Spyware Removal Tools
I have questions almost every day from my online friends if I have some good recommendations on spyware removal tools. While I know there are many of them online, not every program is effective enough to get rid of all the spyware that “sits” in one’s computer!
PC Tools Spyware Doctor is one of my top recommendations, but feel free to check out some other quality tools here.
Examples of spyware
These common spyware programs illustrate the diversity of behaviors found in these attacks. Note that as with computer viruses, researchers give names to spyware programs which may not be used by their creators. Programs may be grouped into “families” based not on shared program code, but on common behaviors, or by “following the money” of apparent financial or business connections. For instance, a number of the spyware programs distributed by Claria are collectively known as “Gator”. Likewise, programs which are frequently installed together may be described as parts of the same spyware package, even if they function separately.
* CoolWebSearch, a group of programs, takes advantage of Internet Explorer vulnerabilities. The package directs traffic to advertisements on Web sites including coolwebsearch.com. It displays pop-up ads, rewrites search engine results, and alters the infected computer’s hosts file to direct DNS lookups to these sites.
* Internet Optimizer, also known as DyFuCa, redirects Internet Explorer error pages to advertising. When users follow a broken link or enter an erroneous URL, they see a page of advertisements. However, because password-protected Web sites (HTTP Basic authentication) use the same mechanism as HTTP errors, Internet Optimizer makes it impossible for the user to access password-protected sites.
* HuntBar, aka WinTools or Adware.Websearch, was installed by an ActiveX drive-by download at affiliate Web sites, or by advertisements displayed by other spyware programs—an example of how spyware can install more spyware. These programs add toolbars to IE, track aggregate browsing behavior, redirect affiliate references, and display advertisements.
* Movieland, also known as Moviepass.tv and Popcorn.net, is a movie download service that has been the subject of thousands of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, the Better Business Bureau, and other agencies. Consumers complained they were held hostage by a cycle of oversized pop-up windows demanding payment of at least $29.95, claiming that they had signed up for a three-day free trial but had not cancelled before the trial period was over, and were thus obligated to pay.[34][35] The FTC filed a complaint, since settled, against Movieland and eleven other defendants charging them with having “engaged in a nationwide scheme to use deception and coercion to extract payments from consumers.”
* MyWebSearch (of Fun Web Products) has a plugin that displays a search toolbar near the top of a browser window, and it spies to report user search-habits.[37] MyWebSearch is notable for installing over 210 computer settings, such as over 210 MS Windows registry keys/values.[38][39] Beyond the browser plugin, it has settings to affect Outlook, email, HTML, XML, etc. Although tools exist to remove MyWebSearch,[38] it can be hand-deleted in 1 hour, by users familiar with using Regedit to find and delete keys/values (named with “MyWebSearch”). After reboot, the browser returns to the prior display appearance.
* WeatherStudio has a plugin that displays a window-panel near the bottom of a browser window. The official website notes that it is easy to remove (uninstall) WeatherStudio from a computer, using its own uninstall-program, such as under C:\Program Files\WeatherStudio.[40] Once WeatherStudio is removed, a browser returns to the prior display appearance, without the need to modify the browser settings.
* Zango (formerly 180 Solutions) transmits detailed information to advertisers about the Web sites which users visit. It also alters HTTP requests for affiliate advertisements linked from a Web site, so that the advertisements make unearned profit for the 180 Solutions company. It opens pop-up ads that cover over the Web sites of competing companies (as seen in their [Zango End User License Agreement]).
* Zlob trojan, or just Zlob, downloads itself to a computer via an ActiveX codec and reports information back to Control Server[citation needed]. Some information can be the search-history, the Websites visited, and even keystrokes.[citation needed] More recently, Zlob has been known to hijack routers set to defaults.
