WE NEED TO GET RID OF SPYWARE FOR EVER

I am sick of it.

Published on May 1, 2005 By dcihon In Personal Computing

I am sick of spyware infecting computers. It seems all I do these days is clean spyware from computers to get them working. Education of the user community is one step to help but it is not enough. I don't like having to set up a computer with Antivirus, Spam filter, software firewall, hardware firewall , oh and don't let me forget the Windows Update. It is just rediculous that all this has to be done just to insure safe computing. It would be like before you go outside you have to put yourself into a bubble just to protect yourself from being attacked from things you cannot see.

Comments (Page 1)

werewolf

on May 01, 2005

Education of the user community is one step to help but it is not enough.

You're right on there. Lots of spyware and the like are not generated by the end user but by companies trying to make a buck. As much as I hate to admit it, governmental intervention seems to be the only way out. I love the "Do Not Call" list

Ionolast

on May 01, 2005

"It would be like before you go outside you have to put yourself into a bubble just to protect yourself from being attacked from things you cannot see."

Michael Jackson has already started.

Duh Man

on May 01, 2005

Have to chime in on this one... I recently got a snotty message from AOL telling me not to send too many emails to their abandoned email names. How am I suppossed to know what email has been abandoned? Duh! So, I ran a check on my computer and found "73" entries put there by AOL... Remeber all the crap CD's we got from AOL over the past years? Now my computers (I run 10 systems) have tons of unwanted AOL entries on them. Waste of my time deleting all the junk. I would rather get SPAM than have to constantly clean my machines after every program I install to remove all the AOL garbage!

citsym nogard

on May 01, 2005

OK I hate malware as much as the next guy, but...

I'm not a fan of making a new law for every thing that bugs us. Hey I believe that 99% of the laws on the books should removed. But then again I believe that taxes & politicians should be gotten rid of.

That being said, we the public do have a way of combating spyware/spamming. A way that neither costs us money or time. It's called the bottom line. The reason many businesses use suppliers of spyware & spam is it's a cheap way of selling their product. The only way they will stop using those services is if it becomes expensive for them. The easiest, cheapest & most effective way to combat this is for us not to buy their products. It is the best voting power we have. If you are willing to spend a little time you could also write a polite letter to the offending company. Explain why you will no longer be spending money at their business. The business will get the message or go belly up. Either way it will stop the problem.

It's not the spyware makers & spammers who are the problem. They are just opportunists. It's the businesses (& their bottom line) who use them that are the problem.

As for viruses & trojans. I don't no of a better way to deal with them.

Wish I did.

Double Zero

on May 01, 2005

Mystic Dragon, you should run for office, apparently you have all the answers..LoL

There are no simple solutions, and unfortunately we all have to deal with things we do not exactly care for..But really it's "pesty" at best, not at all that tough to deal with.

I do agree though, looking at my taskbar I notice I am running 5 programs to simply deal with Spyware/Adware/Trojans/Virii/ and general nosey snoops that are determined to exercise their right to freedom of information..LoL..that is getting a bit ridiculous as it makes up over 70% of the total programs I have running!

One thing I will have to admit, since I stopped using AOL as my main ISP I do not get "Spammed" anymore, and I do not have to deal with AOL shoving programs down my throat that I do not need or want on my PC..
As more people make the move to other ISP's mainly for "Faster" connections I believe AOL is feeling the loss and that ISP is finally losing ground in todays ISP market...

Unfortunately I just do not think the problem will ever completely go away and it is just something that we all have to acknowledge, get used to, stay informed about and deal with...
Obviously complaining about it is really not getting anyone anywhere except for the fact it feels alot better after venting..the problem remains though.

Zero.

Zoologist03

on May 01, 2005

I agree.

~Zoo

citsym nogard

on May 01, 2005

No, I don't have all the anwsers, not even close.

Between my personality & the fact that I wont play politics, nobody would want me in any office. Most of all me, that's a headache I'll gladly do without.

But sometimes the simplest solution is the best anwser. We don't put up with other forms of abuse, why should we put up with this form? Every time a consumer buys a product from one of these businesses, they are telling them that they approve of how they do business.

But hey, what do I know? I'm nobody.

It would appear I can't even put the correct word in. That last no on my previous post should be know.

P.S. You're the 1st to figure it out.

Double Zero

on May 01, 2005

LoL!.. I was joking with you..all your comments about Politics, etc, etc,,I could not resist..

As for the typo..it happens..but then so far you have been lucky not to have it pointed out!!.. Sooo many typo vultures about these days,,,

As for the "Nick" "SN" ..well..LoL..when I used to RP I did the same thing basically..I had a character with the SN "Nogard d'ednik" so that one for me was easy..LoL

Take care Mystic,
Zero.

citsym nogard

on May 01, 2005

I know.

Actually for me on politics, that's pretty mild. I was responding to the 'need for government'.

The problem with the typo is that I proofread it a few times & still hit send without fixing it. The 'vultures' haven't got anything on my Grandmother.

Most get the 1st part. But even telling them to spell nogard backwards, they still don't get it.

At least it gets accepted the 1st time when I need a nick.

joeKnowledge

on May 01, 2005

software firewall, hardware firewall...

ok, that is new to me. software firewall? Hardware firewall?
I thought it was just a firewall you put up and that is it?

Cavan1

on May 01, 2005

Software firewall, Norton, McAfee, Windows. Hardware firewall, Router.

WebGizmos

on May 01, 2005

Double Zero...Not sure how long ago you had AOL on your PC, but you might want to look a little further into your files for hidden AOL crap.

As far as I'm concerned AOL is a virus. When I first got my PC I used AOL (3 days) just because I didn't know any better being a first time PC user. But I had to battle with AOL to get online because their software froze my brand new PC. Something about their AOL Radio was causing the problem. But rather than trying to fix the problem they offered 2 extra months for free. (HELLO! I can't get online!

)

So I ended my service with AOL and used the Add/Remove (worthless) to get rid of the stuff on my PC. But my PC kept acting up and I decided to do a search on my PC for more AOL stuff in my files. Low and behold I came up with roughly 150 files left behind by Add/Remove.

I ended up using RegistryFirstAid (great app) to get rid of all the AOL stuff left behind.

Duh Man

on May 01, 2005

Chime in again... I find it laughable that AOL is running ads on TV promoting their "safe" network and are what I term the most computer intrusive internet firm that I deal with. I never have to remove MSN, Dell, Hotmail, etc from my machines and none of them constantly crame unwanted offers onto my computer.
Hmmmm, I am doing as suggested... Am not and never will be an AOL member.
Ya wanna take on Google next? They have so many rules to get listed on their search engine, it is scary how many sites are out there that they refuse to allow on the Google search. You cross your T's wrong and you are dropped.
A great way to check the search engines is to look for a topic using www.KillerInfo.com.... You will notice that Google tends to totally ignore tons of sites that the other engines rank quite well.
Oh, crap, I went off on a rant again...

Double Zero

on May 01, 2005

Thanks Web Gizmos, I know AOL is just full "of you know what!"

I do still have an account with AOL, since '94 actually.::sighs:: I do not use it myself,I keep the account alive for my daughters sake, she has used AOL since she was 8 years old and she doesnt want to use anything else (she seems to be more stubborn than me..LoL)I have pointed out all the "cons" about it, it doesnt matter to her, she wants to use it because everyone she knows uses it.
Even though she's 20 and can provide her own account, I just leave it up for her, one less thing she has to pay for...
I already pointed out the alternatives, "Use Email" etc,etc..Like I say, she's stubborn!..LoL

For the moment I cannot get totally away from it...eventually perhaps..

Zero.

Jafo

on May 01, 2005

Spammers and spyware 'promoters/users' should be chemically castrated.

First offence.

Second offence....physical castration.

Eventually they'll get the hint....and if not, at least they won't be breeding more of the same...

Bring back capital punishment in schools too...

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