Spyware Blockers

New anti-malware research shows an emerging trend among malware sites – transient attacks. Viruses gain traction by being around for a long time, infecting more computers as they grow. They rely on time-tested strategies of exploiting computer code, knowing that even though a fix exists, many people don’t apply their patches regularly.

For malware, longevity isn’t really the goal. Malware is often served up from compromised sites. It doesn’t take very long for the malicious site to be discovered and “blacklisted” – removed from search engines and blocked by protective software. To avoid being blacklisted, a malefactor may look for ways to compromise an existing “good” site, set up a redirector to the malicious site, operate for a short time and be gone.

The approach is becoming a favorite of malware distributors. One anti-virus company estimates that the number of transient sites has grown from 100,00-200,00 per day to as many as 300,000 per day.

Advertising Networks Are Major Malware Routes

How can this happen? Advertising networks are a primary vehicle for redirectors. Malware creators buy advertising space in ad networks, which then distribute the malicious links to hundreds of legitimate sites. Clicking on an ad on your favorite site may redirect you to a malicious site, or more simply, may download spyware, adware and other malware on your computer while you browse. Research suggests that as many as 60 percent of these sites could be up for less than a day.

When you’re up against this kind of adversary, your computer needs to be protected against whatever comes your way. Innocent sites can be compromised easily and quickly. While advertising is a major vehicle to malware infection, good sites themselves can also be compromised. Often, the intrusion goes unnoticed by the site administrator, or the intruder is gone by the time the compromise is discovered.

You need complete protection against malware, spyware and adware. Blacklisting may be good for sites that distribute viral email, but it’s not effective against transient threats that appear one day and are gone the next. You need full-time protection on your system from an anti-spyware product you can trust. XoftSpy SE can help protect your computer from threats you encounter today and tomorrow. It uses a database of nearly a quarter of a million malware and malware variant signatures. No matter where the malware hides, XoftSpy SE will recognize it and prevent it from harming your computer.

Don’t rely on luck to keep your computer safe. Rely on XoftSpy SE from Spywareblockers.org.

Photo Credit: Steve Woods

 

I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘A’. Now if we were playing the kids game on a long car journey they’d all be shouting apple or aardvark but if you are surfing the Web at your computer you could shout “adware” and you would get to lead the next round. I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘P’. You could then answer your own challenge with pop-up.

 

Invisible Trackers.

 

Adware a.k.a. spyware is most likely present on your PC if you can see pop-ups or flashing banners on the site you are looking at. Unfortunately it is the culture of the cyber world to be just like the real world. A combination of innocent or even beneficial things. Many of which cloak more sinister traps for the unwary and unprotected. Spyware is like having someone peering over your shoulder to scribble down any useful personal data you might put into your computer. Worst case scenario is spyware that does identity fraud or loots your credit card accounts while you aren’t looking.

 

Spyware is the sneaky stalker of the Internet that is everywhere, every time you go on line and you are totally unaware of being spied upon. These spies are passing on information about your Internet activities to interested third parties. Spyware looks like butter wouldn’t melt in its mouth to begin with. It is to clarify your situation in order to provide a better product or service. But once the foot is in the door it is a two-way link form your PC to any number of parasites.

The sneaky nature of spyware means it is taking up your valuable disk space and tying up your memory. Like a hold-up guy it causes your computer to put its hands in the air and “freeze”. Yes it can even cause your precious computer to crash.

But where does spyware originate? How can you discover the extent to which it is on your computer? Most importantly, how do you rid your computer of it and prevent its return? Go to http://www.spywareblockers.org where total up to date protection is just a download away.

Let XoftSpySE Do The ‘I Spy’

Getting rid of spyware is not like remving a redundant program from within your PCs operating system. You won’t find a handy menu option to highlight and recycle bin the unasked for programs. You do need a professional piece of software that has all the newest spyware keys included and which effectively scans all the places on your hard drive and then removes the unwanted parasites.

 

‘Freeware’, as the name suggests is all about programs that you download to your PC but do not not have to pay for. But this doesn’t mean it’s free. Much freeware is written and made available simply because the geeks can do it and enjoy programming. Some freeware however may contain spyware because it is sponsored by advertisers.

Often commercial sponsorship means that you have to tolerate some flashing advert banners in the application’s window but, in other more worrying cases, it can mean that you get sinister self serving programs that may damage your hard disk, namely spyware.

All good freeware comes with a licensing agreement plus terms and conditions, although scanning small print is about as fun as poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick, it will inform you to whether any spyware is the price you need to pay.

There is no law that forces software pushers to give this information though. So beware, if your new free software has ad banners, there’s a strong likelihood that it’s watching your every keystroke and mouse click.

There is the notorious spyware case involving RealNetworks and its RealJukebox media player. Once people installed the player, RealNetworks was able to follow what users were listening to. Ostensibly the aim was similar to store loyalty cards allowing them to market specific music to listeners expressed tastes.

Kids of course are a big marketing target and in 2007 the toy company Mattel was harangued by concerned parents about spyware it was using. A program called ‘Brodcast’ was discovered in some interactive educational games. It was collecting personal information from the kids and being collected and analyzed by Mattel. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, came into force and stopped websites or online services from doing just this kind of personal information data gathering from children under 13.

The spyware companies such as Radiate and Cydoor are behind the distribution of freeware and see it as a business development tool. The geeks also see it as a way to turn a buck or two. Adware kits are given to programmers who then build in the banners and adverts. The sponsor/owner pays the adware company for placing the advert and the adware company then pays commission the writer.

Money is raised in cost per thousand screenings. So every time your software puts up an advert for your delight, you ‘make an impression’ and a thousand of these yields a small royalty for the developer. So if you really want a free lunch you better install a good anti-spyware piece of software of your own such as XoftSpySE which can be downloaded at http://www.spywareblockers.org.