The Shrine

Any recommendations for some basic spyware removal stuff?

I use this guy

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Ad Aware (as linked by bovine) and <a href="http://www.safer-networking.org/en/inde ... >Spybot</a> should kill pretty much everything.

Didn't both of those initially work against one another? heh.

I'm an Adaware guy, have been for years. Seems to work relatively well, as long as you keep updating the definitions

Spybot has an app called TeaTimer (?) that will warn you of any registry edits. Though, I think Windows is going down the same path.

SineSwiper wrote:Spybot has an app called TeaTimer (?) that will warn you of any registry edits. Though, I think Windows is going down the same path.

I recently started using that app on my PC's... haven't had it pop up except when I tell Spybot to do something, but it's very nice.

I've used Spybot for years; it's gotten read of trojans that Norton wouldn't even detect (bloated piece of shit)... I tried Adaware when my one friend had trojans that were attacking Spybot (spybot kept on coming up saying "someone's fucking with me man!") but all I got out of it was the trojan name so I could find a manual remover online... Adaware seems bloated and unhelpful IMO.

Never seem to have had Spyware before. Though I hear it's a bitch to get rid of.

Dutch wrote:Never seem to have had Spyware before. Though I hear it's a bitch to get rid of.

I don't generally have the problem with Firefox.

But umm anytime I use my search engine, I get pop ups in explorer >_>

Eric wrote:

Dutch wrote:Never seem to have had Spyware before. Though I hear it's a bitch to get rid of.

I don't generally have the problem with Firefox.

But umm anytime I use my search engine, I get pop ups in explorer >_>

I use explorer/safari and have no problems.

I don't either. If you don't install Limewire or any of that crap, you won't have this problem. Also, don't click on EXEs in emails, dammit!

SineSwiper wrote:I don't either. If you don't install Limewire or any of that crap, you won't have this problem. Also, don't click on EXEs in emails, dammit!

I don't and I don't.

Dutch wrote:Never seem to have had Spyware before. Though I hear it's a bitch to get rid of.

Do you know that because you run anti-spyware scanner regularly, or do you just assume you don't have any because you've never noticed any?

SineSwiper wrote:I don't either. If you don't install Limewire or any of that crap, you won't have this problem. Also, don't click on EXEs in emails, dammit!

But Outlook doesn't let you do that anymore... so why worry?

Actually the way they try to get you now is embedding them inside Word/Excel documents. Anti-spam/virus tools can't detect it yet. The document scans clean, you open it, there's an "Embedded object" that has the icon of a PDF... go to click on that PDF and it turns out to be an EXE. Very tricky.

It's not tricky. It's still dumb. Why accept some strange document from somebody you don't know?

Tessian wrote:

Dutch wrote:Never seem to have had Spyware before. Though I hear it's a bitch to get rid of.

Do you know that because you run anti-spyware scanner regularly, or do you just assume you don't have any because you've never noticed any?

I don't notice any, and anytime I have scanned for it none shows up. Luck? I don't download anything (unless it is from like microsoft.com or IGN) or accept files from anyone either.

SineSwiper wrote:It's not tricky. It's still dumb. Why accept some strange document from somebody you don't know?

And welcome to my world, that of an Information Security professional. If people weren't gullible 90% of the internet's viruses and trojans wouldn't be around. I find myself lucky that at least my CIO will ASK me why the IRS is sending her embedded PDF files before opening it... most other management isn't.

I really like SuperAntiSpyware (dumb name, good product) for my secondary AV/SW option...it's gotten rid of some especially annoying malware where other products missed them completely.

Look for Spyguard, and one of my favs, HiJackThis, but you have to read up on how to use HiJackThis, it ain't easy to use, but you can use it to get rid of anything!