Junk for Code

Spyware

I've been struggling with this issue all weekend at the holiday shack in Victor Harbor.

The shack has a backup computer running Windows '98 with dial-up internet. It has been running very slow. So I guessed it was jam packed with spyware. And it was.

Microsoft has been very poor in allowing this to happen, and in no longer supporting Windows '98.We ar eleft to our own devices. So off to Open Source Software we go.

The article from the New York Times says that:

"The parasitic files that have beset ....frustrated computer users are known, in tech argot, as spyware and adware. The rapid proliferation of such programs has brought Internet use to a stark crossroads, as many consumers now see the Web as a battlefield strewn with land mines....spyware generally refers to programs that reside in hidden corners of a computer's hard drive and record confidential information like keystrokes, passwords and the user's history of Web site visits. Adware, for its part, marries old-fashioned highway billboard pitches to online distribution and the possibility of immediate response."

I detest adware and loathe spyware, as the latter creeps onto my computer's hard drive unannounced, often by sneaking through backdoor security gaps in Web browsers when consumers visit certain sites.

Miao's Forum, Miao Ying

Spyware (or tracking software) uses my Internet connection to continuously contact the "home server" and report statistical data. Therefore, my computer is, in effect, turned into a server sending information about me and my Internet habits to a remote location without my consent.

As a result, your computer will likely experience a degradation of system performance and sporadic Internet connectivity. The result is described in the article in terms of our computer screens being:

"....transformed into digital versions of Times Square, and overburdened PC's that operate much more slowly as they struggle with random and uncontrollable processes prompted by the hard drive. Small wonder that consumers are throwing up their hands in despair."

The computer has been hijacked by nasty capitalists such as Gator Corporation.

I have pretty much followed this advice.

And this.

It is now a matter of trying to scan and clean the spywear out the computers.

Then I need to find ways to protect my system against further infestations by spyware and adware as best as I can, given the shonky and misleading product on the internet.

Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at September 20, 2004 12:20 PM | TrackBack