Gator, it doesn't make links in text in your
website, it actually finds the banner adverts on your site and
replaces them with its own. For thousands of webmasters across the
globe, this will remove their only tiny revenue stream.
It is not only the links to competitors and removal of advertising
which makes these programs so terrible. One of the main things that
Surf+ does is place links to pornography on sites, and this includes
supposedly child friendly sites like Disney's site. Although these
programs don't actually change the website, any user with scumware
installed will see these links. Another major concern over these
programs is the copyright issue. They are, without your permission,
making changes to your website which is an obvious copyright
violation.
As you can see, both internet users and website owners should be very
concerned about scumware, so what can you do? I have 2 suggestions.
Firstly, visit scumware.com. This excellent website has details on
how to check if you have any scumware installed, gives all the latest
scumware details, has code which you can place on your website to
stop scumware and has links to conversations about it on forums
around the web. Secondly, tell everyone you can about scumware: post
messages about it, contact offline media, tell all your friends. If
the online community turns against scumware then it will be stopped.

What was the point of this post?
Do you want help with something or are you just delivering a lecture?

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
I think this person was suggesting a website to get rid

of "scumware". I truly need help removing a stubborn page
that pops up whenever I try to access ordinary sites. The
message reads, "Can't access Yahoo? Your PC is infected
with spyware."---and then offers a link to buy their anti-
spyware products. I've already run Spybot, Ccleaner, and
MSAS 4 times in safe mode. What else should I do?

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE]

I think this person was suggesting a website to get rid
of "scumware". I truly need help removing a stubborn page
that pops up whenever I try to access ordinary sites. The
message reads, "Can't access Yahoo? Your PC is infected
with spyware."---and then offers a link to buy their anti-
spyware products. I've already run Spybot, Ccleaner, and
MSAS 4 times in safe mode. What else should I do?

What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx

CAUTION!!!!! Removing some spyware can damage the Winsock stact. Before
you try to remove spyware using any of these programs , download a copy of
LSP-Fix - a free program to repair damaged Winsock 2 stacks (all Windows
versions)
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
Winsockfix for W95, W98, ME, NT, 2000, XP
http://www.tacktech.com/pub/winsockfix/WinsockFix.zip
Directions here: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=257
WinXP:
Get WinSockxpFix
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html
How to Reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357
In WinXP SP2: You can fix Winsock by going to Start | Run and typing
CMD
In the command window type
netsh winsock reset

See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to do
than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

See this link for information about malware:
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/malware.ars

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

 

[Guest]

In my efforts to find out what is wrong with my pc I came
across this post. It describes my problems exactly. I
ran all kinds of scans and even tried some of your
suggestions here. The only suggestion I did not try was
the one you typed "caution" in front of. But the other
suggestions have not worked.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE]

In my efforts to find out what is wrong with my pc I came
across this post. It describes my problems exactly. I
ran all kinds of scans and even tried some of your
suggestions here. The only suggestion I did not try was
the one you typed "caution" in front of. But the other
suggestions have not worked.

Any other suggestions?

Do you have a link to where you posted your HijackThis log?

Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/