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Spyware
January 2002
| Russell James is Operations Manager at BJ Associates of San Antonio. They are an authorized service center for Toshiba and Sony systems. They are the laptop specialist and also handle system builds and parts for desktops. They can take care of any IBM compatible hardware or software problem that you have. |
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What can you expect
from the hackers in the future? Every day they are finding new ways to
get into our systems from the outside. Most of the intrusions are through
flaws in the programs that we use. Some of them are from viruses and Trojans
that we as computer users allow onto our systems. The way that we allow
them on is by not having the proper virus protection and not having it
updated on a regular basis. Many of the users fail to take advantage of
the tools that are available to help them from the software vendors that
cause the problems by leaving the holes in their software. We can hold
them accountable for leaving the holes, but when they provide a Website
that allows all users of their browser to update and take care of the flaws,
the burden moves to us as the user. They have corrected the problem in
their software and posted an update for all users to download and install
for free. I would consider that a valid
fix for the problem. If we as the user do not take advantage of the updates
and our system is compromised because of the flaw then we are to blame.
Windowsupdate will only get better in the coming years. The advances in software programming are making the Windows operating system much more stable than it has been in the past. As consumers are moved to Windows XP in the future, there will be a lot less problems with software conflicting with each other. Windows 2000 and XP are much more stable operating systems than the consumer based Windows 95 and 98 were. There are fewer instances of programs being able to lock your system up with the NT versions of Windows. There are still problems to be fixed but the bulk of the problems are created by the users and are not a result of the Operating system. We have had an enormous amount of computers that have come into the shop recently with errors that the customers were receiving while in Windows. Many of the problems were virus related and were taken care of like we usually do. Install current virus protection software and scan the drive and then correct any problems that the virus might have left behind. Most of you know how I feel about virus protection but the word does not seem to be getting around fast enough since the customers keep coming in. I guess I will have to live with the repercussions. Many of the other problems that have been on the rise lately have been related to what is usually called Spyware. These are seemingly innocent programs that will allow you to look for software or super buys on the Internet. What they also install, along with their programs, are Trojan like programs that will spy on you while you are on the net. They collect information about your browsing habits and possibly your personal information that is then sent back to the company collecting the data via your internet connection. These programs are totally legal because if you read the license agreements very carefully, you will see that you actually agreed to install the spyware when you installed the program that you really wanted. These types of programs are only going to get better in the future. By better I mean that they will get slicker so that they will be harder for us to find them. They hopefully will learn to write the software so that it does not mess up your system. One such program is sold to Web sites to monitor the users. WebHancer describes their product as follows
Some of the programs monitor without you knowing because they do not cause any problems for your system. Other programs will create problems with the other programs that you wanted installed and working properly. One way to combat this problem is to not install any of these free programs that contain the spyware. The problem comes in knowing which ones have the spyware. There is a Website called Spyware Info that seems to be run by a computer hacker but has a lot of information on many of the sneaky programs that get into our systems. There is a program that you can download and install that will help to combat this new age of computer infiltration. Lavasoft makes the program called Ad-aware. This program will scan your memory, registry and drives for known spyware that is running on your system. You then will have the option to backup the changes and then remove the spyware programs from your system. Adware, Alexa 1.0-5.0, Aureate v1.0,2.0 + 3.0, Comet Cursor v1.0 and v2.0, Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, EzUla, Expedioware, Flyswat, Gator, Hotbar 1+2, OnFlow, TimeSink v1.0,v2.0 and v5.0, Web3000, Webhancer, Transponder,Wnad are some of the programs that Ad-aware finds and removes. This has become one of my programs that I will install on my customers computers to help me when cleaning up a system. The future of preventive maintenance is going to be the same as I predicted last year so I will copy from there. I don’t see that there will be much change in the computer systems that I take care of. People will always neglect their equipment until it fails them and then bring it to me and tell me how important it is to their life and business. I will continue to harp on the importance of cleaning your system and protecting it from viruses. There is no change coming in the future for PC protection. We will continue to see the same stuff that has been going on for years, just faster. Let’s hope that some of you will learn from my ranting and my prediction will not apply to you. |
Alamo PC Organization, Inc.
San Antonio, TX USA