Adware and Under-Wear - The Definitive Guide

How Do I Keep Adware Off My Machine?

In October 2000, U.S. Senator John Edwards introduced the "Spyware Control Act" that would force manufacturers to warn users when their products include spyware. The Spyware Control Act is currently still in committee, according to a letter I received from Senator Edwards. Though there's no word yet as to the final dispensation of this bill, if it is indeed made into law, it would give users the right to sue manufacturers who violate the provisions of the bill. We'll keep an eye on that from "this side of the pond." And the American Federal Trade Commission is taking legal action against sites that force users to download programs that cause their machines to dial 1-900 phone advertisements.

Meanwhile, you can take some precautions of your own. These sites maintain lists of all known spyware:

• http://www.cexx.org/
• http://www.spychecker.com/
• http://www.alphalink.com.au/~johnf/dspypdf.html
• http://www.globalnet.cz/spyware/list.html
• http://www.tom-cat.com/spybase/spylist.html

All are excellent sources of information and worth checking regularly as new critters crawl their way over the Web toward your computer.

Next, you should always read the fine print in every licensing agreement for every piece of software you download. In most instances, you'll get at least some clue to what, if any, kind of sleazeware is being introduced to your computer, and can decide for yourself if you want it on your machine.

Keep your browser's Security settings to at least Medium, if not High. This gives you warning of anything trying to insinuate itself on your computer.

Don't hesitate to inform advertisers of sleazy marketing tactics. In many cases, reputable advertisers are unaware of the tactics used by the firms they hire. Advertising.com severed its ties with C2 Media after it was alerted to that firm's unscrupulous advertising tactics by a PCWorld reporter.

You'll also want to install some protective software. All of the products listed below are very good at what they do, but the gold standard of the industry is Ad-aware, a freeware program first written to remove Aureate/Radiate spyware and now expanded to protect your machine from a plethora of bad guys. Other off-the-shelf programs are available as well, but in my opinion these programs do as good a job of keeping the gunk off of your machine as any of the commercial offerings.

• Ad-aware 5.83 (free)
• PestPatrol ($30)
• SpyBlocker 5.3 ($20)
• SpyBot S&D 1.0 (free)
• SpyStopper 2.01b ($20)

Last week one of my co-workers complained to me that her computer was misbehaving. When I saw that she had Kazaa on her computer, I installed Ad-aware on her machine and found 157 separate spyware components. She used the program on the other PCs in her office and found as many or more components on them -- the eventual winner came in at 283. Needless to say, the machines now run better.

In summary: "Underware" of any kind is bad for everyone. Computers misbehave, malfunction, and crash. Businesses lose revenue and customers. Users are annoyed, have their privacy violated, and have their surfing and Net shopping experiences disrupted. The more that all of us do, on both sides of the commercial fence, to combat the underware epidemic, the better off we all are.

Addendum

When I wrote this article in September 2002, Ad-aware was indeed the "gold standard" of spyware prevention software. It was free, regularly updated, and very good at keeping the pests out of your system. Unfortunately, while it is still free, it hasn't been updated since Sept. 29, 2002, and therefore can no longer be relied upon to remove the latest spyware crawling around the Net. According to Fred Langa, Ad-aware is working on a new version (version 6), but 4-5 months between updates is too long to wait. Those of us who purchased the $15 Plus version should be particularly irate.

SpywareInfo recommends the following programs to keep your system pest-free: either the free Spybot Search & Destroy or the $30 Aluria Spyware Eliminator for removing adware, and for removing surveillance spyware, keyloggers, and password-stealing Trojans, either the $70 Spycop or the $40 X-Cleaner. Langa provides a more frugal alternative, recommending using the free Spybot S&D in conjunction with the $30 PestPatrol. Check both SpywareInfo and Langa.com for discounts on some of the above programs.

Of course, it's your call. You can wait for version 6 of Ad-aware to come out (target date February 2003), though it doesn't look as if the new version will be free; you can try any or all of the programs listed above; you can use other programs to defend your system against pesky malware; or you can do whatever suits you and your needs. But all of us need to be aware of the thousand different kinds of malicious software that constantly threatens our computers, and take the proper precautions.

Sources:

Langa Newsletter 1-13-03
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-13.htm

Spyware Weekly Newsletter 12-25-02
http://www.spywareinfo.com/newsletter/archives/december-2002/12252002.php