spyware

One of the ways that the spyware and Trojan makers get spyware on your computer is to trick you into installing it. Just recently, I was deleting some spam on a forum I administer, I came across something that caught my eye. I was offered a video to ... watch, but I was told I had to install something to see it. I then decided to get my test computer ready, and installed the codec that I was told that I needed. Subsequently, the installed file brought spyware onto my computer. Shortly after that, I began to get pop up ads. One of those pop ups had a new program that I had not heard of before, ... (view more)

If you ask the consumers who have been unlucky enough to encounter software created by Direct Revenue -- and the New York Attorney General -- both would agree that the company's sole purpose is to create Spyware. Located in an unexceptional New York ... apartment, Direct Revenue is a modest corporation cleverly run. So well, in fact, that this humble NYC abode has seen an astounding $100 million dollars in sales since 2002. Profits for Patience Direct Revenue boasts that its Spyware programs -- the weeds that essentially infect a computer with incessant advertisements -- have wormed their way ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Rosalind H. writes: " Dear Infopackets Team, My teenager recently downloaded Limewire onto our computer. As I am very wary of shareware programs, I would like to know whatever you can tell me about this and similar popular ... programs. Is it safe? Thanks for your response. " Doug's Response: Limewire is a peer-to-peer ("P2P") application that permits the user to download files from a server community. The general usage is to download music files to be played on iPods (or other MPEG3 players) or computer systems. If misused by copying/downloading copyrighted material ... (view more)

The Anti-Christ's dark influence may have already poisoned "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," a new real-time strategy game based on the best-selling Christian book series. The game allows you to "conduct physical and spiritual warfare: using the power ... of prayer to strengthen your troops." (Source: LeftBehindGames.com ) But the power of prayer won't protect you if you install Left Behind: it comes bundled with a special bonus feature: hidden Spyware that cannot be blocked or uninstalled. It tracks your every move: How often you play The duration of each game session What time of the day you play ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Glen H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am a bit concerned about the kind of marketing engaged in by some of the software developers that you recommend -- PC Tools, for example. 'Get a free scan,' they say. And so you do, and they find ... 150 problems on your machine. Then they say, 'Buy our software and fix these problems.' I really think that this is deceptive marketing. If the company wants to give a free scan and clean, I would have no argument with that, but this sort of marketing 'come on' leads one to think that the first scan was a sham -- and it may very well have been. The ... (view more)

How do you know which freeware is safe to download? The fact is that trying out new, free software is sometimes risky. For example: some web sites will purposely mislead visitors by implying that their software is free -- but in fact, the "free" ... software comes bundled with added Spyware or adware . One good rule of thumb is to stick to downloading software from trusted sources (such as infopackets and Clif Notes); but if you're like me and you're always trying out new software on a regular basis, you don't always have the luxury of trusting a source. That's when I break out the big ... (view more)

Die-hard Infopackets Reader Paul B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have been a faithful subscriber to your newsletter for a few years now. While I immensely enjoy reading your articles (especially the software reviews), I am constantly second-guessing ... myself as to which utilities *I* need to keep my system running smoothly. As a newbie, I would like to know how many of these 'fix all programs' are really necessary? For example, which utilities do I need for: speeding up, uninstalling, defragging, anti-Spyware, anti-spam, firewall, anti-virus, registry cleaning / fixing... etc. I mostly use my ... (view more)

Let me introduce myself for those of you that do not know who I am; my name is Tom Mercado (Aka 'TeMerc') and for the most part, the forums I visit are part of the Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals, (also known as ASAP). For over a year ... and a half now I have been directly involved in helping users remove and eliminate various forms of Spyware issues (malwares). With all of the choices out there it is often hard to narrow things down; however that said I personally recommend using HijackThis!, in conjunction with a variety of other internet security applications and tools. Since my ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Diane M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just love getting your newsletters! They have helped me so much in the past. My question is in regard to a process named ccApp.exe: when I shut down my computer, I often have to wait for a long ... time before it actually shuts down to reboot. Most of the time I will get an error stating that 'ccApp.exe is not responding' and when I click to end the process, my computer remains frozen. Often times I have to reset the computer manually. Can you please help me out with this problem? I'm running Windows XP. Thanks for any help you can offer ... (view more)