Spyware Warrior

[Fledermaus]

Obviously to some, it was never that exciting in the first place. But I used to lurk around here, pcpitstop, castle cops, lavasoft support (when it existed), and various other forums years ago. It really feels like the prevailing attitude has changed, that spyware is no longer a source of indignation but rather something we just have to get used to and deal with.

I remember Suzi's blog calling out various baddies and all of us rubbing our hands at the (as yet mostly unfulfilled) hope of some of these guys getting their comeuppance. Ad-Aware's every move for inclusion or exclusion was examined with bated breath. New products and techniques were launched every week and then savagely criticized pro or con.

I finally registered here a few months ago, and it feels like that spirit has passed. Is it because the anti-spyware solution provider field has consolidated, providing less discussion opportunities? Are there are less rogue applications, and they are less successful? Is it because spyware itself has gotten so ubiquitous that there's no point in examining any one single instance of it?

Please don't think I'm being critical, because I'm not. If anything, things seem to have gotten more efficient as better and better specific use tools have evolved (SDFix, CCleaner, VundoFix, etc.), and people have finally been trained on how to use HJT forums. It just seems that in those days of yore there was an exciting activist feel in the air, whereas now it's more "business as usual". I just wanted to see if anyone else felt the same.

[goldengreek]

Disable all your security apps, go to some crack and porn sites and I am sure we can generate some excitement for you

[suzi]

The playing field has changed for several reasons. The old adware companies like 180solutions/zango, Claria, Direct Revenue and a number of others are no longer around. Some have been sued by the FTC or state attorney generals. Spyware is now not much adware, but there has been a huge explosion of serious malware, like trojan downloaders, password stealers, rootkits, keyloggers, etc. A number of the companies that made anti-spyware programs are now making AV/anti-spyware combination apps.

There are still plenty of rogue apps, in fact, there seem to be new ones nearly every day. We are no longer officially tracking and documenting them here, but a number of other sites are.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/

http://www.malwarebytes.org/forums/index.php?s=beef4780f492416a7114e85d8e8b487f&showforum=30

http://bharath-m-narayan.blogspot.com/
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Please do not PM or Email me for personal support. Post in the Forums instead and we will all learn.

[Tarq57]

I remember the actual excitement I felt first time I came upon some real malware, as a total dumbo novice. (Sorry, Dumbo. No offense intended.)
Oh, that's right, it wasn't so much excitement, as dismay and worry.
Since then, determined to learn enough to protect myself, I've spent many hours since on sites such as this one.The news/learning about new threats certainly doesn't feel like activism. It's too prolific to keep track of, for a start. Malware has gotten very danged serious; it's a multi million (maybe even billion) dollar business. As such, the malware writers are very interested in concealing their wares, unlike the cyber-vandals of yore.

[mikey]

It's not just the pri/sec community affected.

The entire net has changed over the past decade and a half. In the days gone by, netfolk were mostly geeks and those more aware of things other than themselves. Netfolk were more generally of a class more concerned for the greater good.

The changes are not totally unforseen to me tho. I expected the net to become a mirror image of the rest of the world as more and more logged on.

Oh well...
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Spyware/Adware is NOT freeware, it costs all of us dearly.

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[suzi]

mikey wrote:

[Tarq57]

It is an interesting point, and one that evokes some analogies. Interesting that porn sites/behaviour often draw internet viruses to themselves. So to gambling sites, and cracked software.
Not always, of course - that's a bit of a broad brush - but basically ya reap what ya sow.