spyware posts

Lark Antispyware is free, but sometimes getting what you pay for is a bad thing

by Lee Mathews Oct 8th 2009

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for free applications that help us keep our systems malware-free, provided that they actually work as advertised. Lark Antispyware...not so much.

When I see something new and potentially interesting show up on Softpedia, I'll download it to see if it's worth sharing. Most of the time an app is postable because it's useful. Sometimes it's postable because people should probably stay away. You can see where I'm going here.

If you looked at the screenshot above, a couple things probably struck you. It's riddled with false positives and the "trojans" seem to be randomly named. There's no "more information" button to offer any kind of clarification, and you certainly won't turn up any info on Google if you search for that alphanumeric jibberish.

As you can see, Lark is happy to try removing these "infections" for me, but I'm pretty sure I don't want it messing with msconfig, winload, isoburn, or my TeamViewer executables. I was also put off by the option of running a "Cunstom Scan" from the system tray icon.

Call me crazy, but I like my security-related apps to have a bit more polish than that.

Pro tip: stick with Malwarebytes for now --it's free, and it's awesome. If something better comes along, you'll read about it here.

Tags: malware, malwarebytes, spyware, trojan

Filed under: Business, Adobe

Adobe devours analytics firm, is your data the dessert?

by Jay Hathaway Sep 15th 2009

Adobe announced it's buying Omniture, the web analytics firm it's been using to track usage stats on its products for years. Omniture is one of the largest analytics companies out there, serving a roster of customers including America Online (this blog's parent company), British Telecom, Disney, eBay, and Ford. Adobe's using thick corporate-speak in its press announcements about this acquisition so far, but the upshot is that they can target content to users with the help of Omniture's behavior-tracking capabilities. That means Adobe is now well-positioned to get into the advertising business.

While Adobe sees Omniture as a business opportunity, some privacy-conscious web users see it as a spyware peddler. You may remember Omniture as the company behind the slightly shady 2o7.net domain, which looked to many users like an IP address, but was actually a domain that Omniture used to track stats. Omniture eventually (sort of) explained 2o7.net, but hasn't stopped using it. They also still offer an option to opt out of the domain's tracking cookies. I haven't heard much of an uproar about 2o7.net in the past few months, but Omniture's privacy policies still say that "the 2o7.net domain is the primary domain our corporate customers use to measure visitor behavior on their website(s)."

Tags: adobe, analytics, business, omniture, spyware, tracking

Filed under: Security, News

New rogue antivirus app has a hate-on for Malwarebytes

by Lee Mathews Sep 2nd 2009

If there's one anti-malware application that we (and you) hold near and dear, it's Malwarebytes.

How do you know when your crapware-fighting application has really made it big? When it starts being targeted by rogue antivirus software, of course.

Protection System -- which sounds about as real as The Christopher Guest School for Mixed Martial Arts -- detects MBAM during its bogus scan procedure and declares it malicious. It then offers to remove the threat for the poor sap who doesn't realize what's happening. After clicking ok, the uninstall routine is run and the user is left without what is likely the best tool for removing this pest.

This isn't a new tactic by any means. It's pretty common for engineered nasties to disable and damage antivirus and antimalware programs and mess with your hosts file so you can't update definitions or re-download.

Keep your filthy paws off MBAM, you damn, dirty rogue.

[via Sunbelt Blog]

Tags: fraudo, malware, malwarebytes, rogue antivirus, RogueAntivirus, smitfraud, spyware, trojan, virus

First beta download of Avast 5.0 free antivirus released [gallery]

by Lee Mathews Aug 19th 2009

It's a little bit behind schedule (it was slated for the end of July/early August), but the first Avast 5.0 beta has been released for testing.

The most noticeable change for most users will be the restyled interface - gone is the overstylized media player look. There are, of course, a number of other improvements and new features which I mentioned back in July.

Bear in mind that this is a full-on beta. The forum post lists numerous features that are not yet implemented including rootkit detection. Definitions are also not fully up to date and the behavior shield is not fully active either. On top of that, Windows 7's action center doesn't recognize Avast 5 as an antivirus program yet.

Casual users looking for protection should steer clear for now. Experienced users who understand the risks and want to see what Avast.next will look like? Go nuts. Download it from the post and try it out!

Otherwise, check the gallery after the break! The final product is due in October, and we'll keep you up to date on its progress.

Tags: antivirus, avast, malware, security, spyware

Filed under: Security, News

Satan gets frostbite, security providers form coalition to fight malware

by Lee Mathews Aug 17th 2009

Remember the other day when I said I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the security providers join forces for the greater good?

Sophos' Graham Cluely has this morning announced the formation of the Industry Connections Security Group under the umbrella of the IEEE Standards Association's Industry Connections program. Initially the group includes Sophos, Microsoft, Symantec, McAfee, AVG, and Trend Micro.

While Cluely states that the security providers shared information in the past, he adds that it's been in a mostly "Here's a truckload of new malware samples, enjoy!" kind of way. One of the primary objectives of the ICSG is to standardize how information is shared and to develop "an electronic delivery mechanism that not only shares the malware samples, but can also include useful information such as the website where the samples were found."

The IEEE's ICSG website notes that while the bad guys have been doing this for ages - sharing toolkits and other code freely - the security providers have mostly been operating in isolation.

Now that they're organizing, here's hoping the collaboration can make a difference in the battle against malware.

Tags: antivirus, collaboration, coppoeration, IEEE, malware, mcafee, microsoft, security-providers, sophos, spyware, standards, symantec, trend

Filed under: Internet, Security, News

It's official, there's a crapload of malware on the Internet

by Lee Mathews Aug 14th 2009

Man, I wish this chart illustrated my salary over the past five years. Sadly, however, it's AV-Test.org's look at malware in the wild.

The actual number of unique samples doesn't necessarily mean all that much. So many of the nasties floating around the Internet are just mutations of other infections. Just look at the vast array of crud SmitFraudFix cleans up - it's a whole lot more than the original SmitFraud infection.

What's much more alarming is the number of infected PCs. Trend Micro points out the following in their blog post: "in the first six months of 2008, [Trend Micro] recorded that 253.4 million systems were infected with malware. The comparable volume for 2009 is almost double at 491.2 million."

That's a whole lotta infections. Trend's opinion on how to tackle the growing threat? Look to The Cloud, of course. They offer four possible benefits:

Each client is a part of a real-time global protection network.
When the network detects an Internet security threat on behalf of any one participant in the network, all participants are automatically and immediately protected.
All devices that connect to the Internet are protected. This protection complements your existing antivirus security solution.
There's correlation among the global protection network.

With so many threats, a global defense network makes a lot of sense to me. It would be even better if security providers joined forces to create a stronger, more responsive system than any one provider could on their own. I don't think I'll hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments!

Tags: av-test, charts, graphs, malware, reports, security, spyware, statistics, trojan, virus

Filed under: Business, Security, Symantec, Freeware

Avast responds to Symantec's jaded criticisms of free antivirus

by Lee Mathews Aug 5th 2009

Last month, Symantec Product Manager David Hall ruffled some feathers when he blasted free antivirus software. Avast's Vincent Steckler has since had a look at the interview, and believes Hall "erroneously concludes that free products cannot be trusted, are not sufficient, etc."

He continues, "But then again why should a firm that makes a billion dollars a year off of paid anti-virus conclude that a free anti-virus product is good..." Many of you echoed that sentiment in the comments.

Steckler has plenty of good counterpoints, which you would expect from a guy that works for a free AV provider.

Hall slammed free programs for lacking targeted indentity theft protection. Not so fast, says Steckler. "Malware focused on stealing identity information is just malware." What about that "big gap" between the changing threat landscape and the defense provided by free apps? "[Hall] is wrongly assuming that antivirus products do the same as what they did 10 years ago," but they don't.

Yes, Mr. Symantec, Even free antivirus like Avast and AVG now use much more sophisticated methods to thwart potential threats.

Tags: avast, free-antivirus, malware, norton, propoganda, spyware

Filed under: Security, Windows, Commercial, Freeware, Beta, Windows x64

Avast 5 coming in October, beta testing in two weeks

by Lee Mathews Jul 21st 2009

It's been quite a while since the crew at Avast released a major version, so this news should be very welcome to its 80 million + users. Version 5 is slated for release this October, and beta testing will begin in just a couple weeks.

What's new? For starters, the interface has received some obvious TLC - gone is the option of switching between the simple and enhanced UIs. Under the hood, Avast 5 now supports heuristics and will feature an improved and optimized detection engine. From the official blog post, "It may sound like a cliché, but it's a fact: the new engine can detect more viruses, while actually consuming less resources."

Version 5 also boasts detection of PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) and a new code emulator that is better able to detect unknown malware packers. Avast has also tuned the program to minimize impact on startup and shutdown times.

Paid versions include a virtualization component as well, likely similar to the one used by Sunbelt in Vipre. As you can see in the screenshot, the new version of the Internet Security suite will also include a firewall and anti-spam module.

Here's some great news for current Avast users: the upgrade to version 5 will be free to anyone with a valid license. When was the last time you saw the big guys (Norton, McAfee) offering that?

Tags: antivirus, avast, free, malware, rootkit, security, spyware, trojan

Filed under: Security, Windows, Troubleshooting, DLS 101

DLS 101 - How to spot a fake Windows antivirus program

by Lee Mathews Jul 20th 2009

One of the most common problems I tackle on Windows computers is the removal of rogue antivirus programs. Just what is a rogue antivirus? It's malware that disguises itself as a legitimate antivirus program.

Unlike Avast, AVG, Kaspersky, Norton, or any of the other real antivirus options out there, a rogue will do nothing to protect you. Rather, it's going to try to deceive you into paying for a full version or removal tool. It may even open a backdoor to your system and start downloading other annoying, nasty programs.

How do these programs get on people's computers in the first place? Usually through deceptive pop-ups on web. Often these "alerts" will try to trick you into thinking:

porn and illegal files have been found on your computer
a scan has found virus and malware infections on your system
your system is totally unprotected

They're all scare tactics designed to get you to clicking something that you really don't want to click. Some go to great lengths to deceive, copying actual Windows screens as closely as possible.

Tags: antivirus, dls-101, malware, rogue-antivirus, security, spyware, trojan, virus

Filed under: OS Updates, Security, Utilities, Windows, Beta, Windows x64

Kaspersky offers free preview of Antivirus for Windows 7

by Lee Mathews Feb 2nd 2009

If you're running Windows 7 beta, the team at Kaspersky wants you to take their latest offering for a test drive.

The new version features not only antivirus and anti-malware protection, but a number of other tools to protect your pc. Kaspersky has also bundled firewall, anti-spam, anti-spyware, and registry defense tools. There's even a banner blocker to help banish annoying advertisements from your browser.

As always, resource utilization is very low with Kaspersky - task manager reports about 38Mb of memory. Scanning is extremely fast and has been tweaked for multi-core processors. The new heuristics engine is also capable of launching unidentified but suspicious applications in "an isolated virtual environment" in order to safely analyze their behavior.

The technical preview is a free download, and beta activation keys are currently valid for 90 days.

Tags: antivirus, firewall, kaspersky, malware, spyware

Filed under: Internet, Security, Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Anti-Malware Toolkit updated, supports loads of new apps

by Lee Mathews Dec 12th 2008

Lunarsoft, producers of Anti-Malware Toolkit, have been hard at work since I mentioned it on Downloadsquad back in August.

The handy updater now supports 37 different downloads in five categories, including:

Spyware: Spyware Blaster, CCleaner, RogueRemover, SUPERAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes, Spybot, Hijack This
Definitions: Avast, Avira, Spybot, Malwarebytes, SUPERAntiSpyware
Utilities: Dial-a-fix, JavaRA, Autoruns, Process Explorer, Rootkit Revealer, Unlocker, LSPFix, MS Malcious Software Removal, Windows Installer Cleanup
Uninstallers: Avast, Avira, AVG (x86 and x64), BitDefender, Kaspersky, McAfee, One Care
Recommendations: Firefox, Opera, Thunderbird, Avast, AntiVir, Comdo (x86 and x64), Auslogics Defrag, PageDefrag, UPHClean

Support has also been added automatically create category folders instead of saving everything into your specified download directory.

It's a great application for keeping your flash drive up-to-date with a ton of good, free malware removal tools. Anti-Malware Toolkit is a free application for Windows only. It can be downloaded from the author's site or from Freeware Files.

Tags: cleanup, downloader, malware, removal, spyware, updater

Filed under: Internet, Security, Windows, Commercial

Grab yourself a free 1-year license for McAfee 2009

by Lee Mathews Dec 11th 2008

A number of sites - including Life Rocks 2.0 - are reporting that McAfee is currently offering a free one year license for Virusscan Plus with firewall and anti-spyware protection.

The suite is normally priced at $39.99 for a single pc, but entering the promotional code ****** will apply the discount. Licenses for up to four additional PCs can be added for an extra $10 each. The site is also offering a three system, one year license of McAfee Internet Security 2009 for $34.99 (a $35 discount).

The latest release has gotten fairly good reviews and boasts increased speed as well as improved virus detection and removal. If you're a McAfee fan, this offer is too good to pass up.

~~The offer expires December 31, 2008.~~

Update: As indicated in the comments, the offer is only valid for specific people - not the general public. In the interest of saving you some grief, the code and links have been removed.

Tags: anti-virus, antivirus, firewall, spyware

Filed under: Security, Utilities, Freeware, How-Tos

Save Your Friends and Family From Malware!

by Lee Mathews Sep 10th 2008

Silly me. I figured as antivirus and antimalware protection became more sophisticated that I'd see fewer infected machines for repair. Man, was I wrong. Even my friends and family - who are fairly computer savvy and careful - have wound up in trouble.

If you're at all competent with a computer, chances are you've had requests from people to fix these problems. I've heard different programs menioned (XP Antivirus, Antivirus 2009, etc.), but it usually goes like this: "Hey, I'm getting this messages from [program] that I'm infected, can you fix that?"

Sure you can.

Over the past couple of months, I've tried different combinations of apps and find these four to do the job nicely. Download them, keep them up-to-date, and you'll be a hero with unlucky friends and family that wind up with an infected computer.

Note: run the first two in safe mode, if possible!

1. Combofix. This one has seen some major upgrades recently, and I use it on every cleanup. Where the old version just gave you a blue screen and said "Hang out for about ten minutes," the current version provides feedback about what's going on. Before any changes are made, ComboFix backs up the registry.

It then hunts out malware it recognizes and removes it. You may need to reboot, but you'll be prompted if it's necessary. It's portable, so just keep it updated on your flash drive.

Based on the comments, BE CAREFUL. Combofix has never caused me any issues, but your experience may be different.

Tags: malware, smitfraud, spyware

Filed under: Security, Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Anti-Malware Toolkit Keeps Your Aresenal Up-To-Date

by Lee Mathews Aug 14th 2008

For those of you charged with the unenviable task of malware removal and defense, keeping your toolbox current can be a lot of work. Lunarsoft's Anti-Malware Toolkit simplifies the process by providing an easy way to handle downloading.

The Toolkit is really just a downloader which fetches the current versions of programs like Super Antispyware, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, HijackThis, Spybot, Autoruns, CCleaner, and LSP Fix. It also grabs programs that you'll want to install to prevent further issues: Avast, Firefox, Comodo Firewall.

Point it to your USB flash drive or network share, hit the download button and grab yourself a cup of coffee.

While you could do this with just about any decent download manager, why bother? Anti-Malware toolkit already targets most of the tools you're going to need and it's as simple to maintain them as clicking a single button.

Tags: antvirus, cleanup, crapware, malware, removal, spyware, trojan, virus

Filed under: Internet, Security, Utilities, Features, Windows, Freeware

Lesser Known Weapons To Trick Out Your Malware Arsenal

by Lee Mathews Jul 18th 2008

Everybody knows the big names in the battle against malware - Adaware, Spybot, HijackThis. Today we're going indie, focusing on lesser known ways to avoid and remove all that bothersome software that your "friend" crapped up your rig with!

First things first. Try not to get infected in the first place.

It's common sense that if you can keep malware from getting its nasty little claws on your OS you won't have to bother with fancy removal tools anyway. But how to do it? Sure, real-time scanning will catch a lot of garbage, but why not give your PC a little extra help? Here are two really simple methods.

Outfox malicious sites using a hosts file. By making use of the lmhosts file win Windows, you can trick your computer into never seeing sites where a lot of malware originates. Our favorite is MVPS.org's; it's one of the most complete, frequently updated files you'll find on the net. All the nefarious domains are redirected to 127.0.0.1 - good ol' localhost - so any links to their evil apps just won't work because chances are pretty good that your PC isn't serving up WinSuperSpyRemover 2008. Gold.

Tags: cleanup, malicious, malware, removal, rogue app, RogueApp, spyware, trojan

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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