Zlob adware, a Trojan, is what you get when clicking on some fake links to videos on the popular web community. This particular variety causes pop-up windows that advertise antispyware that really aren’t spyware.

By the time you download and install it, it’s too late. And according to what I’ve read, you need YouTube’s help to remove it. But after a quick search I was able to locate these instructions for removing the malware should you become infected.

So take moment:

• to be sure you have antivirus software running on your computer
• to make sure it’s up to date with virus definitions
• and monitor your kids use of YouTube

YouTube does have useful and entertaining videos. But as I’ve stated here before, I highly recommend that parents need to get involved with all the online activities their children perform, particularly when videos are concerned.

[tags]malware,software,youtube,computer virus,trojan[/tags]

Recently, I upgraded the free ewido antispyware product, which was purchased by the makers of the antivirus product AVG. Though I’ve not used that particular product extensively, I do know that it has received high praise from a wide audience.

I decided to make the jump to this latest version and run it’s scan. Only the usual cookie concerns cropped up.

But I made sure to not have it run in the background. The reason is because it’s not a good idea to have more than one antispyware product running at the same time.

Over the next few days I noticed a serious degradation in my web surfing performance. I do a lot of surfing — a lot! I felt like I was running down a sidewalk full of people who were in no hurry. Aaargh!

It wasn’t until I remembered that AVG was the last thing I installed. After uninstalling it — and crossing my fingers — the web speed seemed to come back to normal.

I’m not blasting AVG. It could very well have been how it was set up or how it interacted with my computer’s configuration. But I do want to stress the importance of retracing your steps to solve your computer mysteries.

[tags]antivirus,antispyware[/tags]

SiteAdvisor is a add-on to Internet Explorer or Firefox and appears as a small button in either browser. This button displays in green, yellow, or red colors to indicate safe, caution, or warning, respectively, depending on the site you visit and what information it has on it. You can select View Site Details from its menu to find out why it has rated a site as such.

When you perform a search on Google or Yahoo icons associated with each level of rating appear next to each of the search results. When you roll your mouse over these icons you get a summary of its rating with an option to view more details.

SiteAdvisor does not filter content nor is it a type of parental control software. Rather, it simply provides you with information on a site prior to you visiting it so you can decide for yourself if you want to visit it or not. If a site is a known contributor of spyware/phishing/spam/viruses, you’re probably better off avoiding that site and going somewhere else.

This is similar to what I reported on not too long ago about the online service known as Scandoo. It, too, runs checks on sites and informs why you should or should not be leary of a site before visiting it on search results.

There are three main differences you’ll find between these two defenders of the common Web surfer:

• The information in their rollovers (when you rollover their icons in search results) is displayed slightly different (no big deal).
• Scandoo is a search engine that you go to and SiteAdvisor is a tool you install in your browser, so it goes where you go.
• SiteAdvisor tells you what it knows about a site as you’re visiting it by virtue of its button in your browser by changing colors. More details for a site are always just a click away.

During my initial tests I noticed a considerable slowness to my Web surfing. I suspected that whatever sites I was visiting were being looked up on their servers, which is what should be happening. However, I’m not experiencing that same kind of slowness as of this writing. It could have been the time of day I was doing my tests — hard to tell.

Quick Overview

• Very useful tool that could help prevent the accidental download of viruses or spyware by informing you of the reputation a site has.
• May negatively impact speed of Web surfing (although my tests are not conclusive; just keep an eye on it).
• Provides useful information on sites you visit and does it dynamically as you surf.
• It does not block content and is not a filter — it’s just an informer.

Scandoo is just such a service that reduces your risk of viewing offensive material as well as identify sites that may be known to spread spyware or other malicious software on your computer without your knowledge. It does this in three different flavors: a search engine that you visit just like you would Google; a toolbar that works in Firefox and Internet Explorer; and as a plugin for Firefox.

When you perform a search using one of these methods, Scandoo scrubs the results with its filters and presents you with links, only these have icons attached to them. These icons are are ratings based on what it know or thinks to be questionable or safe material.

For example, a checkmark indicates the content behind the link meets your security preferences. A question mark indicates that it’s not sure if those preferences are being met. And an ‘X’ indicates that it doesn’t meet them. To find out more you can roll your mouse over these icons to be greeted with a small pop-up that shows you the site definition used to rate that link. It also provides a link to redefine should you feel the need to override its decision.

One woman, a victim of this sort of spyware, was lucky. She managed to stop at least one account from going too far. But it wasn’t until she received an email informing her that her password had changed on one of her business accounts that she knew something was up. Someone had changed her password on eBay. She did a search for her user ID on the site and discovered that someone had been bidding on items in her name — and her money.

While she managed to warn merchants on the site that were selling items to this doppelganger, she couldn’t get to one in time: a Playstation was already on it’s way to Indonesia.

Things that can cause your computer to be infected with spyware are other programs that you know you’re downloading, but carry a hidden payload. Maybe it’s that link you clicked on in an email or instant message, or maybe even on a site, that invited in the malicious code. In fact, spyware has become so sophisticated that it can infect your computer just by visiting a Web site.

So what can you do to prevent this type of activity from happening to you and your family? Here are a few suggestions:

• Get an antivirus package installed on your computer and keep it updated with the latest virus definitions.
• Internet Explorer is a favor target among hackers. Try using another browser. Opera and Firefox are very popular and have different ways of battling such infections.
• Use a spyware detection program to identify and remove spyware. Do this as regularly as you would running your antivirus software.
• Install a firewall on your computer. This helps monitor traffic coming and going across your computer’s ports. Sunbelt Sofware has Kerio Personal Firewall that’s very good, in my opinion.
• Even if you choose not to employ the ideas above, you can bump up your security settings in your browser.

You see, there are numerous types of software that advertise themselves as a spyware remover, and possibly do it for free. But there are low-life programs that purposefully say you’ve been infected, only you’re not, and insist that you buy their program to remove the infection!

Now, there are many, many reputable services out there that entice you with a free online scan or trial download, and then require you to purchase their software to remove whatever bad files it finds or to continue operating. However, there are tons more out there that aren’t on the up and up.

Wouldn’t it be great if you had a list of such rogue programs? Well, now you do. Visit Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products for an up-to-date list of programs purporting to be helpful, only to find out that they’ve got suspicious or even bad behavior. Not only does it tell you who has been added to the list, but it also removes programs from the list for when the software developer has corrected something that unintentionally got them on the list in the first place.

Several goals are on the table. First, users are tricked into entering their credit card information. Second, a phony Google toolbar is installed. Yet another is to hijack and rewrite the Windows HOSTS file (a file Windows uses to associate a numerical address like 192.69.110.455 with a URL). And still another purpose is to install something called “World Antispy”. Although I wasn’t able to verify what this software did, my guess is that it wasn’t to help users out.

Combining the power of the toolbar with the rewritten HOSTS file allows the hacker to redirect your browser to sites it wants and cause popups to occur. Annoying to say the least, but could potentially guide you or your child to an inappropriate site.

This is further proof that IM is fertile ground for hacker mayhem. Becareful with whom you chat with online and be leary of the links that show up in your messaging window. When in doubt, ignore the link and go somewhere else online.

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