OT but Did Anyone Try AdAware?

I recommend ZoneAlarm, currently I'm running a 2 firewalls the norton2001 and the personal zonealarm. zonelaram is free as long as it's for personal use. you can get it from tucows. It's really good compared to other free firewalls.

 

Now you got me all curious. I wanna run AdAware just to see if I can beat your totals!

A firewall creates a barrier between your machine and the rest of the world. It intercepts calls to/from network resources (of course, the internet is probably the only network relevant to this).

Once intercepted, the firewall determines what to do with the attempted access of the internet. Depending on the type of firewall you use, you can set up rules of various levels of complexity to let the firewall make that determination. For example, you might block all network ports except Port 80, or you might only allowing incoming calls from a specified IP range.

On a practical level, a properly configured firewall will prevent:

• Hostile/undesirable attempts from people on the internet to access files on your machine
• Local processes going out to the net without your permission

Clearly, the constant battle of hackers/marketeers against security companies complicates the matter an means that loopholes are continually being found, exploited then plugged, and that you will never be 100% sure you're safe (in the same way virus checkers cannot guarantee prevention of infection).

Firewalls can be either hardware or software based and either rules based or not. The best ones (arguably) are hardware and rules based, but only if you have a professional on hand to configure and re-configure them (and the money to splash out in the first place).

Appropriate home firewalls are generally software and don't rely too heavily on complex rule definition. Popular ones currently include BlackIce Defender, Symantec Desktop Firewall and Zonealarm.

The latter is the one I use and freely available for personal use at Zonelabs

Note, if by any chance, you are on a LAN, putting a firewall on your machine will require more consideration/investigation.

 

that's some pretty good handbook explanation you wrote there sheriff
Anyway, I don't worry about spyware as much as I worry about city slickin' admins over at your ISP. These guys can just about send you anything without a firewall. Trojans, viruses you name it. They can access your computer too, and delete and copy things to their leisure. That is why you need to protect your computer. THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO is have a mail adress at your ISP. The admins there can just READ YOUR MAIL. they just point and click and voila!
they even set configurations that every time you get a mail, if forwads them your mail, of course without your permission. The internet can be a "payne" if not handled correctly

 

I ran adaware a while ago, it detected only around 10 spyware files/entries. Four of them were from some sex sites - seems like you can't even be a pervert in this world anymore :grin: Oh yeah, while accidentally entering some porn site lately my Norton Anitvirus popped up a warning that there might be a virus in a .jpg file - is it possible?

One more thing: AdAware runs fast and it doesn't make HDD become noisy for long. I like it.

 

I am scared. Internet security is like a formerly unknown black hole of despair and paranoia. I had no idea about some of this shit until now.

Anyway, I've been reading reviews on c|net for the different firewall programs out there, and I now have no idea what to run.

First I checked out Zone Alarm (the free version), and it had some very disturbing negative reports. "DO NOT USE UNLESS YOU LIKE REINSTALLING WINDOWS!" "FAILED TESTS AT HACKER-TOOLZ.DE!" "HOSED MY INTERNET CONNECTION, USE TPF INSTEAD!" etc.

So I check out Tiny Personal Firewall. This one seems to be for the experts only. The negative reports where largely similiar to those of Zone Alarm's, although a majority of them seemed to come from people who didn't know how to properly use it. Which I don't, but I'm willing to learn. Add in the comments, "TPF SUX! USE ZONE ALARM OR SYGATE PERSONAL FIREWALL!"

So... I check out Sygate. Same sort of negative reviews and referrals to the other two firewall programs. Damn this is frustrating.

And I still don't know what spyware files are "safe" to delete, and won't crash my computer if they're not there. Aaargh.

As I sit here watching the "Activity" light blinking on and off on my cable modem despite the fact that I'm not downloading anything, I'm wondering what I should do. Just say fuck it, install Zone Alarm and hope for the best? Is it worth it to shell out $40 for Zone Alarm Pro? And where can I go to educate myself on internet security? Any helpful links?

 

Look Milo, Zonealarm rules, I used Sygate for some time untill it stopped worjing out of no reason. Actually it just started to block ALL internet activity with no internet lock. malfuction? I don't know. Zonealarm gives you warning each time something is trying to look into your computer. I say Zone Alram is the way to go. I'm not sure about the aDaware deletion plans since I don't use any spyware. I just don't like to take chances. The only things my Adaware deleted was a bunch of suspicious cookies and some special offer program thingies. I tell you, if there is someone fucking with your computer, use Adawere regardles. I mean if the softwaere doesn't work you can reinstall it, as fore those who were using it to look into your computer you give them

 

Hi, Milo. Sorry I'm just getting back to you.

Let's see. As far as file sharing, I use WinMX, and I've never had a problem. KaZaa is infamous for its spyware. I would never use it.
Regarding which spyware to delete, it depends on how much you like those programs. (Personally, I don't want a speck of spyware on my system.) Removing the spyware may or may not screw your progs up. Usually it won't, but if it does, there are usually comparable or better programs out there without spyware. Yoou should be safe deleting all that spyware from your system, but notice that AdAware allows you to create a backup.
Don't believe all the user reviews on CNET. Many times rival companies will fix the vote by sending in a shitload of bad reviews. Notice how a lot of them seem to be written by the same person?
Google is, IMHO, the best search engine. It's quick and ad-free.
Again, IMHO, ZoneAlarm is the best firewall. I tried BlackIce, but there were conflicts with Mcafee.
I'll have to look at the thread again to see if I missed anything.
Let me know how it goes, Milo. And you do realize you can find out exactly where all the sptware originated by checking the log, right? Give 'em Hell. I did.
Nice info, Sheriff! :smile:

 

Viewing an HTML page cannot give you a virus. I doubt that the .jpg actually had a virus in it, as virus scanners don't search for the actual virus, they search for the virus's digital signature.

As for firewalls, one of the best firewalls you can get is...*drum roll*....

A unix (or linux) box on a LAN. All you need is an old 386, knowledge of the OS and you have something that will perform much better than most any firewall you can buy. My friend has the sturdiest linux box around, it was in the boot of his car when it got rear-ended (at around 50 km/h!), the boot was crushed but the computer wasn't. It still works as well :smile:. I don't know how to set up one of those boxes, they do rock though.

Milo if you really want my advice, get all the free firewalls you've mentioned that you can set-up (that would be 2 out of the 3 wouldn't it?) and set-them up. BlackIce Defender sucks. Don't but it, it doesn't protect against shit.

 

I'll have to disagree, Jarinor. :sad:
Many times having more than one firewall just confuses things, and they conflict with each other. Or did you really mean to have them all working at the same time, or for Milo to see which one he likes best? I'd stick with ZAP!
And I'm going out to get a Linux OS right now! Does it matter where I plug it in to my tower? :smile:

 

Hey Milo, take a look inside this can you just opened. What are those things wriggling around?

I dunno why the reviews you looked at dis'ed ZA, but I've been using it at home for well over a year an have literally had zero problems. Maybe the reviewers had ulterior motives. For a start, I'd be over the moon to know I had the protection least favoured by hackers :wink:

Whichever one you go with, having one is a must for broadband users - really. Once it's installed you can amuse yourself for hours following up all those scans you get an finding out who is interested in whether you're alive.

Jarinor, there is now a scenario where you can get a virus by visiting and infected web server - even if it is just to view a web page. read about the Nimda virus to find out how, but it basically exploits one hole in a certain version of IE combined with a hole in Outlook Express, to deliver itself via an .eml file that can be downloaded and opened automatically.

 

Er, yes. Set up a LAN (you only need two computers with network cards, get fast ones and a cross-over cable), and make sure that the Linux box is the one connected to the internet - it's the one connected to the outside world.

Read up on how to do it first, because I don't know how, so unless you like tinkering, try to find out stuff on how to do it.

It is having the equivalent of a bouncer standing outside your door (of your house) with a shotgun though, so it's a worthwhile investment. Nothing gets in unless you want it to.

 

Sheriff yeah, I've heard about the Nimda virus. Like you said though, it requires the a specific version of IE to work, and not everyone has it. Also, some people just don't have Outlook Express (what's the difference between Outlook and OE, does anyone know?).

 

Jarinor, Jarinor, Jarinor...
I was joking. I wouldn't know how to begin dealing with Linux. :grin:

 

Outlook and Outlook Express are entirely different apps - not related except by manufacturer and name.

Don't even joke about it, Feldon. Two people in my life (who shall remain nameless at this juncture) are Linux enthusiasts. One of them is also, if you can believe such a thing exists, a firewall enthusiast. He's a damn clever bloke, but also holds the record for smallest amount of time taken to take me from a carefully arranged expression of polite interest to full blown eye glazing.

 

I can glaze my eyes in about one second...

Where was I? Oh yeah...

Linux is good if you know how to use it, but don't mind minimal games support, or just minimal support overall - programs and OS support. Then again, Linux is extremely stable, so the OS support isn't much of a worry. Still, for a free OS, it's pretty damn good.

 

Maybe I'll partition and set it up for a try out.

 

Better to find a crappy old computer and try it on there...

You can buy a really old 386 for nothing these days, just look in the 'junk' section of your paper if you have it :smile:. Over here it's politely termed the 'Weekend Shopper', basically it's people selling off their junk.

You should be able to find a crappy computer really easily. Then just get a Linux OS (there are many incarnations) and tool around with it...

 

systems like linux or Windows NT are more stable since nothing works on them, any program that has even the slightest chance of making the system unstable is thrown out. That means 75% of the software available. That's why Linux or Nt is used solemly for
server upkeep and the sort.

 

So what? It's solid as a rock? At my university, they have a server that students can store stuff on (no pics, just assignment work and things like that) and it runs unix. Has yet to crash in living memory. Holds heaps of files for everyone smart enough to FTP.

 

hey, I'm not saying thats bad, It's like a console, but it's use is turned 180 degres