[OT] Are you being tracked online?

[Viking Bastard]

Well dunno about that, but recently downloaded ad-aware and found over 100, yes 100 spy ware programs in my computer.

I just downloaded and ran ad aware for the first time right now and it registered over 250 programs!!!!



Blegh!

 

[ancient_ones]

this is sorta related so i think it's appropraite to ask. The linux kernal i guess that it is called is free? and this is the basics of the os? so linux is a free os but if you want support you can buy it from a company. Is that right? I know that it is suppose to open source, so you can alter it how ever you want. i don't really care for Microsoft and if someone in the know could explain it all to me it would be great.

From what I understand it's better the the OGL but for an OS

Yes it's free you can download different distros. You can alter it how you'd like look at the source code etc.. I run linux also currently rehat 8. If you are thinking of trying linux and you've never used it before I suggest SUSE,Redhat or Mandrake as those are the most user friendly and usually have the best hardware support for current hardware.

 

[tarchon]

Horacio blushes

Well, as you know, you're right. Some sites, those specially coded to IE singularities won't work well. But only a few.

There are Netscape and Mozilla as well. I occasionally hit things that don't work right on or (especially) crash IE too, so if universal compatibility is your goal, IE won't get you there either. I consider two browsers to be a minimum for a well installed system.

I generally keep Netscape or Mozilla as my main browser, along with a rarely used IE (being popular and a Microsoft product, it does have the disadvantage of being a little more prone to attacks by malicious code). I prefer Mozilla slightly, since Netscape 6 doesn't seem to invalidate the cache entry for enworld correctly.

BTW, not to sound like a skeptic or anything, but I've lived through a lot of inane "security" panics on the internet over last 14 years (Good Times, Cookies, and Y2K among others), and I feel I should point out that it is a bad idea to believe everything you read about viruses, hidden files, spy programs, etc. Mountains of complete bulloffal have been written on the subject, with motivations ranging from the innocent paranoia of some lone goofball with a website who only half understands the subject to the greed of software developers trying to create a new niche market for security software. Fear sells.

This is a lot like the PayPal thread. Many assume that [insert company]sucks.com must be an angelically guided society of altruists trying to totally fair and honest while [insert company].com must be a greedy pack of unscrupulous villains lying through their teeth. Think about it: has there ever been any dispute in human experience where the sides broke down that simply? There are perfectly innocent technical reasons for IE doing what it does. If one wants to know what they are, the first place to look is the doc files (and even - gasp - by doing experiments with the software), not just taking everything ChipOnTheShoulder.org has to say as gospel.

 

[Zappo]

The recovering-deleted-files thing has nothing to do with conspiracy theories. It's just that when you delete a file, you only delete its "index entry", actually, so that the data is actually still on the disk even though it's logically unreachable. It's done that way for speed, not for spying. If you want real conspiracy theory material, do a quick search for +Palladium + Microsoft on any search engine.

6.1 or 7, I hope. NS 4.x's support for CSS was horribly broken, and 6.0 was just... broken.

7, of course. Only the best of the best of the best, sir.

BTW, after reading the horrible reports on this thread, I've downloaded and ran AdAware for the first time in the life of this computer, and I am proud to announce that only 1 thingy was found, and it was just a registry key, no actual programs.

 

[Skullfyre]

I have found that is you go and delete the sub folders of the Content.IE5 that will remove all temp files
I have seen where customers (After using delete temporary internet files option in Internet was used) still had 50 MB +

 

[BadMojo]

For any who are interested, you can put your aluminum foil hats back on and peruse this site:

http://www.spywareinfo.com

Lots of interesting info there. Also, Lavasoft's Adaware software is now horribly outdated. According to an article at Spywareinfo.com, there hasn't been an update made to the definition files since September. Apparently, Lavasoft is concentrating on Version 6, which should be ready by February.

 

[InvaderSquoosh]

I recommend getting ZoneAlarm. It is a personal firewall that is independent of Microsoft's influences. Basically, it keeps an eye on what is using the internet on your computer. You'd be surprised what tries to get online. It can catch things that Adaware is not aware of, but the learning curve is a little steeper.

 

[Dragongirl]

Lots of interesting info there. Also, Lavasoft's Adaware software is now horribly outdated. According to an article at Spywareinfo.com, there hasn't been an update made to the definition files since September. Apparently, Lavasoft is concentrating on Version 6, which should be ready by February.

It might be outdated but certainly can help in the interim.

 

[demadog]

I hate to mention this, but the real privacy threat to your average law abiding american is not the the information on your system, but the data being gathered by your ISP. You may very well be surprised by how detailed they can be about a subcribers Internet usage, most notoriously keeping copies of all the e-mail you send and recieve. Their ability to snoop on their users is far more pervaisive then the info found in index.dat and cookie files, which often does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Still until now, ISPs have been a somewhat reluctant champion for their users privacy. It seems that they each fear the publicity repercussions if they are the first, or most notable, to let their users info out. They don't want to lose customers to the more "private" ISP.

However, ISP's reluctancy is fading pushed on by two key points. The first being the provisions in the recent Homeland Security Act that make it much easier for law enforcement to supenea ISPs for that info. The second is the continued gobbling up of "mom and pop" ISPs by the not-so-baby bells and other telecommunication giants under the guise of deregulation. These large corporate ISPs, most notably Comcast and SBC, are certainly more interested in "working" with our goverment, or possibly more dasterdly to me, selling that info to marketers and advertisers. Personal firewalls, pop-up killers, and Adware might do wonders for improving your system performance on the Internet, but they may be giving you a misplaced peace of mind in the long run.

So what can you do? First thing, as corny as it sounds, is to get and vote for candidates that are personal privacy advocates. Secondly support your local ISPs that are likely more customer sensitive, even though it might mean an extra 10-20 bucks a months. Lastly, do some research on movements to protect your Internet privacy. Indeed, there are hackers out there that are working right now to counter these advances. One that comes to mind off the top of my head for no reason in particular is the Hacktivismo group with their "peekabooty" and "camera/shy" inititives.

 

[Dragongirl]

Along a similar line, I encourage everyone to RUN msconfig and see what is being loaded every time you boot your computer. You can find what all the little files do here :
http://www.lafn.org/webconnect/mentor/startup/PENINDEX.HTM

Edit : I just wanted to add that after I did that and took out all the things I didn't need or want my computer is running much smoother and faster.