Answers inline as well as my "large 'secure your pc' rant" at the bottom.
You may find answers you need in either place - the rant at the bottom has
many links that should explain spyware and its removal to you in better ways
than I can.
Regina said:
Is spyware/adware an *.exe, a plug-in, or an active-x, or more than
one of these types?
Any and all of the above. Spyware can be Active-X, Cookies, Plugin,
Application (exe, etc) or a few of the above. Spyware/Adware (and popups
from web pages) can install entries in your registry to reinstall
themselves, put things in INI/batch scripts to do the same and so on. They
are no more/less sophisticated than your common virus/trojan/worm. They
just happen to do less damage in most cases and until recently, get less
news coverage.
And am I correct in supposing that I have less of a chance of deleting
something useful if I let a dedicated spyware/adware removal program
pick which plug-ins and/or active-x's to remove, rather than to try to
guess at this myself with a Norton SystemWorks function?
You have a much better chance at NOT screwing anything up if you use
applications that are freshly updated with Spyware definitions so it finds
only the bad guys you are looking for and not some obscure signature. Yes,
there are applications in this category that could have you erasing good
things (HijackThis! is not for the untrained individual..) but the basics
(Spybot Search and Destroy, Lavasoft AdAware and SpywareBlaster in my
opinion) will not cause problems, will not eliminate anything you REALLY
need, can and will make backups while they do their work and prevent you
from getting reinfected without necessarily running any program resident (or
all the time.)
First, I want to thank Cari \(MS-MVP\) and Shenan Stanley for
answering my previous post in which I requested help in settling
an argument.
No problem. I hope I helped somewhat.
One thing I didn't make clear in the previous posting is that I am the
owner of this computer, but the other person uses it sometimes. Plus
this other person is in charge of maintaining networked computers at
his job (Windows Twenty Hundred or NT, not XP at this time), and I
often defer to his expertise. However, I am slowly but surely learning
things on my own, such as the spread of spyware/adware.
Excellent. Keep learning. Even those who upkeep computers can always learn
something. I know it is my job, but I learn how to fix things on my job
from these newsgroups from people almost every day - mostly because I can
see the problems here (and sometimes solutions) before I witness it at work.
Since I last posted a few hours ago, I've spent time at the web site
of a well-known airline that is scheduled to debut in Philadelphia
tomorrow. I've noticed that just about every pop-up I've gotten while
at this site pushes a travel-planning service. Thus, I am convinced
that these are not just random pop-ups from sites that have just started
to produce them (such as my Internet Service Provider's web mail service,
which has banner ads but has in the past claimed that they are not
going to resort to pop-ups ads). What I've learned in the past few days
about spyware/adware have confirmed my belief that I've gotten
attacked.
While it is possible you have been "attacked", some of these attacks are
nothing more than cookie storage and popup web pages from the site itself.
While annoying, I cannot personally classify web page popups as
Spyware/Adware. Things like this (popups on a web page, advertising popups,
etc) are done by people you just would not expect. I remember the first
time I went to Symantec's website and received a web page pop up. Yeah -
they had the common decency to do a popup rather than a pop-under, but wow -
it took me by surprise. Symantec, maker of Security tools galore, sending
me web page popups! Anyway - if you want to protect yourself from this, I
suggest something like the Google Toolbar. It stops popups in IE. Yes -
SP2 for Windows XP will have some popup stopping capabilities, but SP2 is
not releases officially yet!
One thing that the other person in this household keeps telling me to
do is to enter Ctl-Alt-Del during such an Internet connection as these
ads are showing up. He says I should be able to see the *.exe file that's
doing this to me. I told him I had already done this and only saw
entries for Internet Explorer and any other program that I already
knew that I was running (such as Netscape, which I use for email and
newsgroups).
True. This is what you would see if these popups were merely that - pages
that the web page you are on is loading up with a timer in their web page
code. They send a signal to open a new browser and insert this text/image
in it. Nothing inherently bad there - usually - but annoying. It also will
not startup a "different" application in Internet Explorer.
Thus, I am guessing that spyware/adware either doesn't show up in the
Task Manager (not an *.exe, in other words), or it has made a
lightning-quick entry and exit, with the time spent there working out
to be just long enough to fetch and display another pop-up ad.
Some shows up, some does not. It's tricky!
If it's not an *.exe, my housemate suggests, it is then either a
plug-in or an active-x. And he points out to me that Norton
SystemWorks has functions in which I can selective clean these
out. Yes, this is true, but I don't know enough about what each
plug-in or active-x does. I am supposing that the various
adware/spyware removal programs know just what to look for.
Decent assumption. Not true in all cases, but it can be.
Having said that, let me say that I am a system administrator at a decently
large university. I have worked in student computing labs and with normal
office staff. Currently in all cases I run Symantec AntiVirus,
SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy. I use the first for antivirus
and the latter for removal of spy/adware and immunization against it. There
is NO WAY I would trust ONE product to do it all. Not only that, but there
is no way I would trust one product to get rid of spyware when it is an
obvious fact that is not what they concentrate on.
In any case, here is the "large spill" I promised. Don't say I didn't warn
you!
Suggestions on what you can do to secure/clean your PC. I'm going to try
and be general, I will assume a "Windows" operating system is what is
being secured here.
UPDATES and PATCHES
-------------------
This one is the most obvious. There is no perfect product and any company
worth their salt will try to meet/exceed the needs of their customers and
fix any problems they find along the way. I am not going to say Microsoft
is the best company in the world about this but they do have an option
available for you to use to keep your machine updated and patched from
the problems and vulnerabilities (as well as product improvements in some
cases) - and it's free to you.
Windows Update
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Go there and scan your machine for updates. Always get the critical ones as
you see them. Write down the KB###### or Q###### you see when selecting the
updates and if you have trouble over the next few days, go into your control
panel (Add/Remove Programs), match up the latest numbers you downloaded
recently (since you started noticing an issue) and uninstall them. If there
was more than one (usually is), install them back one by one - with a few
hours of use in between, to see if the problem returns. Yes - the process
is not perfect (updating) and can cause trouble like I mentioned - but as
you can see, the solution isn't that bad - and is MUCH better than the
alternatives. (SASSER/BLASTER were SO preventable with just this step!)
Windows is not the only product you likely have on your PC. The
manufacturers of the other products usually have updates as well. New
versions of almost everything come out all the time - some are free, some
are pay - some you can only download if you are registered - but it is best
to check. Just go to their web pages and look under their support and
download sections.
You also have hardware on your machine that requires drivers to interface
with the operating system. You have a video card that allows you to see on
your screen, a sound card that allows you to hear your PCs sound output and
so on. Visit those manufacturer web sites for the latest downloadable
drivers for your hardware/operating system. Always (IMO) get the
manufacturers hardware driver over any Microsoft offers. On the Windows
Update site I mentioned earlier, I suggest NOT getting their hardware
drivers - no matter how tempting.
Have I mentioned that Microsoft has some stuff to help secure your computer
available to the end-user for free? This seems as good of a time as any.
They have a CD you can order (it's free) that contain all of the Windows
patches through October 2003 and some trial products as well that they
released in February 2004. Yeah - it's a little behind now, but it's better
than nothing (and used in coordination with the information in this post,
well worth the purchase price..)
Order the Windows Security Update CD
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp
They also have a bunch of suggestions, some similar to these, on how to
better protect your Windows system:
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
FIREWALL
--------
Let's say you are up-to-date on the OS (operating system) and you have
Windows XP.. You should at least turn on the built in firewall. That will
do a lot to "hide" you from the random bad things flying around the
Internet. Things like Sasser/Blaster enjoy just sitting out there in
Cyberspace looking for an unprotected Windows Operating System and jumping
on it, doing great damage in the process and then using that Unprotected OS
to continue its dirty work of infecting others. If you have the Windows XP
ICF turned on - default configuration - then they cannot see you! Think of
it as Internet Stealth Mode at this point. It has other advantages, like
actually locking the doors you didn't even (likely) know you had. Doing
this is simple, the instructions you need to use your built in Windows XP
firewall can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320855
If you read through that and look through the pages that are linked from it
at the bottom of that page - I think you should have a firm grasp on the
basics of the Windows XP Firewall as it is today.
But let's say you DON'T have Windows XP - you have some other OS like
Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, NT, 2000. Well, you don't have the nifty built in
firewall. My suggestion - upgrade. My next suggestion - look through your
options. There are lots of free and pay firewalls out there for home users.
Yes - you will have to decide on your own which to get. Yes, you will have
to learn (oh no!) to use these firewalls and configure them so they don't
interfere with what you want to do while continuing to provide the security
you desire. It's just like anything else you want to protect - you have to
do something to protect it. Here are some suggested applications. A lot of
people tout "ZoneAlarm" as being the best alternative to just using the
Windows XP ICF, but truthfully - any of these alternatives are much better
than the Windows XP ICF at what they do - because that is ALL they do.
ZoneAlarm (Free and up)
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Kerio Personal Firewall (KPF) (Free and up)
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_download.html
Outpost Firewall from Agnitum (Free and up)
http://www.agnitum.com/download/
Sygate Personal Firewall (Free and up)
http://smb.sygate.com/buy/download_buy.htm
Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall (~$25 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/
BlackICE PC Protection ($39.95 and up)
http://blackice.iss.net/
Tiny Personal Firewall (~$49.00 and up)
http://www.tinysoftware.com/
That list is not complete, but they are good firewall options, every one of
them. Visit the web pages, read up, ask around if you like - make a
decision and go with some firewall, any firewall. Also, maintain it.
Sometimes new holes are discovered in even the best of these products and
patches are released from the company to remedy this problem. However, if
you don't get the patches (check the manufacturer web page on occasion),
then you may never know you have the problem and/or are being used through
this weakness. Also, don't stack these things. Running more than one
firewall will not make you safer - it would likely (in fact) negate some
protection you gleamed from one or the other firewalls you ran together.
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
------------------
That's not all. That's one facet of a secure PC, but firewalls don't do
everything. I saw one idiot posting on a newsgroup that "they had
never had a virus and they never run any anti-virus software. Yep - I used
to believe that way too - viruses were something everyone else seemed to
get, were they just stupid? And for the average joe-user who is careful,
uses their one-three family computers carefully, never opening unknown
attachments, always visiting the same family safe web sites, never
installing anything that did not come with their computer - maybe, just
maybe they will never witness a virus. I, however, am a Network Systems
Administrator. I see that AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity. You
can be as careful as you want - will the next person be as careful? Will
someone send you unknowingly the email that erases all the pictures of your
child/childhood? Possibly - why take the chance? ALWAYS RUN ANTIVIRUS
SOFTWARE and KEEP IT UP TO DATE! Antivirus software comes in so many
flavors, it's like walking into a Jelly Belly store - which one tastes like
what?! Well, here are a few choices for you. Some of these are free (isn't
that nice?) and some are not. Is one better than the other - MAYBE. I
personally love Symantec AV.
Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus (~$11 and up)
http://www.symantec.com/
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.kaspersky.com/products.html
Panda Antivirus Titanium (~$39.95 and up)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/)
AVG 6.0 Anti-Virus System (Free and up)
http://www.grisoft.com/
McAfee VirusScan (~$11 and up)
http://www.mcafee.com/
AntiVir (Free and up)
http://www.free-av.com/
avast! 4 (Free and up)
http://www.avast.com/
Trend Micro (~$49.95 and up)
http://www.trendmicro.com/
(Free Online Scanner:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp)
Did I mention you have to not only install this software, but also keep it
updated? You do. Some of them (most) have automatic services to help you
do this - I mean, it's not your job to keep up with the half-dozen or more
new threats that come out daily, is it? Be sure to keep whichever one you
choose up to date!
SPYWARE/ADWARE/POPUPS
---------------------
So you must be thinking that the above two things got your back now - you
are covered, safe and secure in your little fox hole. Wrong! There are
more bad guys out there. There are annoyances out there you can get without
trying. Your normal web surfing, maybe a wrong click on a web page, maybe
just a momentary lack of judgment by installing some software packages
without doing the research.. And all of a sudden your screen starts filling
up with advertisements or your Internet seems much slower or your home page
won't stay what you set it and goes someplace unfamiliar to you. This is
spyware. There are a whole SLEW of software packages out there to get rid
of this crud and help prevent reinfection. Some of the products already
mentioned might even have branched out into this arena. However, there are
a few applications that seem to be the best at what they do, which is
eradicating and immunizing your system from this crap. Strangely, the best
products I have found in this category ARE generally free. That is a trend
I like. I make donations to some of them, they deserve it!
Spybot Search and Destroy (Free!)
http://www.safer-networking.net/
Lavasoft AdAware (Free and up)
http://www.lavasoft.de
CWSShredder (Free!)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
Hijack This! (Free)
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/
SpywareBlaster (Free!)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
ToolbarCop (Free!)
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/toolbarcop.htm
Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner (Free!)
http://kephyr.sureshot.xaviermedia.net/spywarescanner/
The Cleaner (49.95 and up)
http://www.moosoft.com/
That will clean up your machine of the spyware, given that you download and
install several of them, update them regularly and scan with them when you
update. Some (like SpywareBlaster and SpyBot Search and Destroy) have
immunization features that will help you prevent your PC from being
infected. Use these features!
Unfortunately, although that will lessen your popups on the Internet/while
you are online, it won't eliminate them. I have looked at a lot of options,
seen a lot of them used in production with people who seem to attract popups
like a plague, and I only have one suggestion that end up serving double
duty (search engine and popup stopper in one):
The Google Toolbar (Free!)
http://toolbar.google.com/
Yeah - it adds a bar to your Internet Explorer - but its a useful one. You
can search from there anytime with one of the best search engines on the
planet (IMO.) And the fact it stops most popups - wow - BONUS! If you
don't like that suggestion, then I am just going to say you go to
www.google.com and search for other options.
One more suggestion, although I will suggest this in a way later, is to
disable your Windows Messenger service. This service is not used frequently
(if at all) by the normal home user and in cooperation with a good firewall,
is generally unnecessary. Microsoft has instructions on how to do this for
Windows XP here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/communicate/stopspam.asp
SPAM EMAIL/JUNK MAIL
--------------------
This one can get annoying, just like the rest. You get 50 emails in one
sitting and 2 of them you wanted. NICE! (Not.) What can you do? Well,
although there are services out there to help you, some email
servers/services that actually do lower your spam with features built into
their servers - I still like the methods that let you be the end-decision
maker on what is spam and what isn't. If these things worked perfectly, we
wouldn't need people and then there would be no spam anyway - vicious
circle, eh? Anyway - I have two products to suggest to you, look at them
and see if either of them suite your needs. Again, if they don't, Google is
free and available for your perusal.
SpamBayes (Free!)
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/
Spamihilator (Free!)
http://www.spamihilator.com/
As I said, those are not your only options, but are reliable ones I have
seen function for hundreds+ people.
DISABLE UNUSED SERVICE/STARTUP APPS
-----------------------------------
I might get arguments on putting this one here, but it's my spill. There are
lots of services on your PC that are probably turned on by default you don't
use. Why have them on? Check out these web pages to see what all of the
services you might find on your computer are and set them according to your
personal needs. Yeah - this is another one you have to work for, but your
computer may speed up and/or be more secure because you took the time. And
if you document what you do as you do it, next time, it goes MUCH faster!
Task List Programs
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
Black Viper's Service List and Opinions (XP)
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
Processes in Windows NT/2000/XP
http://www.reger24.de/prozesse/
There are also applications that AREN'T services that startup when you start
up the computer/logon. One of the better description on how to handle these
I have found here:
Startups
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
That's it. A small booklet on how to keep your computer secure, clean of
scum and more user friendly. I am SURE I missed something, almost as I am
sure you won't read all of it (anyone for that matter.) However, I also
know that someone who followed all of the advice above would also have less
problems with their PC, less problems with viruses, less problems with spam,
less problems with spyware and better performance than someone who didn't.
Hope it helps.
