OPTOUT gets rid of Spyware!
Written: Apr 04 '00 (Updated Jul 31 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick to download and easy to use.
Cons: Not enough people know about it.
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| Schinjay's Full Review: Archived Computers & Internet Reviews |
I’ve got Spyware Up the Wazoo
And I didn’t Feel a thing
They’re everywhere. They’re everywhere. And I don’t even know where there is, yet!
If I sound a little paranoid, well…..I AM. Sorry, but I think one of these things is in my pants now. And it itches. And I need a long, skinny program to reach the spot.
If you’ve heard any of the rumors about Internet Spyware lately, like the Aureate or Radiate brands, you’ll know what’s got into me. Or all over me.
These popular advertising systems have been adopted by over 400 well distributed freeware programs (like CuteFTP, Go!zilla, and GetRight), and some of them are probably in your computer right now. As a matter of fact, they are up and running in over 22 million PC’s worldwide right now. See, I told you. They’re everywhere!
They know your name; address; phone number; show size; and what brand of underwear you bought online last week. Fortunately, for some of us, they do not know exactly “who” is wearing the underwear.
The sole purpose of these programs is to gather information. Your information. Information about who you are; where you live; what advertisements you look at; how long you look at them; and how often you change that new underwear you bought online!!
These Spyware programs live like parasites deep in your computer system. Even if you delete the host program that brought then into your quiet little computer world, They stay! They hide. It’s hard to find them. They’re like roaches!!
And mind you, nobody ever asked you if they were invited to come in. They just came. Like those in-laws from California. And they’ll stay forever, if you don’t kick them out. This stinks! It’s not fair! And it’s not my fault!
Steve Gibson, at GRC.com, calls them “Adbots”. I do too. And we HATE them. They bring to mind an old Spank Williams favorite we often humm around the office, “If I only knew…I would have killed you….”, but I digress.
The evil “Adbots” lurk in your system undetected. None of the popular “Adbot” carrying host programs announce their use of these programs. And none of them have made any action to remove the “Adbots” from their programs, even after all this shinola hit the fan. They think its just OK to casually grab all the information about you they want, whenever they want it, and not tell you about it.
These “Adbots” phone home information to their masters all the time. Usually whenever you fire up your preferred browser, Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. They are cleverly integrated into the inner workings of these Windows browsers, able to work undetected in the background. They do the dirty when the host application isn’t running. Heck, they even do it even when the host application is DEAD! They call that Applofelia, or something, don’t they? How sick is that?!
Now, Steve Gibson and many others have researched these little “Adbots”, and nobody has proven that they have ever been used for evil. Nobody knows that the collectors of this information have even ever sold or passed on what they know about you to anyone else.
But this is a very invasive practice. It invades our privacy to the max. And how long do we expect it to be before someone does abuse this ability to SPY on US?
Protect yourself
Fortunately, there is no reason to put up with this virtual finger probe for even another minute. There are some kick-ass personal protection tools available to rid ourselves of these unwanted pests forever. And they are free. No cost. Zingo. Rad, baby!
If you are running our favorite personal firewall software, “ZoneAlarm2.0” then you will know whenever an “Adbot” phones home. ZoneAlarm will ask you if it is OK for that particular program to communicate over the Internet. You can give it permission, or you can “reel it in”.
Keep in mind, if you still use the host program, it may stop working if you zing its access. You have to decide if it’s worth it or not to give up your privacy to this….this…..thing.
Next thing to do is to run a program on your system that can sniff out these little buggars, and zap them. I found a cool tool at GRC.com (Yes, our old friend Steve Gibson, again!) called “OptOut”. This is a teeny little program that downloads in about 10 seconds, and hardly uses any space on your hard drive at all. But it can save you a gigabyte worth of worry.
“OptOut” performs a deep search of your system. Snooping all through the system files and registry, for any mention at all of “Adbot” activity. Some of the common files found in the system directory sound like “advertx.ocx” or “amcis.dll”. It gives you a detailed report of what it found. Then it gives you the option of killing everything right then. I suggest you just do it, and get it over with. Besides, the little squeeling sound they make, when you zap ‘em, is cool.
If one of your downloaded programs stops working, then you have to decide if you really wanted it in the first place. It will not be one of your staple programs that you need to live, anyway. And you will feel a lot easier knowing that your vital statistics aren’t being spread all over kingdom come any longer. Lord knows “I” was relieved to know that. Because I buy ALL of my Speedo underwear online.
So, protect yourself, citizens. And fear not the shadow that lurks in yon Window.
That's my epinion! Mahalo for stopping by!
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Epinions.com ID:
Schinjay
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Member: Steve Schindler
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Reviews written: 37
Trusted by: 56 members
About Me:
Steve Schindler writes his informative and humorous "Schindler's Cyber List" for epinions.com.
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