Messenger Service

  • Thread starter Thread starter ulgetahi
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ulgetahi

I keep getting these popups when I'm not even using
Internet Explorer. The title bar says "Messenger
Service" and the window tells me that if I want to stop
popups I should go to www.byebyeads.com. Clearly this is
a scam of some sort. I was wondering if there was any
way to stop these popups. I have tried searching my
registry keys for suspicious entries and nothing seems to
be there. I have run Ad-Aware and my corporate Norton
Virus scan to be sure that I have no viruses or ad-ware.
Please help!
-bryan
 
In
ulgetahi said:
I keep getting these popups when I'm not even using
Internet Explorer. The title bar says "Messenger
Service" and the window tells me that if I want to stop
popups I should go to www.byebyeads.com. Clearly this is
a scam of some sort. I was wondering if there was any
way to stop these popups. I have tried searching my
registry keys for suspicious entries and nothing seems to
be there. I have run Ad-Aware and my corporate Norton
Virus scan to be sure that I have no viruses or ad-ware.
Click to expand...


You need to install a firewall.
 
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?


Bruce Chambers

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