Archive for the ‘Adware’ Category

By: Brad L Hodges

Spyware, Adware and Malware.  Sounds like a foreign language to many people but these words spell only one thing to you and your privacy, computer security and peace of mind and that is DANGER. These are very real threats in today’s Internet and computer centered society and you need to know how to protect yourself and your loved ones from “The Eyes That Spy” that lurk behind your innocent looking computer screen.

Alive and Thriving

You would think that with contemporary software protection these threats would have diminished but the ugly truth is that they have not only gotten more sophisticated but the ante has simply been raised and it has become more of a challenge to hackers and others who have iniquitous intentions.

It is a constant and classic battle between “good” and “evil”; the “good” being software and hardware developers who spend billions of dollars trying to stay one step ahead of the malcontents and the “evil” who range from discontented and bored teen-age hackers to foreign adversaries of the United States intent on disrupting our society and financial systems.

In other words it is a cat and mouse game, or to use another metaphor a chess game where each move is countered with another in a never ending game to come out the winner. Newton’s laws of motion; To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction can be translated in the world of Spyware, Adware and Malware as; for every cure or measure of protection for a computer virus there is an equal and opposite virus or countermeasure.

The Perpetrators

Well regulated “cyber-criminals” continuously refine their methods of attack, often capitalizing on both software and human behavior, while avoiding security threat scanners via automated repackaging and discombobulation of malicious software. Amazingly these cyber-criminals go to great lengths, keeping an eye on news stories, keyword searches and current events and who use to their advantage Internet analytics to carry out and spread monumental assaults. These miscreants of society aspire to convince users to open an e-mail attachment or click on an enticing link. They even go to extremes by duping individuals via social networking sites or corrupted search engine results.

Statistics *

A sampling of malware file types taken during the first six months of 2009 found that Windows Portable Executable (PE) files accounted for 92% of the total collection. The use of executable files allows attackers to perpetrate further malicious activities following a successful attack. This time period also shows a significant increase in the use of rich content and media files to perform malicious activity.

The most common threats were trojans, representing 71% of the total infections for the first half of 2009. The remaining 29% of threats were emerging threats where malicious code was used for targeted attacks, new threats and zero-day threats.

* Source: State of the Internet 2009: A Report on the Ever-Changing Threat Landscape. CA Internet Security Business Unit Internet Security Intelligence Report. See http://www.ca.com/us/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?cid=223917 for complete report.

What To Watch For

Rogue Security Software

Among the greatest threats are what are referred to as “Rogue Security Software.” This type of software is an application that seems to be helpful but dispatches a fake marketing ruse – it produces a phony infection outcome and pledges to get rid of the “infected” files if the user installs the software on their computer. It actually delivers the complete opposite. Those who “bite” are assaulted with aggravating phony and fallacious warning messages which subjects them to yet more cyber dangers.

E-mail

E-mail, that bastion of modern communication, is the biggest apportion system for dangers. A staggering 80-90% of e-mail on the Internet is spam, and unfortunately spam (slang name for Unsolicited Commercial Email) more than likely includes links to maleficent or exploited websites. So called spammers distribute e-mail which exploit social engineering methods to convince individuals to join in their fraudulent schemes. Spam encompasses e-mail wherein the distributors likeness is fake or has been distributed via vulnerable SMTP servers, illegitimate proxies or bot-nets.

As discussed earlier these cyber punks continually take advantage of real events and news subjects to reach their objective of getting a malicious software program installed on your computer.

Commandeered Websites

It it unfortunate but a vast number of websites on the Internet have inadequate security measures in place, making them extremely subject to takeover by the perpetrators of cybercrime. Without adequate security cyber-criminals can deploy computerized assaults to insert malicious code to disseminate malware, spyware and adware infection undetected by the website proprietors. These sites become incubators from which attacks on your computer are spawned when you pay a visit to them.

Other Threats

There are many other ways that attacks can occur on your computer. Among them are “Search Engine Poisoning” whereby cyber-criminals use complex SEO (search engine optimization) to engineer rankings on search engines like Google to direct individuals to commandeered websites which results with malware infection. Malware infection can even occur and be distributed in and through PDF (Portable Document Format) files, GIF and JPEG files.

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself

First NEVER be complacent and think that these threats are not real or cannot happen to you. It is easy to do this because of the proliferation of media and news about these dangers that may lull one into thinking that only businesses or governments are attacked. What also happens is that so much information about this has been distributed that one can become “numb” to the threats and easily ignore the continual and real danger they present.

Educate Yourself

Like anything in life the more you know about something the more you are equipped, prepared and in tune to defend yourself from a potential threat. When it comes to spyware, malware and adware living in a constant state of “Code Yellow” is wise as you use your computer or the Internet.

Seeking out blogs or websites that specialize in these threats is not only prudent but a necessity if you are going to partake of modern technology. Those “spyware alert now” types of blogs and websites are an important piece of your defense and early warning systems. Refer to them often for up-to-date information and education on what to look for as far as the new types of threats on the Internet and against computer systems as well as intelligent recommendations for software products that will equip you at the maximum level of protection.

If you have children it is critical that child safety online now be deployed as there are specific threats that are aimed at children that include much of what is discussed in this article but also unique threats targeted at the vulnerability of children and teenagers. An all encompassing blog or website will include information on how to protect your children.

You would be correct to think of all the numerous advertisements disbursed across the Internet when you hear the term “adware”. Technical professionals are very familiar with the term adware. For the record, adware stands for advertising-supported software. Adware downloads, displays, or plays all possible advertising materials in an automatic manner even though other software applications are running or are being used. Adware is a type of software that is incorporated with another software program. The programmer is usually the one who makes use of adware primarily because he is working on the advertisement campaign and is obviously making profits with it. The income he receives is more than enough motivation for him to write more advertisements, activate the software program, as well as update and continuously maintain it.

In more ways than one, the adware may in fact work as a spyware unleashed. Needless to say, when adware is installed on a computer, it launches its tracking activity. That is why, when an individual uses that particular computer, his activities are observed as well as his personal details tracked, hacked, distributed, and sold to a third party without his consent or knowledge. At some point, adware also forces the user to pay a visit to certain websites since they just appear seemingly from nowhere and interfere with the user’s activity. Adware in this manner works as a spyware since the information about the user is sent to an ad-serving firm.

Among the popular adware existing today are; 123 Messenger, 180 Solutions that includes 180SearchAssistant and Zango, Bonzi Buddy, BlockChecker, ClipGenie, Comet Cursor, Cydoor, Direct Revenue, Ebates MoneyMaker, Gator, PornDigger, WinFixer, Hotbar, ErrorSafe, Smiley Central, StumbleUpon, WeatherBug, and WhenU.

There are a number of adware removal software which can be used to help the user protect themselves from the onslaught of these adware programs. When they are used, they block the presentation of the advertisements and they also eliminate from the system the spyware modules present therein.

Adware is a form of spam that automatically lets advertisements pop out of nowhere. The advertisements may involve websites or products which you will be forced to view even if you really do not want to pay attention to them. Thus, your task is interrupted and you get annoyed. Adware also takes away your privacy. Furthermore, you must protect yourself against the adware attack on your identity. Traditional antivirus programs are unable to detect and prevent these adware programs. So do not be confident that your computer has an existing anti-virus AND anti spyware software program installed in it. You actually are not fully protected in most cases!

What you need is an adware removal software because it works like police as it detects and eliminates the culprit out of your computer network system. You must always safeguard your files and yourself. You need software that specifically specializes in the elimination of adware. Many such products have become available on the market. The Internet itself has various websites that offer these adware removal products. You just need to be cautious when dealing with the company from where you will purchase your adware removal product to be sure they are a well known entity.