Microsoft Patents Scraping Your Hard Drive to Deliver Targeted Ads - Yes, Microsoft Invents Commercials for the Computer (This
article has 16 comments)
Microsoft has filed a patent to allow them to scrape your hard drive, searching through the contents of your files, to serve you targeted advertising that they just know you'll want to see because it will be based on the contents of those files. It's kind of like having Bill Gates reading your computer over your shoulder and saying "Ooh, I have just the thing for you!"
Lawsuit Filed Against Winfixer (a/k/a ErrorSafe, WinAntiSpyware, WinAntiVirus, SystemDoctor and DriveCleaner) (This
article has 42 comments)
Are you one of the countless people whose Windows PC has been affected by Winfixer, ErrorSafe, WinAntiSpyware, WinAntiVirus, SystemDoctor, or DriveCleaner? A class-action lawsuit has just been filed by attorney Joseph M. Bochner against the makers of Winfixer (which is the same as ErrorSafe, WinAntiSpyware, WinAntiVirus, SystemDoctor and DriveCleaner), and you may want to get on board!
Best Anti Spam Software, Anti Spyware Programs, and Anti Virus Software Identified by Consumer Reports (This
article has 6 comments)
Consumer Reports has released their recommendations for the best anti spam software, the best anti spyware remover, and the best anti virus software.
Your Cell Phone Can Be Used to Eavesdrop on You - Even When Turned Off! (This
article has 8 comments)
Did you know that your innocent-looking little cell phone can be used to listen in on your regular conversations - conversations which aren't even taking place on your cellphone but just in the room in which your cell phone is sitting - without you even knowing? Known as a "roving bug", this technology can be used for eavesdropping even when your mobile phone is turned off!
The Site You Are About to Visit May Harm Your Computer! Google Warns Searchers of Malware-Infested Search Results (comments)
If your search results during a Google search turn up sites which Google has reason to believe may attempt to shove malware (spyware, adware, etc.) onto your machine - and if you click on one of those result links - Google now serves up an intermediate page warning "the site you are about to visit may harm your computer!"
MySpace Ads Infect Millions with Spyware (This
article has 7 comments)
MySpace ads for DeckOutYourDeck.com (Deck Out Your Deck) have become a vector for spyware, infecting millions of users with the PurityScan and ClickSpring spyware trojans.
DigiKeyGen Password Generator for Porn Sites Seems Too Good to Be True Because It Is (This
article has 25 comments)
By all accounts, DigiKeyGen is a password generator which purports to generate and provide passwords for the user which will gain them access to pay-to-play porn sites for free. But if DigiKeyGen sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.
Spybot Search Destroy for Windows XP (This article has 1 comment)
Spybot Search Destroy for Windows XP is a free anti-spyware program for Windows XP (and other Windows versions) which comes very highly recommended.
Worst Problem on the Internet is Stupid Users, Survey Says (This
article has 9 comments)
Stupid users are the worst problem on the Internet, according to this survey of more than 600 Internet users.
Fake Windows W32.Sinnaka.a Alert Actually Front for Spy Trooper, World AntiSpy, PS Guard and Raze Spyware (This
article has 29 comments)
W32.Sinnaka.a is the hook which phishers are using to scare people into buying Spy Trooper, World AntiSpy, PS Guard and Raze Spyware, some of which are merely repackaged versions of other rogue spyware programs, such as SpyDemolisher, SpySheriff, and SpywareNo. They are doing it with fake Windows Security Center sites and bogus W32.Sinnaka.a virus alerts. Don't let it fool you.
2Search Spyware - How It Works, How to Get Rid of It (This
article has 4 comments)
2Search spyware is nasty stuff. It shows up uninvited on your computer, and then hijacks your web browser, taking you places you don't really want to go, and exposing you to even more spyware.
Spyware Users and Author of Jealous Lover “Lover Spy” Spyware Program Indicted (This article has 1 comment)
Jealous Lover Spyware "Lover Spy" users are arrested along with Lover Spy's author, and charged with all sorts of nasty crimes. If you're thinking of using spyware to spy on an ex, don't.
Spyware for Pornography Site Leads to Jail Time (This article has 1 comment)
Spyware which redirects a user's computer to a particular website is not uncommon, and may be quite lucrative. But can lead to jail.
Search Marketing Company 180 Solutions Sues Affiliates Over Botnet Installation of 180solutions Software on Users’ Computers (comments)
Search marketing company 180 Solutions has filed a lawsuit against several of its own affiliates, after it discovered that those affiliates were using botnets to install the 180solutions solution on unsuspecting users' computers, without their permission.
180 Solutions explains that they "provide search assistant ...
Critical Update! Free Tool to Remove the CoolWebSearch Trojan Keylogger! (This
article has 7 comments)
Sunbelt Software, who last weekend discovered the CoolWebSearch trojan keylogging software which is right now stealing bank account, username, and password information from thousands of Windows users, has just released a free tool to detect and remove the keylogger, it has announced.
"This is ...
Millions of Windows Users at Risk by Massive ID and Bank Account Theft Piggybacking on CoolWebSearch (This
article has 4 comments)
The implications are staggering. Internet security software company Sunbelt Software was investigating CoolWebSearch, a spyware package, when they noticed that stowing away in the CoolWebSearch download were two trojans, a spam zombie engine, and a keystroke logging program. It was the ...
Don’t Think Spyware is Really a Problem? (This
article has 2 comments)
If you don't think that spyware is really a problem, you must either be using a Mac or Unix machine, or not connected to the Internet. WebRoot has just announced that their database of spyware has exceeded 100,000 unique traces of spyware!:
"Combined ...
Spyware and Greynets a Huge Problem for Enterprise (comments)
Here's a very interesting study having to do with spyware, grey nets, and the corporate infrastucture. A greynet is made up of unauthorized Internet applications on a network. Wikipedia, which says it far more eloquently than can I, explains that "a ...
Google Wins Rights to Typos (comments)
This just in: Google wins rights to typos. Seriously.
According to their recent press release, the National Arbitration Forum (NAF)
has issued a ruling giving to Google the rights to the Internet domain names "googkle.com", "ghoogle.com", "gfoogle.com" and "gooigle.com".
Google had filed a complaint ...
TrustSoft’s SpyKiller Scam Scans Canned with CAN-SPAM (This
article has 3 comments)
The Federal Trade Commission has announced that it has received a restraining order against and frozen the assets of TrustSoft and their SpyKiller program, a program which, the FTC says, was nothing more than a scam.
According to the FTC, users who visited the ...
What Everybody Ought to Know about Protecting Themselves from Credit Card Fraud and Identity Theft (This article has 1 comment)
Protecting yourself from credit card fraud and identity theft has become even more important with the unrelenting succession of security breaches, such as last week's theft of 40 million credit card numbers. Here are seven specific things you can do now to help ...
Corporate Espionage: International Giants Implicated in Israeli Industrial Spy Ring (comments)
Talk about spyware versus spyware. Authorities in Isreal have arrested dozens of people, including high level executives of multinational corporations, in what increasingly is developing into the Internet Trojan spyware custerfluck of the year. Only on the Internet can a Trojan ...
The Time I Spend with My Daughter Removing Spyware is Very Precious (This
article has 2 comments)
"Sure, I could get a Mac, but the time I spend with my daughter removing spyware is very precious." A great line, already being attributed to Intel CEO Paul Otellini, but actually penned by Good Morning Silicon Valley's John Paczkowski on the ...
How to Get Rid of Internet Cookies (This article has 1 comment)
For some reason Aunty has had a lot of searches this week asking how to get rid of Internet cookies. It's really quite easy, but to make it even easier, Aunty is going to cover it for you here.
The vast majority of ...
Federal Anti Spyware Law to Become a Reality (This article has 1 comment)
The nation is one step closer to having a Federal anti-spyware law, and all odds point to it becoming a reality before the year is out. At this very moment the House is working with two proposed anti-spyware laws, I-SPY (the Internet ...
New Internet Explorer Attack by “Integrated Search Technologies” Works Even if IE is Closed! (This
article has 13 comments)
A new type of attack on Internet Explorer has been discovered this week, and this attack works even if IE is closed! The way that it works is that a user visits an infected site, is given a pop-up window asking them ...
Spouse vs. Spouse: Spanked for Spying with Spector Spyware (This
article has 10 comments)
Using spyware to spy on your spouse's activities, even to gather evidence for an upcoming divorce, is not ok. In fact, it's against the law.
MS Windows Anti-Spyware Disabled by Spyware Trojan (comments)
Security firm Sophos is reporting today that a new spyware Trojan, BankAsh-A, is specifically targeting Microsoft's new anti-spyware, and very effectively so, it would seem.
Once having disabled the anti-spyware, it sets about stealing passwords and other vital information, which it reports back to ...
Is Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware Really a Bootlegged Windows “Gotcha!”? (This
article has 26 comments)
Microsoft's spyware program is one of the first to use the new Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) process of determining whether your version of Windows is legitimate or pirated.
Spyware Hiding in Online Media Files (This
article has 4 comments)
As if online downloaders don't have enough to worry about (rightly or wrongly), now they have to worry about spyware being buried within the media files they download.
I don't think this is what Marshall McLuhan had in mind.
According to a report in ...
Microsoft Offers Free Anti-Spyware to Windows Users (This
article has 6 comments)
Consider it an act of contrition, largesse, or just good business sense, but Microsoft is making available its new anti-spyware software free to Windows users.
Having acquired anti-spyware maker Giant Company last month, it was anticipated that Microsoft would enfold a spyware fighting product ...
Spam King Sanford Wallace Comes In from the Cold (comments)
The real Spam King is Sanford Wallace, who has been around in one form or another for well over a decade. It was Wallace's CyberPromotions against which many a spam lawyer first cut their spam litigation teeth.
California’s Tough New Anti-Spyware Law (This article has 1 comment)
Happy New Year, Californians!
In addition to a brand new year, you've got a brand new anti-spyware law!
The new law, signed in September by Governor Schwarzenneger, took effect on January 1st, and makes it illegal to install software which takes control of another's computer ...
AOL Offers New Spam and Virus Resistant Software for New Year (This
article has 3 comments)
America Online (AOL), one of the largest Internet Service Providers in the United States, if not in the universe, is sticking it to spammers again, this time by offering an updated version of its software which is designed to be more spam, ...
MPAA Contractor Infects Downloader’s Machines with Adware, Spyware (This article has 1 comment)
Overpeer, a division of Loudeye, Inc., has been caught putting infected files on peer-to-peer filesharing networks, and putting attractive and likely sounding names on the files in order to induce users to download the files.
Thinking that they are downloading their favourite songs or ...
Spyware: The Top Ten Most Prevalent and Insidious (This article has 1 comment)
Webroot, the developers of the Spy Sweeper anti-spyware product, this week released their "Top Ten Unwanted Spyware" list (is any of it actually wanted?)
The list was developed based on data obtained in scans done by Webroot, both from their own site, and in ...
Kazaa Has “High Clot Factor”, and is Spyware According to Computer Associates International (This
article has 6 comments)
Computer Associates International has named Kazaa one of the top "spyware" programs, and in fact is saying that it poses a greater risk than any of the other top five programs on CAI's spyware list, due to how popular it is.
Kazaa ...
Removing Cookies from Your System for All Browser Types (This
article has 2 comments)
Cookies. Everyone has them. And everyone wants to know how to get rid of them. While for some browsers it's fairly obvious and straight-forward, for others it's not so much.
So, without further ado, here is a list of how to ...
If You Have a Lexmark Printer, You May Also Have Lexmark Lx_CATS Spyware (This
article has 32 comments)
Lx_CATS is a Lexmark printer file, installed by Lexmark, which spies on your printer usage and reports back to the Lexmark mother ship.
New O’Reilly “Spam Kings” Book Exposes the Seamy Underbelly of Spam “Email Marketing” and the Yellow Underbellies of Spammers (comments)
Spam Kings takes you on a trip through the world of spam, where you'll meet all kinds of spammers (and even a few antispammers) and learn what makes them tick (I mean in addition to the crack and coffee).
The Once and Future King: Sanford Wallace Defends His Crown (This
article has 4 comments)
Sanford Wallace, the original "Spam King" (sorry, Mr. Richter), is back in the news.
Wallace is perhaps best known for the run-ins which he and his company, Cyberpromotions, had with AOL and Compuserve back in the 1990s. At that time both companies sued ...
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