ChristiansUnite Forums

My computer passed all the security checks with flying colors! That is, until, Norton AntiVirus 2005!  :-X It found some Adware... Problem taken care of. But creepy that nothing else found it! I double-checked (and more) and searched under the different names and ran a few more scans. Seems all clean now!  :-\

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.hotbar.html (http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.hotbar.html)

If you surf at any length you will always find more adware on your PC, even if nothing more than the annoying tracking cookies.   I would compare surfing+adware to bugs on the grill of your car from driving.    :D   It comes with the territory... :-\

Grace and Peace!

Hotbar, huh?

Well, in the past Spybot Search & Destroy detected Hotbar stuff. Hotbar isn't new, unless of course it's a new "variant" of Hotbar...yep, went back and looked and of course it's an "updated" version. Don't know about this version, but you actually did have to download the old hotbar stuff....course, once it was there, just try getting rid of it  ;D

If you use SS&D or Adaware and haven't updated them lately, you probably should.

I would compare surfing+adware to bugs on the grill of your car from driving.

LOL! I gotta get to those next!  ;)

course, once it was there, just try getting rid of it  ;D

So far I THINK I have!  ;D

I know adware has been around awhile - but like everything out there it does have a dark side! And I know I'm a bit... ummmm.... paranoid  :-X but I didn't like it on there!  >:(
We don't use any of the IM's and I block most all cookies and I block even more Active X controls. If I can't get there without them, I move on!  ;D There are a few exceptions, of course, like CU!  ;)

Yep, me too (cookies, that is). I also don't like anything on my computer that I didn't specifically put there....these days I'm pretty careful about what I download and research it thoroughly FIRST! Back in the days I tried to get rid of hotbar (that was my pre-it security days) I downloaded it along with some other program...didn't know any better. Now I do. Still....there are some things that are "bundled" into other programs that they don't tell you about and you don't know til after you download and install it....unless of course you've got something like a registry protector. I download less and less these days...even some of the stuff you pay for comes with garbage in it.

Gracey

I agree SH.  I didn't mean to sound like we should ignore it....lol   I guess what I meant was, dealing with it should thought of as maintenance rather than absolute.  

Grace and Peace!

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
it's the best spyware killer out there :)

-Ralf

I respectfully beg to differ Ralph  ;D; Adaware is fine for adware, and "some" spywares, but Spybot Search & Destroy is the best out there for killing/removing spyware (there's a definitive difference to "spyware" and "adware"). To my knowledge, there isn't any one single combined product out there that takes care of everything. Layering is the way to go.

I combine the best of "all worlds"....Adaware, Spybot, Spywareguard and SpywareBlaster, as well as IESpy-ad....and a few others, lol.   ;D

Ya can never have too much protection today; ya just gotta know what works with what, and what clashes.

Gracey
peace!

Ad aware kills bots and spyware :) it's good. and if you buy it instead of using the free version it even works as a pop-up blocker :P

But I've found that a combination of AntiVir for virus scanner, Ad Muncher for pop-up blocker and ad remover for browsing, and ad aware for when I need to clean out the things I picked up that slipped through.

Hehe it even picked up when I had 007 Starr running. If you don't know what 007 Starr is it's a monitoring program that logs convo, keystrokes, takes screenshots of whats happening. useful if you are worried about other people using your computer ^_^'

Oh and another thing... it's Ralf not Ralph ^_^

-Ralf

Uh, sorry, my fingers just automatically go to the correct spelling.... Ralf.

I know what 007 is. (I know a little about keyloggers, not a heck of a lot tho.) I myself have not had occasion to really use a keylogger, although I did try one. There's no one else here to use my computer, and even if they did....they wouldn't find much of interest.... ;D, (only name they'll find in there anywhere is JaneDoe, or Gracey, no credit card numbers, no bank accounts, no current addresses, etc. Even have my software registered under another name.) but it helps to know a little about them when checking other's computers. (Hijack This is a nifty little thing for catching stuff too...but you have to know what you're looking at...although I suspect you might already know about this program.)

And I have paid ad-aware, also...not nearly as good as free spybot, imho. I have a ton of experience, rofl, having picked up enough "junk" in the past to bog down a super-computer. Took me a year to learn the security measures I know now, and a lot of practice....and trial and error, and, even some pretty good training came of it.

Everybody has their preferences....ad aware is good (in fact, it's great at what it does), but spybot is better for spyware AND FREE (means I can recommend it to people whose computers I end up fixing, without worry that it won't be "updated" regularly)....except, as far as i'm concerned, you really need both....what one misses, the other catches. If you put all your eggs in one basket, you'll end up with....scrambled eggs! (sorry, couldn't resist).

One of the most important things I learned....never rely entirely on one program (like an awful lot of peeps I know think if they've got Norton, that's all they need). I've seen my own antivirus (NOT Norton, or Macafee  :-X) disabled a few times by a trojan that slipped past my defenses. If I hadn't something else to find it with, I'd have been toast.

Anyhow....wasn't trying to put down adaware....I personally think it's a necessary part of every computer's defenses, i've just come to know that it's not enough by itself.

Cheers....  ;D
Gracey

007 Starr isn't actually only a keylogger... it's a monitoring program :P And despite the fact that I have a password on my account, only one account, an encrypted drive to put all my personal data on (chat logs and personal thoughts).
As for having to pay for ad aware... the only thing paying for it does I think is just a pop up blocker :P
and... as for security.. I generally run without a firewall at all and have ever only had 6 viruses on my computer in about a year and a half... 3 of those viruses I deliberately put on :)

heh as if you'd rely on norton :)

Oh and just fyi my name isn't ralf but it's better than another of my nicknames online and I hardly ever remember my real name :P

-Ralf

(http://www.rr-bb.com/images/smilies/confused.gif)  (http://www.rr-bb.com/images/smilies/boom.gif) ???

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
if you are wondering why I put those viruses on they were just different variations of the Eclair (sp?) virus. The eclair virus' only purpose is to set off all the virus scanners it can :D it's not a malicious one.. Well I only put on 2 variations of the eclair virus.. The other virus I put on there was windows :)

And the other couple viruses were sasser A and B variants and ms blast.. all of which I got from my ISP about 10minutes after I connected to them and left it idling -_- I wasn't happy

-Ralf

Only 3 viruses in a year and a half?? 1 in 3 years was enough for me to be mad. Even though it was cought by my AV and deleted.

Like most I have a firewall. And glad to have it. I have had several high rated attacks in the last few years and without the firewall I would be in big trouble.

God bless the firewall.  ;D ;D

1 in 3 years? I have been on the net for, the past 5 years. So far I have had 1 in 5 years. That was last year, I use AVG 6.0 it caught it right off. I also use a Sygate firewall ver. 5.5. I use Ad-ware 6.0 it catches the other bad stuff. I don't use windows explorer, for my internet. I use Mozilla Firebird, which has a built in pop-up blocker. Guess what, its all free.

I have just about every kind of security program you can think of, most of them free. Ad-Aware, Spywareblaster you name it, I probably have it. I use Firefox and stay away from IE as much as possible.

Going on the internet without these things is like riding an upside down roller coaster without restraints.  ;D

I have known some that don't use a firewall or AV. But it takes a lot of knowledge and caution.

*If* you are using IE use the "Restrictive Sites" Zone. When
you put a restrictive site into this zone it will stop
downloads (javaScripts, ActiveX, cookies, etc).
Most SpyWare, drive-by-hijacking, "drive-by-downloads"
use malicous code that are installed onto an unsuspecting
website visitor. Using the Restrictive Sites also prevent (in
most cases) "popups"

There is a list of "black-sites" that I can post here for IE users
that will update the "Restrictive Sites" Zone. It is a registry
update program. I will post here if there is an intrest and
if I the admin will aprove the post.


Jim.

Hello Seven,

First, WELCOME!!!! I see this is your first post.


It is true that you have to be very careful on some web sites. I give thanks that Christians Unite appears to be as safe as they come.

I use Norton Internet Security and Spybot Search and Destroy. They both use huge black-lists. Of course, quite a few are xxx related, but there are many thousands of them. The Spybot black-list is probably in the hundreds. I'm not sure exactly what kind of black-list you are talking about. Some are geared for:

Very dangerous web sites,
Destructive downloads,
Virus, trojan, hijack, exploit,
xxx garbage,
pop-ups,
advertising
child-safe surfing,
etc.

I think that one could easily wind up with 200,000 entries or more if you tried to address all of that. However, that would be using wild-cards to cover many sites. If you didn't use wild-cards, it could easily be over a million. I have one limited in scope, mainly for the dangerous stuff and the xxx garbage. It has 6,000 entries. I don't have it installed any more, but I do use the smaller list from Spybot and a fairly large list from Norton. It depends on how you set them up. It can really slow things down and cause errors if you use the massive lists and you don't have a monster machine.

Could you give us an idea about what the list you have is designed to do? If it's massive, maybe a link can be posted, or several links for lists of various purposes and sizes.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Greetings

The black-list that I currently maintain encompasses
the type of sites that you mentioned. I define my
black-list into categories. For example, adult, ads,
popups, questionable code, etc. Although popups are
not bad, there just annoying, (I should put an "!" there,
but I'm feeling generous).

The list I maintain is close to 3000 entries which is of course
extremely small!! (I think I'll use "!" one now.)
But since the software we are developing takes advantage of
the list, its growing.

Two things are done with the list, 1) format the data so it
can be placed directly into the user Windows regestry which
is then read into the "Restrictive Sites" when the IE browser
loads, 2) format the data for firewalls.

Your concern for performance is justified with such a large
list. When this list is added to the registry the performance is
negligible. Software such as Spybot or firewall use similar
lists when scanning for black-listed sites and their
performance is also negligible. Spyware programs are good to
have, but adding these black-listed site directly into a users
browser adds a lay of security to computer.

I can send you two (2) lines of registry edits that add
"forums.christiansunite.com" to a "Trusted site"
within a IE browser if you like.


Jim.

Hello Brother Seven,

You have my interest peaked. I've used host lists, and I've also tried to add Christians Unite as a trusted site in everything, mainly the IE core and Norton. I don't use IE, but it appears to be still in action.   ;D  I've read that you have to be a genius to delete IE and not totally mess up the XP operating system.

I haven't tried to modify the system registry. I don't have the confidence or knowledge for that. I would be curious about that, but I would probably be afraid to try it.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Greetings,

You dont need to be a genius remove IE from the OS, only
those that dont like IE and think they need to remove it
because of the "security problems" or some other far off
reason. IE is so integrated into the OS that trying to remove
it is suicidal. I would not try to remove it, besides there is no
reason to do so. You're right it will mess up the OS if a
person starts removing IE componets.

I dont use Norton Internet Security, so I don't know if you
can do manual updates. I never liked software driven
firewalls, (ZoneAlarm, Norton, BlackIce, and others) they eat
up resources plus you have to "train" them. Software driven
firewall would not be the course of action in a network
environment. (Can I say "Duh" there?)

I use a 2 routers, which acts like a firewall (port plugging) and
SonicWall that provide more services. This type of schema
protects the entire network and not just isolated/stand-alone
computers. (I'm really aching to say "duh" there again too.)

As far as updating a regestry for an IE browser, its straight
forward and easy. If you follow the link provided below, it
will take you to a sub domain that has information you
can try.

http://69.9.206.135/RegUpdate.htm

Let me know (Admin) if this works for you Feel free to email
me if you have an concerns or questions. I will be removing
this link one week after this posting.

Jim,

Hello Seven,

Thanks Brother Jim. I got the file and may try it tonight.

I'm glad that I decided not to remove IE.   ;D

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hello blackeyedpeas,

Did that registry update work for you?


Jim

I personally just use ad aware as it uses extremely little resources, is still under a meg in size. and already has a pre-listed black list. you can use it and it works wonders. I love it.. all these ads on these forums.. I don't see them...I breathe a thank you everytime I see the word munched on my screen ^_^

And you even get a little cow in the systray that chews whenever it is eating ads :P

-Ralf

Brother Jim,

I did a search in my registry with RegEditX and found almost the identical entries already there. I didn't know what would happen if I tried to duplicate the entries, so I didn't try it. I'm a chicken - SORRY. I tried to get Christians Unite listed as trusted in everything I use, so I guess that I did it the hard way a long time ago. I made manual entries in IE Trusted Sites and in Norton Internet Security. I only have a tiny list of completely trusted sites, and I did the same with all of them on my current computer and the one before.

I can definitely see your way would be much quicker and easier, but it's way over my head. I would need a trusted program to do registry changes for me since I would never have the confidence in myself to do it. So far, I have gotten brave enough to look at the registry, but I guess that isn't very brave.   :D

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hello blackeyepeas,

First, duplicating an entry in the regestry will not harm your
computer. Second, you seem afraid to do direct registry
edits and thats ok. A person need to be very sure of what
they are doing when performing direct registry manipulations.
I've written programs that do registry updates and regestry
key encryptions so I guess I feel confortable doing "raw"
updates to the registry. I've been a software developer
for many years now, so I have a good feel for this sort of
thing.

I would like to stress to you about Trusted site zones, just
keep in mind that it will lower the security standards on your
browser. ok? My point here is jsut to remind you to be careful
on who you add to the Trusted site zone in your browser, but
I'm sure you know this.

Jim

Brother Jim,

I appreciate the advice, and I guarantee that I will follow it. I only have five trusted sites listed:  Christians Unite, my ISP, e-Sword Bible Study Software, Microsoft Update, and my own web page.

I use Slim Browser, a highly rated browser that is supposed to be much safer than IE. You can turn dangerous things like active-x on and off. I find that I really don't need the dangerous features on the few sites that I visit for my personal use. I do check out web pages that are listed by new members of Christians Unite, but I leave all the features turned off. I'm not sure what some of those features do, but they are not apparently needed for the vast majority of web sites.

Brother, thanks for your information and help.

Love In Christ,
Tom

try addaware 1.05 .it's the best software to remove addware

Adaware made by lavasoft is good :D :D :D
I personally recommend it for spyware removal

-Ralf

The Below is From My Website Kristi Ann's Haven

Everyone please be Very careful out there. Do not open Emails from people you do not know, be careful of some software programs you download! There are a lot of Viruses out there to destroy peoples computers!!

I use these on my computer to protect it!!  Here are the Hyper-Libks Below;


"Lavasoft ~ Ad-Aware Free Downloads!" (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/)


"Spybot-S&D ~ Free Downloads!" (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html)


"Spy Sweeper ~ Free Downloads!" (http://www.spysweeper.com/)


"All-in-One SECRETMAKER ~ Free Downloads!" (http://www.secretmaker.com/)




This one Below cost some money, it's worth it and Great!


"Norton AntiVirus Professional 2004" (http://www.symantec.com/nav/nav_pro/)




I use all of the above and they are wonderful!!


Love Always,  \o/  

MsGuidedAngel

Hello,

Lot of the spayware programs out there can not be
detected or even removed by the software mentioned
above. Keep in mind that using only one (1) spyware
utility may not get do the job. If you have a nasty
spyware that can't be removed by any of the formentioned
utilities above, try this one.

    http://www.snapfiles.com/get/hijackthis.html

This is a "end-all" spyware removal tool.

if you have not heard of this and your feeling "experimental"
BE CAREFUL. This utility is a good one, but if you dont read
the docs, it will mess up your settings. This utility creates a
log that you can examine and find out where and what is
being done with your computer.


Jim

That's pretty funny since there is no such thing.

Something that is good to check for keyloggers and such is here: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/promotions/pestscan/pestscan_01165.jsp

You have to use the Internet Explorer unfortunately but it will find things for you.  I had a strage issue come up where something kept asking for my password and I knew it was bogus.  This found the keylogger for me.  I would bet a lot of people would put in their password because it looked like a legit message from windows.  However I knew where it was coming up was bogus.  Now this won't remove anything for you it just tells you it's there.  They want you to buy the program to remove foudn items but if you are savvy enough you can usually do it yourself.

If not it wouldn't be a bad investment to me.  Heck I'm pretty savvy and I am thinking of getting it.    ;)

I think you miss understood my post above, but anyway.

First, there *IS* a thing called "end-all" utility that will remove
spyware from a computer. If software can be installed, then it
can be uninstalled. The trick here is identifying what the
software is and what it does. Since spyware writers are
secretive of how they install spyware, its difficult
to see what their code does. Only by using tools like the
formentioned tool (hijackthis), debugging tools, and
a good knowledge of how spyware works can a
user find the repsonable program and remove it. REMEMBER,
if it can be installed, it can be uninstalled.

Inregards to your link, keep in mind that allowing certificates
to be installed on your computer is allowing someone to have
control of your computer. The majority of these certificates
are not safe, they themselves have spyware. Also keep in
mind that web sites that cater to removing spyware, are in
fact installing spyware on your computer. As a professional
software engineer I work with computer security and I can
assure you that when a person downloads certificates that
advertise spyware removal, or some other utility that promises
protection, is not a good idea! Also, keep in mind that
installing this like what you have listed above, WILL slow
down your computer, and might make your computer
"act funny".

Jim

The combination of Webroot Spysweeper and Spybot S & D should keep you clean......they each pick up what the other misses.   http://www.webroot.com/products/spysweeper-indepth?rc=266&ac=417  .. and for Spybot . http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

If you want an all-round combo, try the EZ Armor suite which includes a REALLY GOOD firewall (disable the Windows firewall, and use the EZ Armor firewall), but also add-in Webroot Spysweeper and Spybot, so you have the malware covered. http://home.ca.com/dr/sat1/ec_MAIN.Entry17c?CID=183321&SID=35715&SP=10007&PN=5&PID=693163&API1=65&API2=GOOGLE&API3=ez_armor_phr&DSP=&CUR=840&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=183321

If you want all "FREE STUFF," use AVG, Ad-Aware, and Spybot.  http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/