Removing Spyware and Adware

by 0/\/3_3y3d_/\/\0/\/st3r  (haxor2600@mailcity.co)

This short article is far too small to encompass this topic but hopefully it will focus more attention on the increasing problems of removing spyware and adware.

Any hacker running a Windows operating system is going to come across some spyware or adware at some point.  Popular file sharing P2P software are typically one of the most common areas where adware is installed.

An example of this would be Kazaa P2P, which by default installs Cydoor (cydoor.com).

Spyware and adware are often hidden deep in the Software Licensing documents and Terms and Conditions when you install the software.  This can result in such things as your day-to-day activities being broadcast to strangers or annoying ads being projected in your face every few minutes.

To make it more confusing adware isn't necessarily spyware.  Registered shareware without ads may be spyware, and purchased out-of-the-box software may contain adware and may also be spyware.  In addition, software updates may change a previously ad-free version into an adware product.  All this means that users need to be on guard when installing any type of software.

While legitimate adware companies will disclose the nature of data that is collected and transmitted in their privacy statement, there is almost no way for the user to actually control what data is being sent.  The fact is that the technology is in theory capable of sending much more than just banner statistics - and this is why people (especially computer hackers) should feel uncomfortable with the idea.

To top it off, if you have a slow computer or Internet connection the resource-hogging adware or spyware can cause system and browser instability and slowness, as well as slow Internet connectivity even more.

How Do You Protect Yourself?

1.)  Read the terms and conditions of the license carefully before pressing Accept.

2.)  Run a spyware or adware removal software tool.  There are many free versions available.

3.)  Avoid spyware at all costs.  Run a firewall utility like ZoneAlarm (zonelabs.com) that specifies which programs can access the Internet and how.  Pay attention to what is asking for permission to connect online.

4.)  Hack a way to circumvent the spyware or adware software and most importantly post these to a hacker message board or to a hacking website.

5.)  Avoid adware.  If you're broke and can't buy a clean shareware product, find an ad-free, non-spying equivalent of the program you need.  This can be hard since many popular programs come only with adware installed.

6.)  Learn to use a packet sniffer to identify transmissions that sneak through your browser and other trusted apps.

7.)  Get to know your registry really well especially the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software, and for Windows 2000, HKEY_USERS\ areas.  If you notice software installed that you are suspicious of, check to make sure it's not spyware or adware.

8.)  Manage your start-up programs carefully.  Check the registry or use MSCONFIG.EXE or a similar start-up manager or alternatively download and install a free Task Manager to check and kill running spyware/adware.

9.)  And finally, you can also reverse engineer the adware software and find a way to corrupt the data being transmitted.  Alternatively develop your own program to transmit dummy data to the adware/spyware host servers.  If you do achieve this, post the results to a hacker message board or to a hacking website.

Some good ad removal programs are: OptOut (grc.com/optout.htm) and Adaware (lavasoftusa.com).  Also, visit the following websites: scumware.com, security.kolla.de, and spywareinfo.com.

In summary, spyware and adware are not illegal types of software in any way.

However there is almost no way for the user to actually control what data is being sent.  My guess is that a delivery system like the ones used by spyware and adware corporations would be the most efficient way for governments to spy on the public.  They probably have already thought of using this system so hackers beware.

Shouts to VISA_burglar>>Greg_Ipp, Jalaludin_Rumi, _SIR_B_U_D_, Scrappy.