Pest Patrol freaks over RealVNC

[Teffy]

I installed RealVNC (server) on my Win2K box, and later ran the
adware, spyware, etc. utility Pest Patrol. It found a boatload of
so-called pests within RealVNC. Should I be concerned, or just ignore
the warnings? Why?

Thanks,
Teffy

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

What did it find?

 

[Jeffrey Randow (MVP)]

RealVNC standard shouldn't contain any spyware... Try one of the
other VNC versions (www.tightvnc.com or ultravnc.sourceforge.net to
see if they give better results).

Jeffrey Randow (Windows Net. & Smart Display MVP)
(e-mail address removed)

Please post all responses to the newsgroups for the benefit
of all USENET users. Messages sent via email may or may not
be answered depending on time availability....

Remote Networking Technology Support Site -
http://www.remotenetworktechnology.com
Windows XP Expert Zone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

 

[Bill Sanderson]

Purists--i.e. suspicious network admins, for example, will consider VNC to
be spyware. Although it doesn't hide completely (don't know if it can)--it
doesn't ask permission of the user to activate. There have, in the past,
been commercial remote admin tools which have been harnessed by malicious
users for "remote admin" work--on YOUR machine!

So I'm not sure whether you are seeing a purist approach--somewhat like
Spybot's flagging of all MRU and lists of various kinds--or something
real--perhaps a bad distribution of VNC.

Like any other bit of software, you want to be careful where you get it.

 

[Teffy]

The output from Pest Patrol is below. BTW, neither Spybot nor
Ad-aware complained.

Pest Number 33 VNC 3.3.7? Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Program
Files\realvnc\unins000.exe
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM
Company Name: Jordan Russell
File Description: Inno Setup Uninstaller
File Version: 51.5.0.0
Legal Copyright: Copyright (C) 1998-2001 Jordan Russell
Product Version: Certainty: Suspected
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 32 VNC 3.3.7? Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Program
Files\realvnc\unins000.dat
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Suspected
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 31 VNC 3.3.7 Directory Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Directory: D:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\VNC Viewer
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete when empty

Pest Number 30 VNC 3.3.7 Directory Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Directory: D:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\VNC Server
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete when empty

Pest Number 29 VNC 3.3.7 Directory Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Directory: D:\Documents and
Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete when empty

Pest Number 28 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Program
Files\realvnc\winvnc\othread2.dll
Date: 02/19/2003 10:16:06 AM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 27 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Program
Files\realvnc\vncviewer.exe
Date: 03/05/2003 1:54:26 PM
Company Name: RealVNC Ltd.
File Description: vncviewer
File Version: 3, 3, 7, 0
Internal Name: vncviewer
Legal Copyright: Copyright © 2002-2003 RealVNC Ltd. Copyright ©
1994-2001 AT&T Laboratories Cambridge Ltd.
Original Filename: vncviewer.exe
Product Name: Windows vncviewer
Product Version: 3, 3, 7, 0 Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 26 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\show default
properties.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 25 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\show about box.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 24 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\run service helper.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 23 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\add new client.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 22 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\run vnc server.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 21 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Program
Files\realvnc\winvnc\vnchooks.dll
Date: 03/05/2003 1:44:40 PM
Company Name: RealVNC Ltd.
File Description: VNC hooks DLL for Win32
File Version: 3, 3, 7, 0
Internal Name: VNCHooks
Legal Copyright: Copyright RealVNC Ltd.© 2002-2003, AT&T Research Labs
Cambridge© 1996-2001
Original Filename: VNCHooks.dll
Product Name: RealVNC Ltd. - VNCHooks
Product Version: 3, 3, 7, 0 Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 20 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc viewer\run listening vnc
viewer.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 19 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\unregister vnc server
service.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 18 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\show user properties.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 17 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\vnc server\register vnc server
service.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 16 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In File: D:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\realvnc\run vnc viewer.lnk
Date: 01/01/2004 7:43:52 PM Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Moderate - this file can be executed!
Advice: Delete or quarantine

Pest Number 15 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc\security
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 14 VNC 3.3.7 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\winvnc_is1
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 13 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc|start
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 12 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc|imagepath
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 11 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc|displayname
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 10 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc|type
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 9 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc|objectname
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 8 VNC 3.3.5 Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\winvnc|errorcontrol
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore

Pest Number 7 VNC Category: Adware
Background Info: Click here In Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run|winvnc
Certainty: Confirmed
Threatens: Confidentiality, Liability
Risk: Low.
Advice: Delete or ignore