View Full Version : Internet Security
HOW TO GET RID OF ALL THE CLUTTER FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE!
All of the following is written about Win98 SE, so it may be slightly different for later version of the software. Unless I say otherwise, all clicking is left clicking.
Windows is a program that stores a lot of information on where you have been on the Internet. Anyone else who has access to you computer will be able to find out where you have been. Depending on your settings, you may have up to 20 Mb of wasted space on your hard drive, which you can feel up. There are some programs that you can buy like Internet Eraser and so on for about US$69.95 which may do all of this. The only program that I have tried on a 30 day evaluation, did not do all of what I am going to show you for free. (Perhaps I should sell these instructions!) However, if you have a computer at work that is connected to a network to go on the Internet, it will not stop the tracking software that your employer may be using to track where you go. Be warmed! Most companies now have tracking software that you cannot get around, unless you have a stand-alone computer that has its own dedicated internet connection that is not used my any other computer, like your home computer.
Windows has a hidden folder called C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5, which you cannot view under any settings in an explorer window, even if you have the settings to “View Hidden Files”. (It may be IE6 in Win2000 or WinXP.)
Some of the instructions may be a bit confusing, but it is assuming a basic understanding of operating a computer. If you have any problems, please feel free e-mail me.
The first thing is to ensure that all your windows that you open in your computer show the files as “Details”. When ever you open a folder, it should show, starting from the left column with “Name”, “Size”, “Type”, “Modified” and so on rather than the default large icon. To change this, with one folder open go to “View”, then click on “Details”. The go to “View”> “Folder Options”, click on “Like Current Folder” and also “Reset all folders”. Then every time you open a folder, all the contents are displayed as details.
Next, you need to rename one system folder within Windows. This only needs to be done once. Open the “C:” drive, open “Windows” and depending on your settings you may need to click on “View Details”. Find the folder named “Temporary Internet Files” and click once in the name. The name should be highlighted in blue. When it is, type in “Temp1” and press “Enter”. You will be asked if you want to rename this folder, so click “Yes”. If you want to know the reason for this it is because DOS does not recognise this folder but by renaming it like above, it does. (Yes if you want to, you are going to be using some DOS to move a file, but this is optional. What is DOS you may ask, especially the people who have never used a pre-Windows computer? For people who are using Win2000 or Win XP, you may need a Win98 boot disk to restart your computer in the DOS mode as I understand that these operating systems do not have the “Start in DOS Mode” feature. DOS simply means Disk Operating System and is not a Microsoft invention as it predates them. That is the preparation done.
The next time you are on the internet and are going to disconnect, do it this way. Right click on the connection icon on the bottom right of the screen while your Explorer window is still open and left click on “Disconnect”. You will now be disconnected but still have your last window of the site you visited still on the screen. This is important for the next operation and it is the way you should always disconnect from the internet from now on to do the following.
In that window, go to “Tools” and then “Internet Options”. The window should open in the “General” tab. Here I would suggest that you reset the “Days to keep pages in history” option to 0 or ZERO. Do that now. Then click on “Clear History”. This will clear all the history from explorer of all the pages you have visited. I suggest that you click on the “Settings” tab. I suggest that you check the bottom tab to “Never” in checking for new version option. Then move the slider bar at the bottom to as far as to the left as possible which should be about 1 Mb. The click “OK”. So now your computer will not be able to store any more than 1 Mb of data in this folder. The default is about 20 Mb.
Just this should clear some of the history that you have in this folder, which will in many cases be up to 20 Mb of wasted space. The slight downside for this, and it is just a slight one, is that some pages will take slightly longer to load.
Then you click “Delete files” option and you will be asked if you want to do this so click “Yes”. Depending on how many files you have in the folder will determine how long this will take, but it won’t be very long.
That has got rid on most of the files, but not all so there is another operation that you need to do to clear all the details. Close the Explorer window.
Go “Start”> “Find” > “Files and Folder” and click on it. Then click on the “Date” tab and click in the window for “During the previous” which should be 1 day circle. The click “Find now”. You now need to maximize the window by clicking in the second to right square in the top right of the window so the windows will fill the screen. To make this folder easier to use, I suggest that you enlarge the “Name” column by putting the cursor on the line just to the left of the “In Folder” box, left click on and hold down the button. Then you drag the line to the right so that the “Name” column fills almost half of the screen. The will only need to do this one time, provided that you close this window for the first time by going to “File” and “Exit”. If you close the “Find Files” window this time by clicking in the “X” in the top right box, for the first time, you may loose this change.
Scroll down the window until you find files in the “Windows\Cookies” folder. Put your cursor just to the right of the name of the first file but not the index, which you cannot delete. What you want to do is to delete the Cookies. Click there and drag down and if you move the cursor slightly to the left or right while you are doing this, you will see and enlarging rectangle appear. Go down to the last file in that folder and then to the left and completely under the last file and release. All the files should be highlighted in blue. It may take a little bit of practice in doing this until you can get all the files selected, particularly if the files go down past the bottom of the screen but with a bit of practice, you will get used to it.
When they are highlighted, hit “Delete” on the keyboard and the then “Yes” at the prompt. All the files you have selected will be deleted except if you have selected the index, which you cannot delete this way.
Then scroll further down the page until you get to Windows\Temp1\content.ie5. Select all the files and folders in this folder and delete them in the same way as you did above. (It will be content.ie6 if you have Explorer 6.)
Having done all of the above, you will have deleted all of the wasted space on your hard drive and only allow Explorer to have a maximum of 1 Mb storage now. It will also make it very difficult for someone to now track you activity on the Internet.
If you are doing this for the first time, you will need to increase your search several times until you do not find any more files in the above named folders. Do it in a series like 9 days, 1 month, 3 months and up to an many months as you have had your computer until you do not find any more files. The first time I did this, I eliminated 20 Mb of files, but that was because I had not set the internet setting to 1 Mb.
However there may be a way for someone to track what you have been doing by opening the Index.dat file. There are three of them in Windows in Windows\cookies, Windows\Temporary Internet Files (or Temp1 if you have renamed it) and Windows\Temp1\Content.IE5. The last one will be the largest on and in my case it go up to 1.5Mb. These files seemed to be written in machine code but they may be able to be read by someone else. However I am not sure on that point.
You can make these files much smaller and in doing so if will remove all the previous information stored in them. However, to do this you will need to use DOS and it cannot be done in a DOS window. If you are able to, you need to restart your computer in the DOS mode. In Win98SE it is Start > Programs >MSDOS prompt. If you are using a later version of the software, you will have to use the emergency boot disk. However, I cannot tell you if it starts the computer in the DOS mode. If you still have a Win98 boot disk, that will do the trick. If you cannot get a Win98 boot disk, please feel free to e-mail me and I will send you all the files, 1.3 Mb which would need to be sent in two e-mails. harryrose_nz@hotmail.com.
When you have the computer started in the DOS mode you need to type the following. The case does not matter but make it all the same
MOVE C:\WINDOWS\TEMP1\CONTENT.IE5\INDEX.DAT C:\ (These are only two spaces in that line: just after “MOVE” and just after “.DAT”) The hit Enter. The computer will confirm that the file has been move.
You can move the other two by typing the following;
MOVE C:\WINDOWS\COOKIE\INDEX.DAT C:\
MOVE C:\WINDOWS\TEMP1\CONTENT\INDEX.DAT C:\
When you do it the second time, you will get as prompt “Overwrite?” and you have to type “Y” and Enter to move.
These will greatly reduce the size of these files and only need to be moved very month or so. But people will not be able to track you web activities.
For those of you who are concerned about divulging you email address, you might want to consider seting up an email acct at www.ziplip.com.
i have 2 tricks i use to help me stay anon. 1, i use a remailer program to clean off the headers before they get to the final recipient, and 2 i use a proxy server to obfurep001e my referring info as well as my originating ip addy.
a cheap and easy method for anon. surfing is megaproxy.com. for email you can find many remailers on the web or you can pay for it at www.sendfakemail.com its 9 bux a month, but if you're emailing a potential provider that turns out to be a sting, or someone that is just a malicious bastard, there is potential to be caught if you let your ip addy out of the bag. if nothing else, you can be humiliated by having some jack ass call your it department and let them know that someone using the ip addy of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is posting to the wsgforum, this is no fun...
hopefully this helps
be safe,
bammbamm
Jackson, all,
How I clean my drives....
I dl'ed 'eraser' from www.tolvanen.com. It is freeware.
After installing it I added these folders to the 'new task' list.
C:\recycled
C:\windows\cookies
C:\windows\*******.pwl (passwordlist, you may want to keep this)
C:\windows\recently opened
C:\windows\recent
C:\windows\temp
C:\windows\temporary internet files
C:\windows\history
You can add any folder you like.
Some of these folders are 'hidden folders', to add these you must make them visible through: Open any folder: View, properties, view and tick 'Show all files' after adding the tasks reset to 'Do not show hidden or systems files'
MAKE SURE that 'keep task on the list' is ticked, you have to tick for every new task!
After (almost) every internet session I erase these folders and all the files in them. Windows rebuilds all these folders at reboot, so don't worry! Erasing ('overwriting') one time will do if you erase regularly.
Next I reboot in DOS-made and I delete certain leftovers, like : temporary internet files (C:\windows\tempor~1), cookies (C:\windows\cookies) and history (C:\windows\history).
These remain after erasing as windows claims it needs them, which is utter BillyBoyM$BS!
These folders have the index.dat files that will keep info on your internet activities until you destroy them!
If you want to see what's in them: Copy the index.dat file, move to a folder outside windows and change <.dat> in <.doc>, open and don't cry!
Honestly, I don't care if people who get emails from me know my IP-address. It tells them nothing about where I go on the net.
Now, if you think 'I don't give a shit about cleaning my drive' let me ask this: Do you throw your mail out so everybody can read it after you have. NO!
So why leave everything for everyone to read on your drives?
One Great Man
08-20-03, 19:35
Jackson:
I was distressed to see a posting from GPiper that I had contaminated his site!
I did contact him to get a telephone number, but I have done absolutely nothing to cause him to receive spam.
In fact, my own inbox has been filled with spam since, but I'm not blaming GPiper for that! Many of the "undeliverable" messages are requests to unsubscribe to ClubAss and other services which I have requested. Someone is having their sick fun at our expense.
I have also experienced a virus problem at the same time, which my techie is trying to track down.
GPiper and I are experiencing what seems to be the same problem, but I'm not blaming him. If the source can be determined, I will pass it along to the board.
Greatman... you probably have a version of the Sobig virus. its one of those nasty ones that gets into your system, finds things from contact lists to cookies and e mails eveyone on those lists. It also puts a fdake header in the from space so you cannot track it down. In other words who is SAYS it is from is not who it is actually from.
You can solve things like this from happening by
1: Installing a virus scanner on your CPU. KEEP IT UPDATED!!
2: Install a firewall on your personal CPU, if you do the computer thing from work your system may already have one.
3: Keep up with your microsoft updates. The icon for it is in your start menu. If you do not use IE just go to the microsoft website and navagate to it. A lot of times microsoft has fixed the problem before anyone tries to exploit it.
You can get a lot of free software off of the net that does the job if you are into the piracy thing, or freeware that is 1 time use or limited use from the software designers. Either way it is pretty easy to NOT get a virus.
One Great Man,
You made a BIG mistake in trying to 'unsubscribe' to unwanted services.
This only tells the provider of such services that your email is active!
What you should do/have done:
-Report ANY unwanted email to your provider, Yahoo for instance have a Report Spam button to make this very easy.
-If you block emailaddresses, make sure the email isn't returned to sender! Sender will know that your addy is active and simply use another emailaddress to send from.
Better not to block at all!
For those who are really concerned about security an excellent solution is to use one of the 'Virtual PC' programs such as VMWare or Connectix Virtual PC (Now Microsoft Virtual PC 2004). There are also a couple of open source offerings : Boch and Plex86.
These programs emulate a completely isolated PC on your machine with its own operating system and files. This PC's data is stored in a single file and is easy to identify, delete or reset to a known state if necessary.
Not cheap, though there may be 'informal' copies around, and you have to setup the OS yourself.
Very simple to use and very secure.
Blair
I posted the message below on the Charlotte, NC board on 3/12/04 to assist Lurkers who used the excuse of being "found out" as a reason for not posting. Jackson pointed out that this is the section where it should have been posted.
I am now copying my post to where it should have initially been placed.
Lurkers,
It has come to my attention that some lurkers may not post because of the fear of detection. There are some who has only one computer in the household and are not very computer savy to cover their tracks.
Well Lurkers, fear no more. You can now post to your hearts content. Follow my steps below and you can become valuable contributors to the WSG family and will easily find others to provide you valuable info.
To cover your tracks:
1. In the Explorer bar select Tools
2. Then select Internet Options
3. On the General tab select "Delete Cookie" and then select Okay
4. Then select "Delete Files" (if you desire, you can alos select to delete offline content) and then select Okay
5. Finally select Delete History (This is very important to prevent anyone from tracking that you have visited WSG. This will clear all your history
6. Then click Okay to close the Internet Options page (You have just removed traces that you have visited WSG
This deletes all sites visited at anytime.
Now if you only want to delete your visits to WSG or anywhere else you would love to keep discrete, in the Explorer bar. select History and in the left pane delete the particular URL that you have visited. This maintains all the sites but the ones that you don't want anyone else to know about.
As an added option security option for those that are still a teeny bit cautious, open an email account with one of the many free email entities such as hotmail. Make up a fake name, location, etc and open your WSG account with that so that it cannot be traced to you. If you are concerned about having your IP address traced, post from a public library using the method I describe above.
Now Lurkers, what excuse do you now have for not posting?
NC Hunter
NC Hunter,
(This is a repetition/ addition to my post of 02-09-03 07:16 below)
Ever looked at your index.dat files in History and Temprorary internet folders?
To view the data in them, copy the files and paste them to any folder outside the windows folder and change .dat in .doc and open.
Cry if you want to...
To get rid of the index.dat files:
Reboot in dos, go to Windows (c:\windows>) and type:
deltree cookies, enter and confirm delete.
Do the same for history and tempor~1.
This cleans your c drive of your complete internet history.
(To do this in e'XP'eriment you have to have W98 - which includes DOS - installed.)
James D 2004
03-24-04, 21:34
I think you cleaning up the computer every now and then isn't practical, even if you buy some cleanup program to do it rather than manually.
Since window 95 (!), I have been setting up one account for each user of the shared computer. For microsoft programs, each user has it's own space. For example, for IE, each user's history, auto adress completion, cookies, are different. I've been doing this for years. Unless the other parties actually goes in my user area to dig up my history and cookie files, I'm pretty safe.
Now with XP, which is a NT type multi-user OS, if you setup the user as non-admin, they can't read you files and can't install programs. When I reinstall another OS in a new drive, I can't even access my old files in another disk. But don't rely on this info if your life depends on it, test it yourself.
Another sure way is to buy an additional cheap laptop just for your own surfing.
I purchased from webroot software, a program called "Privacy Maker", a couple of years ago. It is a program that allowed you to set up a secure browser and secure document folders that could only be opened with a password. This simplified the issue of not having to clean up the browser or delete files if the computer is shared with others. If you use a cleanup program to delete unwanted clutter, you could delete the information that others would see, but keep the secure information intact. I can set up a favorites list in Internet Explorer that no one else who didn't know the password would be able to see. I have been to the webroot website recently, but the "Privacy Maker" program has been replaced with a different program that may not be the same. Either way, they have free downloads that you could try to see if they perform the security functions you would need. The purchase prices are not very high if you wish to keep the programs on your computer.
BM
A lot of good ideas, but I'd suggest for the casual pc-user its too hard to remember all the techno-jive. Personally, I think its good to know, but people get lazy and then get caught.
A program many use is Window Washer, which can run whenever you want it to, including on startup, so you washout that nasty Index file. It cleans out all those pesky files that Windows may create as backup, that can catch you.
You can find the software at www.webroot.com and it costs around $20 or $30. IMHO, well worth it. I think there is a nagware version too.
James D 2004
03-24-04, 22:30
I just verified that XP won't allow other non-admin users to open any folders inside My Documents, using the command prompt or not. Of course my account is password protected. I think this OS protection is finally comparable to that of Unix and NT users since many years ago. All your private data are under some system folders similar to My Doc. As for which system, the built in Microsoft or others, is easier to crack, I have no comment. I still have a hard disk mostly not accessible to me. The multi-user setup in XP should be the easiest.
As for favorite list, I sometimes use the bookmark in the yahoo companion bar. So I have the same list on every computer I use. And the yahoo account is of course password protected. You need a tool bar somehow, if only for the pop-up blockers.
Has anyone ever picked up spy from coming to this site. I have myself along with a friend that I turned on to this site has also. His first time opening the board he pick up Gator, Gain and other spy programs total 30. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this.
James D 2004
03-25-04, 00:20
Suna, are you Russian?
NY Monger,
"but I'd suggest for the casual pc-user its too hard to remember all the techno-jive."
Casual runners have to watch traffic too or they get hurt, not just the pros. Remembering three folders can't be that hard: cookies, history and tempoary internetfiles (dos name tempor~1).
BTW, if you use the MYie shell on top of your M$ie, you have a tool that will remove all but the index.dat files when you close the browser. I've been using this shell for almost a year now and it's great! It kills pop-ups too.
Suna,
This site never got me infected with spyware or anything like that. But if you surf the web without caution, you are bound to pick up more than you bargained for.
Even ISP's that ought to be reliable try to put stuff on my machine that I don't want. Caution and knowing what to look for helps to make them fail in their attempts.
If you want to know more about the spyware you contracted, do a Google search and start reading. Spend an hour on that now, safe hours of unwanted program removal time later!
Go thru a proxy server if you are worried.
Need a list of proxy let me know.
James D 2004
04-02-04, 14:26
If you want to cover your tracks in XP, just copy the 3 lines into notepad and save it as cleanup.bat. If your XP is setup with multiusers, replace username with yours, otherwise there is a directory for all users. Put your bat file anywhere and double click on it to execute whenever you want to clean.
del /f /s "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Cookies\*"
del /f /s "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\History\*"
del /f /s "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*"
Firstly, I don't advice depending your life on it as I said below. Think of it as an arm race. It all depends on how much is the strength of your opponent. Either it can be an overkill, or what if your wife ship the whole computer to an expert and prepare filing for divorce? As simple as auto complete, the addresses are not included in these areas. So you have to disable auto complete in IE also, otherwise when your wife type www.w, the wsgforum address appear instantly. This you can see, but maybe there are others you can't.
If you admin the computer, it's a good idea to setup an account for each user in Windows, as simple as setting up family email accounts in your ISP. There's good reason that only one person can see and edit the system files, and that only one person can download and install programs. So you can password your account and leave it up to the others to use password or not. There's good reason to use password, to avoid accidents created by any user on other user's files. With these setup, others really can't see what you are doing so you don't need to cleanup.
If your father is the admin (hehe), it's a good idea to cleanup if you have a multiuser setup. You just setup your own IE options, cleanup your own tracks and nobody will notice. But it's painful. You are going back in time to use IE 1 instead of 6.
If Windows is used as default, where no user names are setup, cleanup isn't a good idea. How do you explain that the PC is squeaky clean every time after you use it? Even your kids will think that you are watching porn. Do you expect your wife to remember and retype every password she registered?
I only cleanup at work when I expect someone coming for my PC like IT support. Just to avoid embarrassment, or that the guy is nosy. If they really want to target you, there's little you can do about it. They don't even need to come close to your PC. However, there are ethics and privacy issues that will keep their mouth shut.
Surfing at work is a big no no even if you can surf wherever you want. I use my home PC as the proxy. Anything between my work PC and home PC is encrypted, a private tunnel. Network monitoring software cannot know where I've been to.
I can't resisting humoring (good or bad) guys like Suna. He talk the talk, like an Internet junky, or even a Guru. But he is clueless. You cannot 'pickup' spyware, only install it. Either you download some software and install it. Or IE ask you permission to install something when you are surfing. Anything from weather monitoring to internet tool bars. Just a warning, the spy removal programs are even more dangerous than the spywares.
Suna is correct: if you enter www.*************.org you receive the automatic proposal of installing DashBar/Precison time, that is, as far as I know, something like a spyware (or data miner, according to Ad-Aware).
Just say NO and nothing happens.
If you go directly to www.wsgforum.com, you do not receive the above proposal.
In any case, we all are at least 18 yo, and we must know when to say yes or no.... :-)
"Just a warning, the spy removal programs are even more dangerous than the spywares."
This is a misleading blanket statement that is patently untrue -- there are any number of spyware removal tools which are very much on the up-and-up. It's true that the stuff you'll find spamming your mailbox or advertised in pop-ups is bad news, but Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, for example, is not only above reproach but a must-have.
James D 2004
04-03-04, 01:37
"Just a warning, SOME spy removal programs are even more dangerous than the spywares."
If you are picky, use the corrected version. It can't be wrong, can it? Joe, I advice you to do a search for 'best' or 'all' in WSG and you will have a busy time arguing.
TNH, I've got no utterly issue or problem with people giving their opinions, which is most of what WSG is all about, but that's a very different thing than an absolute pronouncement giving technical advice. I've spent far too many hours cleaning up messes on various people's computers created by such statements. It's like a prescription -- the dosage and frequency simply does make a difference. Some things are either correct or incorrect and the specifics matter, regardless of your storied indifference toward usage of language and grammar.
All,
"if you enter www.*************.org you receive the automatic proposal of installing DashBar/Precison "
I use Myie as a shell over M$IE and when I enter www.*************.org in the address bar and click enter I hear a 'pop', meaning that a pop-up was killed.
MYie is G-R-E-A-T.
It's free!
Try it!
It can also be set to clean History, Cookies and Temporary internetfiles. Leaves only the index.dat files to be removed by hand.
Be safe out there....
James D 2004
04-03-04, 16:55
Joe, as I understand English, ALL is blanket, SOME is rather safe to use, and THE that I used originally is rather neutral to me.
Spyware is rather safe, otherwise it will be call a virus, at least a non-infectious virus. You lost your privacy but MOST of it are compiled into statistics for marketing purposes.
The most dangerous part is removal. If you don't remove it, nothing will happen. If you use a bad removal software and try it on a nasty spyware, the OS can be corrupted. My advice is don't download the first removal program that you can find and think that everyone is the same.
Many IE tool bars has pop-up blockers. The yahoo companion has one, the alvista translation has one. I use both so I don't need to install more software.
Sorry, TNH, but the specific way you used "the" does in fact imply all as opposed to being a neutral statement, as would otherwise be the case. Syntactically, by saying "the spy removal programs" you're using it as a statement of a class type, including all members of that class. Cool if you meant it to be neutral, but that's not the meaning as written.
I disagree with you that spyware programs are basically harmless. Outside of the privacy issues, (which is putting aside a lot in a thread about Internet Security) various of these programs have also been conclusively found to be directly responsible for Windows system and Internet browser crashes, and are able to secretly download and cause Windows to execute any arbitrary program into the unsuspecting user's computer. Those are significantly negative things, not even considering that we're talking about about something that basically uses your internet channel without your knowledge or permission -- basically stealing your bandwidth and affecting system responsiveness and performance. To me, that's not harmless stuff. I agree with you that problems can result from using bad removal tools, which is why I mentioned Ad-Aware, which does not have those issues.
I also very agree with you that pop-up blockers such as those from Yahoo or AltaVista are must-haves to help avoid accidently installing such stuff. Great care must also be taken when installing shareware programs, as far too many still have Spyware attached to them.
James D 2004
04-04-04, 03:52
"... THE spyware programs.." implies ALL spyware programs, is eye opening to me. I would think that THE implies specific spyware programs. And since I didn't even tell you what's those programs, I merely imply 'there exists some'.
I think in talking about spyware we all imply that we are mostly talking about adware, at least I'm. The fact that the program from lavasoft is called ad-aware supports this. Most of these softwares are safe in the sense that I explained before. Yes, some of the crude programs can cause crashes, which causes few damages. But if you try to remove those things with equally crude software, you may need to reinstall OS rather than reboot.
I have also mentioned the difference between adware and virus and imply something else. To gain control to your computer using adware is like using anal sex just to make a woman's pussy wet, and then make love via her pussy.
Even simple pop-up blockers will also dismiss invitation for downloading adwares.
Think of the syntax issue like this: if you say "the Democrats" or "the stars" it's a reference to them in general, not to some specific ones. The only way it's specific is if you've previously defined and are referring to a clear data subset.
And the point about spyware programs being able to download updated versions of themselves, including executable files, to have the ability to redirect your browser to wherever it wishes, and to willy-nilly run programs on your computer as desired, regardless of whether or not you give explicit permission for this to happen, is that you are NOT operating in a safe environment. Most folks would frankly be better off weedwhacking the things out and needing to reinstall or repair their OS than to have their precious personal data at the whims of such an insecure situation.
The fact that most spyware doesn't bother to take control of your computer in a malicious manner certainly doesn't mean that it's not possible, and security is all about limiting the negative possibilities.
TallnHandsome,
As I've said before, I have methods of cleaning up after me, but I gave your cleanup.bat a try. It is small and easy to take along.
But: No work for me on W98. I did remove the local settings bit.
Where do I go wrong?
Joe zop,
Instead of arguing over 'the' you could tell us 'which' spyware program is the best to remove that stuff. Not that you get any if you're careful, but still...
Headhunter2000
04-04-04, 08:46
Q: Which spyware remove program is the best?
A: It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is.
I use Ad-Aware and also Spybot - Search & Destroy. They are unequivocally (some of / all of / the very) best ones. :)
Freeler, I've twice mentioned Ad-Aware as a program that doesn't fit TNH's assertion that removal programs cause problems. It's free for personal use, has numerous options, and is solid and safe. I've used it for several years with no problems. One of the nice things about it is that it will also clean out cookies left by ad-tracking sites you might come across during normal surfing.
I agree with HeadHunter2000s that Spybot - Search & Destroy is an excellent program, and it's also one that works nicely (and is aware of) Ad-Aware. It has a somewhat looser interpretation of spyware, also including various Microsoft issues, and also has one of the best language options I've seen on any program. I didn't mention is before because I've only been using it for a couple of months and I like to see results over a longer time before I recommend such products.
And if you notice, in addition to syntax discussion (which came up in the first place to clarify overly broad technical advice) I have been posting specific on-topic information regarding spyware in those previous posts.
Also, TNH's cleanup.bat won't work properly on Win98 because the file locations it references are different in XP, which is what it's built for. 98's not the true multi-user OS that XP is and it handles user accounts in a different manner.
James D 2004
04-04-04, 18:48
Freeler, yes I'm talking about XP. I thought you know where the directories are in 98? Just replace my directories with whatever names you see in DOS or command prompt, or the full windows names. I think some could be under C:\windows.
JZ, out differences regarding THE is slight. I would think if I didn't define the specific reference, nobody can hold me accountable. If I'm guilty, that's the problem of English, or my English, which doesn't bother me a bit. Because my mind have to be more precise than that to get by.
Spybot hasn't got a good history. If it still claims loudly to 'use it at your own risk' nowadays, I'll think twice about it.
TNH, would you be a bit more specific on your negative statement about Spybot's history? Most of the research I did on it gave it a strong positive recommendation, and many Spyware forums include it as a must-have utility. I've certainly had no problems with it.
James D 2004
04-05-04, 00:35
This software is unmistakable - on the title bar it says "Use it at your own risk!" Need I say more?
It also has the recovery option for you to UNDO what you have destroyed. IMO this reflects try and error approach, and that undo gives you a false sense of security.
It's much more picky than Adware. I guess it's using simple name pattern matching to find known adwares in the registry rather than understanding adware at the functional level.
In the earlier versions, some reported errors are:
After removal, you get error message whenever you boot, ie, windows is trying to run something that is missing.
OS corrupted. Some adware turn themselves into system components. If you delete them without restoring to the old state, you have to repair the OS.
Undo doesn't work, doesn't recover.
Can't say these errors/features are unique to Spybot, but I would be very worry about software that just detect some keywords in the registry.
Again I disagree with you -- the admonition to use the program at your own risk is a reflection of the power of the software and the warranty provided: "removing the threats targeted by Spybot-S&D sometimes involves cutting deep into the system sometimes, and I cannot guarantee that your system will be running the same as before. For example, spyware hosts may stop working. I can also give you no warranty that Spybot-S&D will remove every spy on your system, or that it will give you no false positives. For your own verification the location of the problem is shown with every entry, and if you have any questions remaining you can visit the support forum for more information."
In my opinion that's simply a realistic statement rarely found in software user agreement, as people who use ANY tool for removing software from their system can put themselves at risk. I've had to clean up after lots of people who've screwed up their system by using the standard Windows program uninstall options.
The error examples you give can also appear when you clear your system of viruses or trojan horses, or even disable them, regardless of the program involved. An understanding of the operating system and its ability to repair itself (such as XP's digital signature or system restore options) is critical if you're going to mess around with this stuff.
Undo options are available on most decent utilities that involve uninstalling things, such as Norton's Cleansweep, GoBack, etc. That's not a "trial and error approach," it's a sensible way of letting people undo possible mistakes they make when rummaging in a system, and is especially important when you're talking about powerful tools that let you modify system settings and features. I personally don't deal with utilities WITHOUT an undo option, and I don't want to deal with utilities too weak to let me have a fair amount of control over what I'm doing.
The bottom line with the program is that it gives you a huge amount of control over what you're doing -- from defining specific things you want to exclude (I exclude my Adobe and Macromedia products, for example) to providing you a lot of specific information about each "threat." To me, that's a responsible utility.
Yes, people can screw up their systems if they just start poking buttons without paying attention to what they're doing. But they can do the same thing by using your cleanup.bat file if they happen to have a typo in it.
James D 2004
04-05-04, 03:49
This is my end game on this issue. One of the 'highly recommended' adware removal program has to put a warning on it's title bar. That's why I try to imply that some can be more dangerous than the adware themselves. That warning is not enough. Some adware cannot easily be removed as they don't come with uninstall instructions to restore to the original state, resulting in missing system components. Undo can be too late as you already crashed and will fail to boot.
The other 'highly recommended' removal program Ad-aware don't have an undo button, and don't come with warning on the title bar. Either it deal with only the adware it can deal with, or it's 100% effective and 100% safe.
At the end we come back to the 1st dilemma that I mentioned. To remove or not to. You know that they don't guarantee to remove everything. Ad-aware typically report less problems than Spybot. Either you still have adware after removal or you are going to destroy something that isn't adware. Virus and Trojan horse are different things. They have to be removed by ALL means and you have to take the consequences. At least as a public service you have to remove them. Another good reason is that your friends will not talk to you anymore.
It's the responsibility of these software to sell to the right users they intend. Average home computers and users, where the money is, should be scared away by the Spybot warnings. It's well known that MS uses windows to screw it's competitors at the OS level. Small developers hate to pay the sum to get the documentation or development system in order to integrate their application into Windows. If you don't deal with Windows OS for a living, only the rich-in-time class can afford to know what the registry means other than a keyword.
For any further questions I suggest to ask the Ad-aware people to hold a debate with the Spybot authors.
You are mistaken on Ad-Aware, TNH. It maintains "quarantined objects" which are basically archives of what's been removed, the same as most antivirus programs do, and these can be restored (or deleted) at any time.
Your statement that "Either you still have adware after removal or you are going to destroy something that isn't adware" is simply untrue. The difference in what the two programs detect is due to differing definitions of adware, and in both cases those definitions can be user-adjusted. And in both cases those definitions are very well documented. In addition, these programs do not "destroy" anything -- they place it in an archive where it can be deleted, restored, examined, etc. Both of these products, used correctly, are excellent and do the job they were designed to do.
Both of these programs, as is the case with countless utilities, are shareware/freeware, (no big money being made here) and, yes, users shouldn't use them unless they can actually read and follow directions. Of course, drunken people shouldn't drive, and casual users also shouldn't activate viruses, say yes to installing spyware in the first place, or create and use .bat files that delete things on their hard drives based on quasi-anonymous postings in non-technical forums unless they actually understand what such files really do, etc., but they still do all this stuff. You can't protect people from themselves merely by suggesting to the rest of the world that they avoid doing things they're perfectly cabable of doing. Unlike spyware and adware, both programs are quite explicit about exactly what they do. Anyone who can actually read and follow documentation will be fine using either of the mentioned products.
To those who are really woried what tracks wife/gf/kids might find I recommend again Microsoft Virtual PC and VMWare.
You have your very own (virtual) PC for mongering, or whatever you are into. The virtual machine is a single file on your HDD, which can be password protected. The virtual machine can be securely deleted if required. By keeping a baseline copy of this file you can restore a complete machine configuration in seconds. Any internet usage tracks only exist within the VM. You can install whatever software you want without upsetting your host machine configuration.
You can get a 30 day trial copy of VMWare from
http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/newstore/wkst_eval_login.jsp
Remember you'll need some OS install disks for your new virtual PC.
In terms of peace of mind while the wife/gf/mother-in-law are using your PC, I really think this is the best solution there is.
James D 2004
04-07-04, 10:59
Let me slip in my final moves. Ad-aware do NOT have an UNDO button. Calling it something else is a good philosophical move, otherwise you have to warn 100's of times, as in Spybot, that this UNDO is not the usual UNDO in word processors, a lot more dangerous.
In Ad-aware, remove = quarantee, remove NOT= delete. I don't blame them, it all started with DOS, who doesn't want to call unix remove remove, but delete instead. Most annoying is \ instead of /.
You want to remove adware that give away your privacy when you are not aware of it. If that's defined any differently either you don't get what you wanted, or you get more than you bargained for. In the latter case you might detect something like spy / monitoring software that is secretely installed on your computer. But much more likely you spend much more time to avoid deleting legit components.
There is big money here. People will pay a few dollars to buy adware removal programs when they are bombarded with pop-ups even when they are not surfing (though this is marginally counted as adware). Nowadays, it's better to have millions paying you a few dollars, rather than a few people paying you thousands. You don't even need to buy it. Yahoo probably brought up the best (or whatever) pop-up stopper and put it in their tool bar. People don't pay a few dollars and then consult the MS technical manual on registry entries.
I found a better way for myself, I go thru proxy server. There's plenty of them. I proxy thru local cable or dsl or whatever I can find. But Since I use Unix I don't worry much.
You window people should watch out, look in this folder. I had to do a clean-up for my bud & the shit I found, he is really thankful.
In Win XP WATCH THIS FOLDER & THEN THANKS ME LATER
"C:\Documents and Settings\root\Local Settings\Temp"
Loverboy
Lots of virus out this week for vindow so stay away from porno & gaming sites & hopefully you got a antivirus software. If not go get your your for free at
http://www.download.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=antivirus&tg=dl-2001&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=+Go%21+
Just a note about using a non-identifiable e-mail address when registering for wsg. SOMETIMES, not always, but 1 time out of 30-40, when you click on http://www.wsgforum.com/ You will be served up with ANOTHER member's header page (the very top part) as in:
Welcome back 11Bravo. You are currently a Senior Member
If you are a Regular Member, then you don't need to apply for an upgrade to Regular Member. Thanks
Your current membership email address is: xxxxxxxxx
Is your email address active? Have you checked your email recently for WSG Forum messages?
Maybe it has something to do with having the options set to yes for:
Automatically login when you return to the site? (uses cookies)
Browse board with cookies?
As an example, I was just served up with: Member2326's info. I know his e-mail address used to register for the forum, and I know he has 0 messages. Hitting the reload button will bring up YOUR correct page.
So, use an e-mail address that you don't mind others seeing.
11Bravo,
you need to click on forum logoff & it will log you off completely.
See the wsgforum.jpg
loverboy
Attention all,
Senior Member HarryR
Posts: 318 Is the owner of Pic 0bj04.jpg. I got PM saying I did not give him credit. But discussion here is Internet Security anyway dosen't matter to me?
Lets give
Senior Member HarryR 100 POINTS Credit
I use Spy Sweeper. It seems to work well and I get regular updates. I even caught a key-logger on a work computer.
QUESTION: How secure is WSG? Can a hacker or LE "hunt you down" from our posts or invading the site?
Da Bone
Short Answer: No.
Uh, Jackson? Sorry, that should be a yes. Ever hear of carnivore?
The bottom line is yes, they can. The good news is that it would take the resources of a nation-state and, in the case of LE, a court approved tap.
Another bit of good news is that Jackson would probably not release any logs or IP address´without said court order. But even if he refused, the ISP and hosting service would.
The best news is, that "they" (whoever "they" is) would simply not bother.
Y'all,
This has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with WSG, but it looks so nice - here it is:
http://www.hamar.sk/sphere/
Go check dat shit out!
Jack Spratt III
10-12-04, 17:46
I posted this on the "Letters to the Editor" section, and at the suggestion of the Editor will repost it here.
Re: Safety on the Internet and cookies.
The Internet is a dangerous place and you never know who may be monitoring your activities. PC software, particularly WINDOWS, is pathetically insecure. Your hard drive may contain many things you would not like others to see, even if you think you deleted it!
I devised a cheap and foolproof method of getting rid of all traces of your Internet surfing from your PC. This also works if you pick up a virus you can't get rid of or when your hard drive crashes.
It is tedious to create but your PC can always be in a pristine state. (Hey! I'm a poet!).
You need to have software that will make a backup of your system to CDR (NERO Burning ROM is the one I use).
1. Take a backup of your hard drive before you start all this, so that if something gets hosed you can always restore to this backup.
2. Copy to a different CDR all of your preferred site addresses and Email address book. I set mine up using WORD so that I can cut and paste the addresses to the action bar and hit "GO". Find a good hiding place for this disk.
3. Perform a FULL reformat your hard drive to clean off everything. NOTE: this may take some time as it erases everything on every track of your HD.
4. Load your WINDOWS software - from scratch.
5. Reinstall all the other applications you use - from scratch (Virus scan, ISP, Word processor, CD player, NERO, etc.).
6. Fire up your Firewall software and set preferences.
7. Log In to your ISP (at this point you have NO cookies(and NO viruses), so you will have to go through the login procedure) and set up your preferences (Click on VIEW and then set up your Internet settings).
8. Open up your Email account (you should not have lost any of your Email or address book).
9. Logoff your ISP. (Your computer is now pristine with basic ISP cookies and NO viruses).
10. Take a backup to CD of your hard drive again. This will be your Start-up set.
11. Test this Start-up set by running it to restore your hard drive including accessing your ISP. If it works OK, destroy the backup you took at step 1 by melting the CDs with a blowtorch to get rid of all previous evidence.
12. You can now cruise the Internet with a modicum of confidence. Every time you think you have too much incriminating stuff on your hard drive, restore to the Start-up set. Remember, every photograph you download and every site you visit can be extracted from your computer by an expert (LE?) unless you periodically wipe it clean! (Most of the time you DELETE something from your hard drive, the software simply changes a flag to say the track that the data was on is free to reuse, but it doesn't physically overwrite the track to remove the data. Tools are available to reset this flag so that the original data can be read again).
13. P.S. A tip on downloading photographs and movies: Never go direct to your hard drive. I use a ZIP 100 mb drive and then copy to CD. After the copy to CD, I delete the files on the ZIP disk and then copy the huge "Program Files" folder to the ZIP disk. This ensures a complete overwrite of every track on the ZIP disk ensuring security.
Always Lookin
10-16-04, 11:30
Jack, Excellant!
I used to use the same technique to build PC's. 20 pc's, all the same hardware all the same image. Any problems...one restore disc!
I never thought to use it for security.
I'm on it!
Thanks,
AL
Jack Spratt III
10-17-04, 05:22
Always Lookin,
I've worked in the IT field for a long time and have experienced many of those "Duh!" moments when you suddenly realize there was a real simple solution to a problem.
Glad to provide a "Duh!" moment for you :-)
Please feel free to share this technique with any other vulnerable folks you know.
I always laugh at the dumshits who get raided by LE who find illegal pics (CP, etc.) on that person's computer. The reports usually say that LE also found some kind of Hard Disc Cleaner software (which, obviously, didn't work!)
I just need to keep the wife and the boss from finding out my WWW browsing habits (especially THIS site).
Happy Hunting.
Rolly Polly
10-27-04, 19:12
Hey, Sporatic does that mean the short answer is still 'no'? :)
Rolly Polly,
It depends on exactly what your personal level of comfort is. For ME it is an acceptable risk, with the precautions I personally take.
Having said that, I think full disclosure is important so each one of may evaluate their own risks.
Cheers,
Sporadic
If you are really paranoid, get a knoppix live cd to do your browsing.
It loads into the ram and doesnt need to even write at all to the HD.
A full fledged linux distro with web browser, email, office suite, etc. It does most of the basic networking for you, given a LAN connection of some sort. IE, with a card, and not a modem.
But you will have to RTFM. I know alot of windows users can't abide that, but that's the way it is.
And of course, you should stop using IE and use Mozilla Firefox on your Windows box, otherwise you most certainly will get that nasty Cool WEb Search and the Porn Dialers.
When Firefox deletes your history, it REALLY deletes it, unlike IE, which as I understand it, has a file somewhere of all hosts visited that it won't erase.
And there's eraser at http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ to give you a serious clean up that probably will stymie even the FBI from trying to recover your data.
Free. Open Source. Like the Knoppix disk.
Hope this helps!
Nanio,
Yes indeed, in Windows you can't get rid of the '.dat' files. Windows claims it needs them.
But good old DOS is here to help:
Restart in DOS, you get C:\windows>
Type:deltree cookies, click yes
Type:deltree tempor~1, click yes
Same for any folder you want to get rid of, like:
-temp
-history
Restart windows by pushin' cntr+alt+del
Windows will rebuild the folders you removed in DOS, but the .dat files in them are..... empty!
Get yourself a copy of 'eraser' to completely overwrite the empty space on the HD(s) every now and then.
To reduce the amount of space you have to worry about, reduce the size of your C-drive to a minimum, let's say 'what you need +500MB'.
Get a bunch of seperate HD's for the porn:).
a middle-aged man is being held on suspicion of hacking into the computer of a 17-year-old girl and activating her webcam to spy on her for sexual kicks.
the case is expected to heighten concern among police forces around the world over the possibility of peeping toms controlling webcams remotely to invade people's privacy.
"footage could not only be used to blackmail unfaithful spouses but burglars could keep a cyber-eye on when people are out of their homes," said web specialist, petros demetriades.
police believe the 45-year-old suspect, a married computer technician from cyprus, tracked the girl down through a chat-room.
he is believed to have then sent her a trojan file giving him access to the pc in her bedroom.
the file asked her to include him in her list of friends. she rejected the request but he kept coming back to her.
he then sent her a video clip showing her emerging from the bathroom in a towel followed by scenes of her getting dressed.
she burst into tears, and immediately received a message from the hacker on her computer telling her to stop crying. the girl realised to her horror that he was watching her at that moment. the man then asked her to undress in front of the webcam and when she refused, he threatened to send the earlier video clip to everyone on her e-mail list.
the distraught girl promptly shut down her computer. the next day she discovered that the hacker had broken into her computer, stolen all her personal data and tracked down her mobile phone number.
he then began to send her text messages and called her on her mobile phone using a pre-paid phone card.
the girl complained to police and officers tracked the man down in early april.
they swooped on monday night and arrested him on suspicion of sexual harassment.
it is feared that the girl was just one of the suspect's victims and that he may have prowled other chat rooms to contact others.(© the times, london)
I read only to-day Jack Spratt III message. Very helpful.
I 've found a better way to destroy CDs: no need fo a blow torch, but simply PUT THEM IN A MICROWAVE.
Low power, for 20 seconds, and all the metallic layer will burn like fireworks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4173218.stm
Although Nibu is mentioned here, there is another notorioua poster on the Thai board who has been linked to such scams. Be careful.
For your information:
'Islamic Trojan' disrupts smut surfing
By John Leyden
Published Monday 5th September 2005 16:08 GMT
Get breaking Security news straight to your desktop - click here to find out how
Virus writers have created a Trojan horse which tries to disrupt visits the pornographic websites by displaying messages from the Koran.
The low-risk Yusufali-A Trojan horse monitors the websites Windows users are visiting. If the malware sees one of a set of trigger words (such as "teen", "sex" or "penis") in the url it minimises the window so the user cannot see its content and displays a message from the Koran instead. The message, partly written in Arabic, contains the following English text:
Yusufali: Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for they fault, and for the men and women who believe: for Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes.
"Unlike other malware, it appears this Trojan horse isn't trying to steal money or confidential information, but acting as a moral guardian instead - blocking the viewing of websites it determines are unsavoury," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Of course, it's possible for the Trojan horse to make mistakes and block sites that are not pornographic - such as medical sites, or social sites designed for teenagers."
Once the message is displayed the malware performs a variety of other actions before forcing infected users to shutdown. All very disconcerting but there's no need for undue alarm since the Yusufali-A Trojan is not yet in the wild. It's unclear whether the malware was written as a joke, or as a serious attempt to clean up the habits of internet users.
Malware featuring an Islamic theme is rare but not unprecedented. Previous examples have include the Mawanella worm which highlighted the friction between Muslims and Buddhists in Sri Lanka and the Cycle worm which contained a message about life in Iran.
If you guys realy want to cut down security threats please start surfing the web with ANY given Linux distribution.
I myself usualy interact with Suse 9.3 and also sometimes with knoppix.
The most simple way is to start with a socalled LIVE CD....Knoppix is very good for this. You can try out Linux without installing anything to your HD.
Besides once installed you can import your emails,bookmarks or whatever you used to have under XP.
The only thing I use Windows XP for is webcam chatting....as support for webcams under linux (still) is very poor.
With linux you can do (almost) all things as under Windows: emailing (Thunderbird,Kmail or Evolution),webbrowsing (Firefox,Opera,galeon or Konquerer) chatting (Gaim,Koppete and some others...even a linux based version of ICQ) and much more. There even is a Linux version of Yahoo messenger!
Under linux your systeem won't be affected by (windows based) virusses,trojans,spy-adware or any other kind of malware.
The only thing you have to watch out for is phising or pharming.
If there comes (and i have no doubts this will be fixed within 6-12 months from now) a real good program under Linux that handles webcams I have no further reason to use Windows anymore.
Also most Linux distros are FREE....you only need to download the .iso files,burm them and install them on your system.
regards,
Johan.
Yusta Vansel
10-26-05, 19:03
Some programs can recover picture, movie, etc. files damaged by virus attacks, power failures and software faults or files from deleted and formatted partitions. These programs can also recover files moved to Recycle Bin after it has been emptied. Always wipe free space in your computer for risk eliminating.
Yusta Vansel
10-26-05, 19:05
Without your knowledge or explicit permission, the Windows networking technology which connects your computer to the Internet may be offering some or all of your computer's data to the entire world. Use a firewall all the time. The ideal firewall should
Blocks hackers from gaining access to your computer
Automatically makes your computer invisible to anyone on the Internet
Prevents spyware from sending your personal information across the Internet
Protects your programs and operating system from malware
Prevents your personal data from leaving your computer without your approval
Automatically stops pop-up ads so you can surf in peace
Automatically removes the most dangerous and useless spyware and viruses for you
"Clears" legitimate monitoring software (such as cookies for Web sites you use frequently) so it doesn't get picked up in every spyware scan
Prevents your personal data from leaving your computer without your approval
Automatically stops pop-up ads so you can surf in peace.
Damon Pythias,
In adition to my firewall and virusscanner I use:
ashampoo_powerupxp_platinum220
to help set my XP to show less dangerous behaviour.
This proggie works like a charm,
Freeler
Remove index.dats,
Start up XP (pro anyway, I guess home too) in safe-mode (hold F8 on start-up) and you can remove all those horrible files like the index.dat stuff in cookies and temp internet files.
I'm startin' ta like XP:).
My Kapitan
01-20-06, 08:12
Anyone know how to remove Adultfriendfinder's annoying startup executible that takes IE to their home page everytime you open IE? I've tried spyware stoppers like spybot and Previx but no joy.
CCleaner - www.ccleaner.com - excellent free utility for removing temp files and browser traces
IDS - http://www.extramile.ro/ids_overview.html - removes those pesky index.dat files
I find these two to do an excellent job. They're quick, reliable, spyware/adware free, and easy to use.
As a standard, I install these, plus AdAware Personal, Spybot Search & Destroy, Spywareblaster, and Spywareguard on every system I work on. All are free and very dependable.
Member #2001
02-16-06, 12:01
Has anyone here ever used this program called tor? http://tor.eff.org/ Sounds really good, but I would like someone to tell me about it if they have used it.
I guess its interesting if you are affraid of censershiip like some chinese are. It is suppose to let you surf annoymously.
Would appricate andy comments and observations from anyone that has used this software.
Thanks
I tried using tor, but didn't work for me. I still use jap.exe - does the same job. Can be slow late night (Dubai time) but usually good. See thread on proxy servers.
Anyone know how to remove Adultfriendfinder's annoying startup executible that takes IE to their home page everytime you open IE? I've tried spyware stoppers like spybot and Previx but no joy.
The solution is simple. Dump IE and use Firefox. Safer and better!
http://www.firefox.com/
CA Traveler
03-27-06, 07:08
All of a sudden I am getting a small popup window which quickly disappears when I click on reply and prepare to send a PM.
I've never noticed this and I am a little worried that someone has hacked into my laptop and is reading my PM...
Any one else seeing the little pop-ups or am I just being paranoid?
Jaimito Cartero
05-17-06, 01:54
All of a sudden I am getting a small popup window which quickly disappears when I click on reply and prepare to send a PM.
I've never noticed this and I am a little worried that someone has hacked into my laptop and is reading my PM...
Any one else seeing the little pop-ups or am I just being paranoid?
I have seen this when someone requests a delivery confirmation of the message.
Hi,
There's a Portable mozilla Firefox out there. It runs from your usb-stick, photo memory card or portable hard drive and it leaves no traces on the computer!
You can bring your own bookmarks and even passwords along on your trip.
I used it on my recent thailand trip and it worked just great.
Get it here:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/browsers/portable_firefox
There's a Portable Open Office too:
http://portableapps.com/apps/office/suites/portable_openoffice
Regards,
Freeler
Quick question: How can I clear my google search history??? When I open google, and type a character, all my previous searches are displayed. Could be dangerous!In Explorer:
- Go to "Tools", then "Internet Options". On this menu, select the "General" tab. You can clear history, as well as cookies.
- Also under "Tools/Internet Options", select the "Content" tab, and you can turn off or clear "Autocomplete"
In Firefox:
- Go to "Tools" & you can "clear private data".
- Also under "Tools", select "Options", then in select "Privacy". Go through each of the tabs and clear what you think you need to clear.
Good info on how to do manually.
But given I can never remember, there are any number of freeware / shareware / donateware programs around that will clean any number of leftover tracks. One I happen to use is:
http://www.buttuglysoftware.com/CleanCache3.html
Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
Very customize-able. Good help file explaining the options. Once you have it set up the way you want, it will do what you what when you want, either by running manually or can set to run automatically.
Are computers with Linux pre installed readily available? Microsoft just gets a bigger pain by the day and all Vista/XP has going for it is it is the standard. I dearly want to dump Windows as I am sure many people want to for reasons too many to mention but very many of which deal with security. I am surprised no entrepreneur has begun pre installing open source ware for those of us lacking the balls to do it ourselves.
I remember it was possible before to enter the forum through this URL (http://209.172.34.102).
It was very very confortable because discrete: people like me connecting from office don't want to leave any trace of surfing the internet.
Why is it not possible any more?
Is it possible to reset this functionality?
Does anyone know other dicrete ways to enter?
Thanx a lot for your suggestions!
For the paranoid, this little add-on to Firefox will change the text on your browsing tabs to something office safe...
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2987
Mighty Mark
08-17-07, 00:16
While I can go into Tools, Internet options, general and clear history - I cannot now seem to delete the ISG link.
When I type www.i up it comes.. very strange as always been able to clear this. Any ideas to help.
Thanks
MM
While I can go into Tools, Internet options, general and clear history - I cannot now seem to delete the ISG link.
When I type www.i up it comes.. very strange as always been able to clear this. Any ideas to help.
Thanks
MMGo to Tools, Internet Options, CONTENT.
Click on Autocomplete Settings. Then clear the check-marks (tick-marks if you're British). Problem solved.
This will also prevent your google searches being saved and auto-completed.
I remember it was possible before to enter the forum through this URL (http://209.172.34.102).
It was very very confortable because discrete: people like me connecting from office don't want to leave any trace of surfing the internet.
Why is it not possible any more?
Is it possible to reset this functionality?
Does anyone know other discreete ways to enter?
Thanx a lot for your suggestions!
For a real hidden and discreete access to any website when you are at school, work, church, home (with your wife or g/f) try:
http://www.losingmymind.info
Reading the introduction you will easly understand the way it works.
Are computers with Linux pre installed readily available? Microsoft just gets a bigger pain by the day and all Vista/XP has going for it is it is the standard. I dearly want to dump Windows as I am sure many people want to for reasons too many to mention but very many of which deal with security. I am surprised no entrepreneur has begun pre installing open source ware for those of us lacking the balls to do it ourselves.
I understand that HP and/or Dell start shipping pre-install machines with some Linux distro. I read that on some german website a week or 2 ago.
Vista???? OOO man...i would stay away from that one for a while...way too buggy and leaky.
Johan
The solution is simple. Dump IE and use Firefox. Safer and better!
http://www.firefox.com/
I second that one. If I have to use an IE based browser I will use Maxthon. Way superior to IE6 and IE7.
Opera too is a very good and fast browser under Windows which can be extended with many gadgets. It has everything you need....browser...email program...rss feed reader...and much more!!And it's damn fast too!!!! IMHO it even uses less memory then Firefox.
www.opera.com
In the long run I would surely use some Linux distro or a MAC as they are saver then any Windows PC. besides that Linux is free and nowadays very easy to install even for newbies.
Johan
Wicked Roger
11-03-07, 18:26
I remember it was possible before to enter the forum through this URL (http://209.172.34.102).
It was very very confortable because discrete: people like me connecting from office don't want to leave any trace of surfing the internet.
Why is it not possible any more?
Is it possible to reset this functionality?
Does anyone know other dicrete ways to enter?
Thanx a lot for your suggestions!
RG
This is what I get from the UAE
Access to this numeric HTTP address may have been blocked due to high volume traffic generated by end user PC's infected with worms or viruses.
Please try to access the page by including the file name along with the IP address, e.g. http://10.1.1.2/index.html
It is not blocked due to issues of pornoi etc as I am around that block.
CCleaner - www.ccleaner.com - excellent free utility for removing temp files and browser traces
Take care! before downloading CCleaner...ensure you are able to uninstal, should you so wish...any help on this?
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has concocted a remarkable new policy:
It reserves the right to seize for an indefinite period of time laptops taken across the border.
A pair of DHS policies from last month say that customs agents can routinely
--as a matter of course--seize, make copies of, and
"analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to
enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the United States."
The entire article is at this address:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10004646-38.html
Black Eyes
12-10-08, 20:38
Has any one used the proxy in the 3.5G broadbond internet.
May I have some comments on this topic.
Many travelers threw out their large notebooks and turned to much smaller netbooks instead - me included.
But one of these netbook, the Acer Aspire One (AA1), has a flaw that is irritating at best.
If you don't know what to do or what happened in the first place, you might even send your netbook to the bin...
It happened to me and, judging from the large number of Q&A's on the web, it might happen to you if you own or use an Acer Aspire One (AA1) netbook.
One day you turn it on and nothing happens.
The screen stays black... Forever.
That's when you're glad you made an AA1 bootable usb rescue drive.
I compiled it from several solutions I found on the web and it works 100% - that's garanteed or have me banned!
You can download the files you need, including a 'follow to the letter' manual, at this address:
http://rapidshare.com/files/186924811/acer_aspire_one_rescue_package.zip
Black Spidey
12-03-09, 07:00
I watch too much of porn online.
Does the ISP know what site I visited? Are they monitored or recorded some where?
Should I be worried?
Spidey
Someone tried to log in to my account many times earlier today, but my account was automatically locked by ISG twice, after the failed hacker tried to work out my password many times over a few hours (thanks for that security feature Jackson). The hack attempt IP addresses were in Spain and Germany (but that doesn't mean much, as they were probably using a proxy server from elsewhere).
Dear Failed Hacker - don't waste your time - there's nothing interesting in my account. I don't keep any confidential info in my account or my PMs, I have emptied my PM box and will change my password a little more often. Guys, probably a good idea to do the same.
I have tried Dropbox www.dropbox.com and I am very impressed. It is a service that allows you to keep your confidential files "in the cloud" away from your computer. You can have 2 gigabytes for free. Just be sure to delete your browser's history before crossing borders!
Legal Tender
03-10-11, 19:30
the usa department of homeland security has concocted a remarkable new policy:
it reserves the right to seize for an indefinite period of time laptops taken across the border.
a pair of dhs policies from last month say that customs agents can routinely.
-as a matter of course-seize, make copies of, and
"analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to
enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the united states."
the entire article is at this address:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10004646-38.htmlthe issue is whether these searches violate the 4th amendment to the constitution: protection against unreasonable search and seizures. there is no easy answer. the aclu has recently sued to adjudicate this issue: "abidor v. napolitano: aclu challenges suspicionless laptop border search policy"
http://www.aclu.org/free-speech-tech...-v-napolitano.
FellaFromNorth
06-23-11, 11:07
Dunno if these two applications have been mentioned before, but I strongly recommend TrueCrypt for quickly and securely encrypting your files. With a sufficiently strong password, it's practically impossible (or, at least, it'll take a LONG time to crack, possibly many years depending on the passwrod) to bruteforce. You can encrypt files, folders, the entire OS or even creating hidden encryptions.
www.truecrypt.org
And then the Tor Browser for anonymous online browsing.
www.torproject.org
Guides exist online for how to use these, so google for them.
Installed this add-on several days back, lets you know who is tracking your online activity. Ghostery not only names your 'trackers' but offers you the option of blocking them. Of interest to the paranoid, ISG has only one tracker, that being Statcounter, if Ghostery are to be believed. If you are a Firefox user simply go to add-ONS and search for Ghostery, Firefox then installs this to your browser bar.
Protect yourself: never lose control of your devices, neither physically nor securely.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50166147
Stalkerware: The software that spies on your partner.
By Joe Tidy.
Cyber-security reporter.
Amy says it all started when her husband seemed to know intimate details about her friends.
"he would drop snippets into conversations, such as knowing about Sarah's baby. Really private things that he shouldn't have known about. If I asked how he knew these things, he'd say I'd told him and accuse me of losing it," she says.
Amy. Not her real name. Also began to wonder how he seemed to know where she was all the time.
"Sometimes he would say he saw me at a cafe where I was meeting my friends and say he was just passing by chance. I started to question everything and trust no-one, even my friends," she says.
For months, these incidents built up, turning an abusive marriage into a nightmare that came to a chilling conclusion after a Halloween family trip.
"We'd been to visit a pumpkin patch and were having a rare good weekend, which basically means my husband hadn't taken anything out on me. Our six-year-old son was playing on the floor and was so happy," Amy says.
"My husband passed me his phone to show me a picture he'd taken at the farm and in that split-second I saw an alert pop up on his screen. It read, 'Daily report on Amy's Mac is ready to view. '.
"I felt this chill go through me and I stopped breathing for a minute. I had to excuse myself and pretended I needed the bathroom. I had to be there for my son and pretend that I hadn't seen anything.
"The first moment I could, I went to the library to use the computer and look up the spyware he'd used. That's when everything made sense after months of thinking I was going crazy. ".
Stalkerware. Also known as spouseware. Are powerful surveillance software programs typically sold openly online.
On a device, all messages can be read, screen activity recorded, GPS locations tracked and cameras used to spy on what an individual is doing.
According to cyber-security company Kaspersky, the number of people who have discovered such software on their devices has risen by at least 35% in the past year.
Kaspersky researchers say their protection technologies have detected stalkerware on 37,532 devices so far this year.
And principal security researcher David Emm says this is the "tip of a very large iceberg".
"Most people will routinely protect a laptop or desktop, not that many people actually protect a mobile device," he says.
"This information is coming back from installations of our product on (smartphones). So this figure doesn't even go close to what the total would be. ".
Kaspersky's findings indicate Russia is the country with the highest levels of stalkerware activity. India, Brazil, the United States and Germany complete the top five, with the UK in eighth place with 730 detections.
Another security company says there are practical steps people can take if they suspect they are already being spied on.
"It's always advisable to check which apps are on your phone and conduct a virus scan where necessary and if there are any apps on your device that you do not recognise it is worth searching online for reviews and deleting them," says Jake Moore, from Eset.
"As a general rule, if you aren't using an app, delete it. ".
Once Amy realised her computer had been compromised, she developed a severe mistrust of technology, which she is only just overcoming.
Charities say this is a common psychological response to such a trauma.
Jessica was another victim of stalkerware. Her ex-husband routinely spied on her through her phone's microphone and would play mind games by repeating specific phrases she and her friends had used in private conversations.
It's been years since she escaped the relationship but she still leaves her phone locked in the car when seeing friends.
Gemma Toynton, from domestic abuse charity Safer Places, says she see this long-term effect a lot in her cases.
"It reduces someone's trust," she says. "It makes them see a phone or laptop as a weapon, because that's what it's been used for.
"Technology has become, in their minds like a net around them and a lot of people do withdraw from using the internet.
"It really does impact your whole life. The fact that this stalkerware is on the rise is a real concern. ".
Amy, who is from the US, is now divorced and lives many miles away from her ex-husband.
She has a restraining order preventing him from direct contact with her and he is legally allowed to communicate logistics about their son's care via written letter only.
I tested out one of the most popular consumer products, which costs £140 for three months of surveillance.
I bought it online and installed it on to my work phone. It took me about an hour and I used the 24-hour live support offered by the company when I encountered any problems.
Spyware companies advertise their services as "employee monitoring" or "parental control" products.
In many countries, including the UK, using the spyware on a spouse without their permission is illegal, so many of the companies' websites are littered with disclaimers advising against this.
However, some of the same websites link to articles, seemingly written by associates, recommending the software as a spy tool for "cheatings wives and husbands".
In a live chat with the company whose product I was testing, I directly told them: "I want to install this on my wife's phone, will it be secret?
The customer service-representative responded: "The application will start to work in stealth mode right after installation. I'll be happy to help. ".
I also downloaded five of the top cyber-security products on to the infected mobile and carried out a free scan.
All of them gave alerts for "potentially harmful software".
The Crown Prosecution Service says there aren't specific laws related to the use of stalkerware but any criminal activity like this can be prosecuted by a number of means including the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Amy says more should be done to legislate against the use of these technologies.
"They need to stop hiding behind plausible deniability," she says.
"There is a wink that's given when they send this little disclaimer that says, 'We don't approve of you spying on wives. ' They know what their customers are doing though. This software causes real harm. ".
Victims are Amy and Jessica. They never existed of course. Not that it matters, but typical of the BBC to be unable to report on ANYTHING without reinforcing the female victim vs male abuser paradigm. Maybe wives don't need an app because they have nothing to do all day except scheming against their unsuspecting fool of a drudging husband.
Note that the recommendation "if you aren't using an app, delete it" is not very useful. Many apps are used by Android, they're not apps "you use". Even after an internet search it is often not clear if it is wise to get rid of them. Some apps are not deletable. Others will delete then your smartphone will malfunction. Not simple. Operating systems should have a labelling showing you can get rid of an app without running into smartphone trouble.
A good idea is to set seldom used apps in "no background activity allowed" mode. It saves power and data. Exceptions are banking apps and apps like Ueber and Google Maps for navigation.
Regarding cloud, I have been using Google Drive for 3 years now. Seems OK. You can have one benign google account that always stays visible, plus one google account with sensitive cloud drive data which you disconnect from ("remove") when not in use.
It was a beautiful morning in Mexico City also called CDMX now a days. I had a first time date setup with an escort who comes recommended on the blogdebusti.com page and advertises on Twitter. The standard procedure with Mexican escorts is they communicate on Whatsapp after making contact and when you have a meeting date planed they want you to confirm by snapping a picture of your hotel room key to prove you're legit. Obviously it saves them time to weed out the wiesels who would waste their time.
So our date is not until later in the morning and I had time to leave my hotel to go to a restaurant with a decent ham and eggs breakfast. That's where I was when my phone got a Whatsapp message from my date asking me to send the picture. I snapped a picture of the key showing the name / address of the hotel and sent it off. The girl responded she needed a real-time picture taken at the hotel, I'm translating from Spanish here. So she's tracking my phone with GPS and she knows where I am now. What the fuck! She says she has to have a picture taken at the hotel or she's not going to show. I explained I was at the restaurant but I'm not sure she got the Whatsapp because she said she didn't trust me any more and I think she might have blocked me.
If this girl has found a way to track the location of my phone using GPS then that's some serious shit! I was using a burner phone and I've already taken the battery out of it and also the GSM chip so the girl couldn't track me all the way home. I'm ready to take a ball peen hammer to it if I have to.
I don't want to be the target of blackmail because that would ruin the whole mongering experience for me. If any of you techies on the board can shed any light on this please do.
My background: I am a security information analist.
I don't think the escort got your GPS info of your phone. Something was lost in translation. I am sure she asked for an actual photo of the hotel. (A pic of the room or the lobby could worked) It's a well known procedure from some working girls because there are a lot of fake key room pics.
The girl can not get your GPS info unless you download something in your phone. A funky link could do that. I don't think it's the case but it's a great idea buying a burner cheap phone. If you think the phone is compromised you can turn off and dump it.
Many girls will request share your ubication via Whatsapp. I just don't recommend this for newbies or getting new escorts unless you are in a hotel with some security.
It was a beautiful morning in Mexico City also called CDMX now a days. I had a first time date setup with an escort who comes recommended on the blogdebusti.com page and advertises on Twitter. The standard procedure with Mexican escorts is they communicate on Whatsapp after making contact and when you have a meeting date planed they want you to confirm by snapping a picture of your hotel room key to prove you're legit. Obviously it saves them time to weed out the wiesels who would waste their time.
So our date is not until later in the morning and I had time to leave my hotel to go to a restaurant with a decent ham and eggs breakfast. That's where I was when my phone got a Whatsapp message from my date asking me to send the picture..
Henri Dufresne
02-20-22, 13:41
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