About spyware

[John Herbster]

Where can I find a good, modern description of
(1) What Windows spyware is?
(2) How spyware works?
(3) What spyware does?
(4) How spyware gets into my computer?
(5) How can I keep spyware from getting into my computer?
(6) How can I tell if spyware is present in my computer?
(7) How can I keep spyware from executing?
(8) How can I remove spyware from my computer?
(9) What do the Ad-aware, SpyBot S&D, et. al programs
do and how do they do it?
TIA, JohnH

 

[MacArthur]

G O O G L E !

 

[John Herbster]

I see that I should have asked
"Where can I find a good, modern, *concise* description"

G O O G L E !

Thanks, but I have been there.

 

[Bernie]

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/info8.htm
I imagine you can find what your looking for here.

 

[Mike Hall]

Do you ask the same questions about household cleaners?.. go back to the
Google searches and download Adaware, Spybot, CWShredder, OmegaKiller,
Hijackthis..

 

[Touch Base]

Some of your answers are here:

You may find this very interesting reading. Eric Howes is a well known
person in forums and newsgroups and has expert knowledge in the area of
spyware. This is a submission he put together for the FTC in the U.S.

I hope they read, understand and use his information in relation to laws and
regulations against what I call scumware and what Eric calls crapware. If
you or any friends have ever had to clean up or reinstall your operating
system because of 'free' programs on the net then this is a very interesting
read.

Comments to the FTC
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/ftc-comments.htm

Junkware: A New Name for Spyware
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/junkware.htm

The Anatomy of a Drive-by-Download
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/dbd-anatomy.htm

 

[MacArthur]

I didn't mean to offend.

The first of 9,200,000 hits that I got when I used the term:
htttp://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html seemed pretty informative and it
offered subsequent links to other sites.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Start here http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


| Where can I find a good, modern description of
| (1) What Windows spyware is?
| (2) How spyware works?
| (3) What spyware does?
| (4) How spyware gets into my computer?
| (5) How can I keep spyware from getting into my computer?
| (6) How can I tell if spyware is present in my computer?
| (7) How can I keep spyware from executing?
| (8) How can I remove spyware from my computer?
| (9) What do the Ad-aware, SpyBot S&D, et. al programs
| do and how do they do it?
| TIA, JohnH

 

[Bernie]

I'm so tired of Google given as an answer to questions. I recently
responded to a question in another newsgroup and the answer may have been
buried on page 30 of a google search, however it was on page two of a Tehoma
search. Eight years ago I would have know the answer to that particular
question, however my brain works on FIFO so I had to look it up. I've been
on the net for over ten years and have taken college courses in searching
and in my opinion Google is becoming almost as useless as Microsoft search
always has been. I'm not advocating Tehoma, because in another year or two
they'll have added as much uselessness as Google and Microsoft already have.
You didn't offend anyone worth his salt.

 

[John Herbster]

[Among] The first of 9,200,000 hits that I got when I used
the term htttp://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html
seemed pretty informative and it offered subsequent links
to other sites.

Thanks to all! I appreciate the expert advice about
what to study. --JohnH

 

[HillBillyBuddhist]

Where can I find a good, modern description of
(1) What Windows spyware is?
(2) How spyware works?
(3) What spyware does?
(4) How spyware gets into my computer?
(5) How can I keep spyware from getting into my computer?
(6) How can I tell if spyware is present in my computer?
(7) How can I keep spyware from executing?
(8) How can I remove spyware from my computer?
(9) What do the Ad-aware, SpyBot S&D, et. al programs
do and how do they do it?
TIA, JohnH

Good Spyware FAQ.

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/spyware

--
D

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details.

Remove shoes to E-mail.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

A better way to have asked is, "What one website is the best starting point
for information about spyware?"

 

[John Herbster]

A better way to have asked is, "What one website is
the best starting point for information about spyware?"

Colin, Thank you for the suggestion. However, what I want
is more about the technical aspects of how it works. If I
had asked your suggested question, then I think that I
would have gotten the common answers for avoiding
the problems of spyware. Regards, JohnH

 

[Mike Hall]

The technical side is that the spyware programs look for code that is
recognised as spyware/malware and attempt to remove it..

Spyware gets onto a computer because the user unwittingly (in most cases)
signs up for something that has 'sponsor' programs as part of the
agreement..

Spybot can immunise a system against most spyware attacks..

There is no single program available that deals with all types of spyware..
there are too many variations cropping up by the day..

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

My point is to start the conversation with a single question and then guide
it through the interaction. Your question was a syllabus and that you
should fill out yourself with your own research based on resources folks
here are willing to offer.

 

[John Herbster]

My point is to start the conversation with a single
question and then guide it through the interaction.

I will consider giving that that a try next time. --JohnH

 

[Wislu Plethora]

I'm so tired of Google given as an answer to questions. I recently
responded to a question in another newsgroup and the answer may have been
buried on page 30 of a google search, however it was on page two of a Tehoma
search. Eight years ago I would have know the answer to that particular
question, however my brain works on FIFO so I had to look it up. I've been
on the net for over ten years and have taken college courses in searching
and in my opinion Google is becoming almost as useless as Microsoft search
always has been. I'm not advocating Tehoma, because in another year or two
they'll have added as much uselessness as Google and Microsoft already have.
You didn't offend anyone worth his salt.

If your answer might have been buried on page 30, it means that your initial
search terms weren't specific enough. Seems like after 10 years you might
have learned how to search.

 

[charter]

I think a public funded search site is desperatedly needed.

 

[Bernie]

If your answer might have been buried on page 30, it means that your
initialRegarding Spyware, Eric Howes' information and home page should be one of
the top hits and it isn't anywhere close.
When I want information on any subject I'd like to get it from someone who
is considered an expert in his field by his peers, perhaps someone who
actually testified at a government hearing as an expert on the matter.
What I don't want is 96 thousand links to one sentence blurbs in Usenet
post, links to some website that require you become a member to read the
answer to your question, someone complaining about spyware he installed and
other useless sites.
Pretty much the only way you'll ever find this web site is if someone gives
it to you.
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/main-nf.htm
You can type Spyware, Spyware Information or any combination of related
words into a google search and click next page forever and you'll likely
never find it. I don't care what search term you type into a google search,
the information you want will not be on the first page and most likely won't
be on the second page either.
Not everyone deserves 15 min. of fame or a link from a search engine. Now
every fool with notepad, HTML for Dummies and ISP provided free web server
space is posting to the net and you can find every darned one of them with
google. I liken it to white noise and it's drowning out all the useful and
relevant information.
I've 25 different search engines in my favorites folder, they all get used
and google gets used less and less every year.
I imagine you must have purchased some of that overpriced google stock that
was maybe worth about $20.00 at best and are trying to justify your
excesses.

 

[Mike Hall]

Bernie

Some people here are experts in their field, and the one's that aren't still
have a role to play.. that goes for forums and any other information site..
the URL that you posted amounts to not a great deal more than lists of
available security software.. for most, Adaware, Spybot, CWShredder and
Hijackthis will cut it.. most stores have either McAfee or Norton
firewall/av combos, so that is what people buy, and both work well enough..
Google searches find all of these, and at no point does the user have to go
through every search hit to find any of them..

Twenty five search engines is a little OTT, but whatever works for you, eh..