adware

Two weeks ago it looked like the file-sharing peer-to-peer (p2p) favorite LimeWire had been quashed for good . Not surprisingly, however, a new "Pirate Edition" of the software has arisen from the ashes and released to the public, and it's likely to ... once again arouse the attention of the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA). RIAA Fights Multi-Year, Multi-Million Court Battle Back in late October it appeared that the RIAA, a copyright protection agency, had been successful in closing down LimeWire for the near and distant future. After a four-year, multi-million dollar legal ... (view more)

The unbelievable story of Julie Amero, the substitute teacher who became the scapegoat of the Norwich school system when a computer riddled with spyware was inundated with pop-up "nasties" that were viewed by children in her class, has finally come ... to an end -- albeit, what many consider an unjust end. Amero was originally charged with four felonies for letting impressionable students see pornographic pictures as she browsed the web in her classroom. According to the Hartford Courant, Amero, who has been hospitalized and suffers from declining health, agreed to plead guilty to a single ... (view more)

One of my old Internet friends, Steven Burn , wrote me about finding malware in a program called Kiwi Alpha, which is a peer to peer file sharing client. He found it at Download.com. He also knows I've had bad experiences at Download.com in the ... past. Steven sent me a link to a thread at SpywareWarrior's forums where he had posted his analysis of Kiwi Alpha. It looked bad, but naturally I had to try it for myself. Preparation I created a clean Windows 98 virtual machine using Microsoft's free Virtual PC program. Then I googled for the page at Download.com. I found Kiwi Alpha and installed it ... (view more)

Spyware is a broad category of malicious software intended to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the user's informed consent. While the term taken literally suggests software that surreptitiously monitors the user, ... it has come to refer more broadly to software that subverts the computer's operation for the benefit of a third party. Spyware differs from viruses and worms in that it does not usually self-replicate. Like many recent viruses, spyware is designed to exploit infected computers for commercial gain. Typical tactics furthering this goal include ... (view more)

... Continued . Reminder: What is Adware and Spyware? Spyware is software which silently records a users' Internet activity, and then reports the data to a central computer (which is also connected to the Internet). After data is collected from ... millions of online users, statistical forecasts are made for the purpose of targeted online marketing (IE: which search engine queries are used, buying habits based on pages visited, etc). On the other hand, Adware is software which sends advertisements (usually PopUps) to your computer -- even if you're not connected to the Internet. Quite often, ... (view more)

A few days ago, Rocky R. asked me a question about the AutoComplete feature in Internet Explorer: " When I fill out a form on a new website, a dialog box appears asking if I would like auto complete to stop asking me to store info. Well, I ... accidentally hit 'Yes' -- and now I can't get auto complete to remember any information! Please help! " My answer: The AutoComplete feature can be enabled / disabled by modifying a preference in Internet Explorer. Here's how to change the setting with IE6: Load Internet Explorer Click Tools -> Internet Options Click the Content Tab Click the ... (view more)

I'm sure you've at least heard of Napster, and the more popular Napster-like spin-offs, such as Kazaa, Morpheus Music City, WinMX, and Bearshare. Each program has the ability to swap files with other users around the world. Although Napster is now a ... subscription-based music trading service, it was the first of its kind to offer users free access to thousands of music files at the click of a button. In comparison to Napster, Kazaa goes a step farther by allowing users within its file sharing community to trade not only music files, but movies, programs, and anything else under the sun. Kazaa ... (view more)

" Increase your download speed with software X! " At some point, you've probably come across a program that claims to download programs faster: Download Accelerator (Speedbit), Marketscore (previously Netsetter), and GetRight (Headlight Software) ... are just a few popular titles. But did you know that these programs do more harm than good? How download speed is effected by a download accelerator When a file is being downloaded, it is sent to your computer using a single connection: you are connected to the web site, and the web site is sending you a file. A download accelerator works ... (view more)