Another Parasite
Mrs. Xrlq’s computer has recently been bombarded by unwanted crap that has installed itself on her computer without her consent. I noticed a program called “Fun Web Products Easy Installer,” which I suspect may be the culprit. Does anyone know who is putting out this crap? Is it legal? And if so, would it also be legal for the rest of us to return the favor?
November 29th, 2003 at 10:44 pm
Are you running Windows? If so, try booting up in safe mode before running the add/remove programs thingy.
November 29th, 2003 at 11:45 pm
There are a number of well-known flaws in Internet Explorer/Outlook Express that allow emailed programs to automatically run. These holes have been patched for at least 6 months — patches available at windowsupdate.com — install ALL items labeled “critical update.” This won’t remove already-installed stuff, but it will prevent the same problems in the future.
There are also several email scams which purport to be from “Microsoft” or “Norton” but are just some ***hole’s virus spam.
While the security holes in Windows have been many, and I’m not very happy about it, I accept in their defense the notion that only Windows is really being targeted. With 94% of the installed base, there’s really only one target of interest. Proably as many holes in Linux (I get patch notices from Redhat several times a week), but no one cares. Same for Apple.
I believe some of this activity comes from Gates-haters in the other user communities.
November 29th, 2003 at 11:58 pm
It appears that this is a part of a suite of crapware that is bundled into “free” downloaded utilities. See here for details
Apparently the new thing is for unscruplous companies to embed spyware, adware and hijacks into other software that they provide “free”. They tell you they are doing it in the End User Licence Agreement (EULA), but who reads those? But that does make them hard to go after, since you “agreed”.
This is especially popular to do with the file-sharing software, like Grokster, Morpheus, and KaZaa. What is really annoying is that they are starting to use “free” anti-popup and anti-spam software to embed these popup and spam magnets. And when you uninstall them in disgust, guess what doesn’t get removed…
November 30th, 2003 at 11:16 am
I’m not familiar with that particular program (scumware), but I recommend you check at http://www.spywareinfo.com - they are up on all the newest malware etc. You can probably get rid of it with Spybot Search & Destroy and/or AdAware. If they don’t work, you can use HijackThis and post the log at spywareinfo.com’s forum. People there will help you get rid of the offending junk.
You can also protect your computer, and Mrs. Xrlq’s, by getting the programs SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard, both freeware, and use the immunize feature of Spybot Search & Destroy.
There are some fake spyware removers out there to watch out for, ie Spy Killer. That’s way http://www.spywareinfo.com is a good resourse because they are up to date on all those things.
I have links on my blog to SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard.
November 30th, 2003 at 11:41 am
Hers’s a link that tells about it http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/MySearch.html
“In the MyWeb variant, yes: it is installed by an ActiveX downloader control which stays around and can be used by web sites to install software from Fun Web Products without warning.”
It’s related to MySearch/MyWay which is related to the site myway.com. That company has a long history of using drive by downloads to install junk like unwanted toolbars etc.
December 1st, 2003 at 5:14 pm
Xrlq, you need a Mac. I don’t have problems with virus, spammers, or the blue screen of death.
January 24th, 2004 at 12:26 pm
Hypothesis: Bloggers are Weird
Someday soon, a sociology doctoral student will likely do a study on bloggers, since we are, after all a strange bunch. I have been developing my own Universal Theory of Blogging which may serve as a guide. Here are some…
January 28th, 2004 at 8:13 am
I’ve been having quit the problem with the MySearch application. It has embedded itself into Outlook so that that $%#@ website shows up on any folder within outlook, rendering the program useless. OK - I was dum to install that Hotrod screensaver that this was part of, but I did uninstall it with no luck. I’ve tried Spybot, hackthis, and Adaware. Anyone know what I can do to get this out?
January 28th, 2004 at 8:37 am
No clue. You might want to skim Suzi’s spyware blog to see if the issue has come up before.
October 8th, 2004 at 9:08 am
Sanford Wallace: The Return of the ur-Spammer
Sanford Wallace is the ur-spammer. His first business was junk-faxing until that was outawed. In the mid-90’s he became the person most responsible for the e-mail spam plague, using his junk-fax connections to pioneer the concept though his now-defunc…