Spyware Weekly Newsletter :· December 2, 2003

The Spyware Weekly Newsletter is distributed every week to 20,000 subscribers and read online by hundreds of thousands of visitors. Click here to subscribe. Please read our Terms of Use for quoting guidelines.This edition of the Spyware Weekly Newsletter is archived permanently at http://www.spywareinfo.net/dec2,2003.

update 12/9: This week's newsletter will be slightly late. It should be out later today.

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Update

This article has been slashdotted. I'd like to clarify that the posting at slashdot is slightly misleading, suggesting that Dell itself is installing spyware. That is not the case at all and please don't be confused into believing that. Dell is absolutely NOT bundling spyware on their PCs.

Slashdot's article is here

If you or a family member receive a Dell PC as a gift this Christmas, you may be in for a surprise, if it becomes infected with spyware.

Dell has instituted what has to be the most misguided tech support policy I have ever seen. Not only will Dell refuse to tell you how to remove the spyware, they won't even refer you to web sites that can help.

Why does Dell do this? Dell cites the possibility that removing spyware might violate user agreements between the user and some other company. The following is an email sent to Dell tech support persons announcing the new policy:

Subject: Spyware: What we can say to the customer

Dell does not support or endorse the use of spyware removal programs.

NOTICE: Use of spyware removal software may conflict with user license agreements of other applications installed on your system. Please consult your user license agreements for further information. Dell does not endorse the use of spyware removal software and cannot provide support on these products.

This means we do not take callers to download.com or doxdesk.com, nor do we recommend spyware removal programs, nor do we advise callers on the use of spyware removal programs. This includes using phrases "We don't support the removal of spyware, but I use..."

Please reply to this e-mail to indicate that you have read and understand this information.

Thanks,
Vader

This is bull. Doesn't Dell realize that the majority of spyware and other parasites now are classified as viruses? Does Dell really care more about the writers of spyware and viruses than they do about their own paying customers?

It is perfectly understandable that Dell does not want to provide manual spyware removal instructions over the telephone. It's hard enough doing it on message boards where you have access to log files and specialized removal tools. However, to withhold the addresses of web sites that can help is callous and irresponsible. All they have to do is refer them to doxdesk.com, cexx.org, or to my site and let the experts handle it.

Several of us in the antispyware/antivirus community have signed an open letter to Dell Inc. asking them to retract this foolish and misguided policy. That letter is located at http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/dell/support_letter.php. Consider that a press release and feel free to post the entire letter anywhere you please. People need to hear about this rubbish.

Links:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_d.php#DVDSentry :: DVDSentry
http://channels.lockergnome.com/windows/backissues/20031126.phtml :: Dude! You're getting a runaround!
http://channels.lockergnome.com/windows/backissues/20031201.phtml :: Dude! I Got a Runaround, Too!

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Program: Spyware Eliminator
Author: Aluria Software LLC
Platform: Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2K, XP
License: $29.99 (See below for full discount information)
More Information

Aluria's Spyware Eliminator is an excellent spyware killer. ASE doesn't seem to receive as much attention or reviews as other antispyware programs and that's really a shame. This is a good program and I like it.

ASE finds and removes advertising spyware, surveillance spyware, browser hijackers and dialers. It cleans out computer usage history that someone snooping about your computer might use to piece together your computing activity. ASE also protects your browser's home page settings, blocks ActiveX used by known spyware just like SpywareBlaster and restricts an enormous list of web sites from being able to run scripts or set cookies, just like IE-SPYADS.

This being a time of gift buying, we've worked out series of volume discounts. You can buy a copy for yourself and receive a free copy of Aluria's Everlasting Pop-up Stopper. You can also buy several copies for your friends and families for a discount that increases as you buy more copies. This is how it works:

Free Pop-up Stopper for 1 copy
10% discount for 2-4 copies
15% discount for 5-6 copies
20% discount for 6-10 copies
25% discount for over 10 copies

There is no coupon code to worry about. Just follow our link and these discounts will be applied when you are ready to buy. This offer is valid for a very limited time only.
http://www.aluriaaffiliates.com/go.rd?id=29a8x93c3352

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SpywareInfo is moving to its new server this week if all goes well. Several of the web sites I host have been moved already. DogReader.com and MikeHealan.com will be moved tonight.

While I am waiting for DNS to catch up and point people to the correct server, I will be redirecting traffic from the message board to TomCoyote.org, another site that I host for a friend.

Remember, because of a crazy new blacklisting policy at SpamCop, any server that suddenly sends out a bunch of email for the first time is blacklisted. To circumvent this blacklist, I will have to send a mailing from the new server solely to have it recorded by SpamCop so that they don't interfere with the next real newsletter. When you see an email from newsletter@spywareinfo.com that says "please ignore" as the subject line, that's what that is. You can delete that email without reading it.

I'm sorry that this is necessary. Feel free to complain to SpamCop about this policy of their's. I'm sure others already have done so.

While the site is moving, the unsubscribe link will not work. Send an email to unsubscribe@spywareinfo.com to remove yourself from this mailing list.

Hopefully by Friday this will all be over with. I'm sure the owners of the other web sites that share my current server will be thankful.

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Hi Mike,

thanks for all your efforts in the fight against unwanted programs and privacy invasions. I wanted to let you know what we are doing to help spread the word about the problem.

As you are probably aware, Gator Corporation sued PC Pitstop in September. Although we resolved the dispute, some of Gator's public statements on the matter may have left a false impression that PC Pitstop was obligated to remove most discussion of Gator's products from our site. This is not true.

PC Pitstop has launched its Gator Information Center:

http://www.pcpitstop.com/gator/

This area includes the results of original research we conducted based on responses from visitors to the PC Pitstop site. Our results show that most users that have Gator applications on their PC did not consciously install them. This contradicts a key Gator assertion that the company has the user's permission and acceptance of Gator's license terms.

The Gator Information Center also includes:
* Free or low-cost alternatives to Gator applications;
* Step by step instructions for removing Gator;
* How to recognize Gator's drive-by downloads and confusing ads;
* A link for complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission;
* Our experiences using Gator applications and GAIN on our own PCs;
* An interactive quiz about Gator's terms and conditions.

This site is available now at the address listed above. If you have questions, please contact me.

Dave Methvin
Chief Technology Officer
PC Pitstop

Thanks for the update, Dave. I'm glad to see that PCPitstop is still in the spyware information business.

As I said when the Gator v PC Pitstop settlement first came to light, I am glad that it was settled out of court and not by a judge or jury. That would have seen Gator/Claria's convoluted definition of "spyware" becoming a legal precedent. I disagree with their definition and do not use it when classifying something as spyware. Neither does anyone else that I am aware of.

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I don't know how I forgot to mention this previously. Lack of sleep I guess.

The Center for Democracy and Technology is lobbying for legislation to control or outlaw spyware and other parasites. They are seeking input from people who have been victims of spyware infections and have a survey on their site.

I am sure that many of you signed up to this newsletter after falling victim to one of these scams. Here is your chance to get even.

The survey is located at http://www.cdt.org/action/spyware/.

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If you have a web site and own your own domain, Alexa.com may be publishing your name, phone number, home address and email address on their web site for the whole world to see, without your permission.

Alexa makes a toolbar that used to be considered spyware. They used it to gather personal information about their users and sent that information to their company. Even worse, they lied about it in their privacy policy. Alexa lost a class-action lawsuit by angry victims and the Federal Trade Commission nearly sued them over the deception. At last report, the toolbar no longer spies on people using it but I certainly would never recommend it to anyone.

Several weeks ago, someone informed me that a person had written a bogus review of SpywareInfo at Alexa. I didn't even realize Alexa mentioned my site at all until it was pointed out to me. When I visited the page, they had listed my name, my address, my telephone number and my email address.

Usually that sort of information is available publicly when you look up the "whois" information for a web site domain. In my case, that information is not public. Because I am well known and tend to tick off nasty people, I paid extra money to register all of my web sites through a proxy service to keep my private information out of public view. Alexa must have taken the information from my registrar before I paid to conceal the information behind a proxy.

We are pretty certain that some of the browser hijackers we rip out of computers on a daily basis belong to Russian mafia and other dangerous people, so obviously I don't want my home address listed next to my web site. When I saw that Alexa had taken that information and published it on their site, I was livid. I sent them a Cease and Desist notice and demanded they remove the information.

Alexa must think they're being cute, because although my address and phone number have been taken down, they still are listing an email address. It's not even an address I've used when registering domain names, so they must have stolen it from my site using a spam harvester. I have sent them another C&D notice and they had better remove that address.

Alexa is not a registrar or "whois" service and should not be allowed to publish that sort of information. Why should they make a profit publishing people's personal information on their web site? Who do these people think they are?

If you own a domain name, you should check and see if Alexa is listing your personal information. Tack the name of your domain to the end of this URL and load it: http://www.alexa.com/data/details?url=. If your information is there and you want it to be removed, the address they responded to me with was help@alexa.com.

My partner Catherine has a word for people like this. That word is "pond scum". I think it fits the bill rather nicely.

Link:

http://www.domainsbyproxy.com/ :: Domains By Proxy
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/05/30/tech/main293987.shtml :: Iffy Privacy Practices At Amazon

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I very rarely talk about hardware spyware, mainly because there is no way to detect it at long distance. You have to be there physically and look around, and even then you may not find all the spyware.

There are many ways to spy on someone other than by using screenshot grabbers and trojans. You can set up a spycam and record video. You can attach a device to the keyboard to record keystrokes. You can even hide a simple tape recorder in the room.

I discovered ThinkGeek recently (a very, very, VERY cool web site) and found this little gadget. It is a small digital camera disguised as a Zippo-style lighter.

The James Bond Stealth Camera can record up to 310 still images or record a short video. It can also record up to 12 minutes of sound. You can hide it somewhere and set it to take pictures on a schedule and leave it for nearly three weeks. It runs off of a single AAA battery and can upload what it's captured to Macs and PCs over USB.

So the next time you think someone is lighting a cigarette, smile, because they actually might be snapping your picture.

Link:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/cameras/655e/ :: James Bond Stealth Camera