Removing spyware etc

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Originally Posted by incisor

what you dont know cant hurt you, you reckon :angel:

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Not quite - virtually all viruses "in the wild" will only run on Windows, and trojans and other malware that are not tied specifically to Windows operating systems either operate only on specific programs such as I.E. or M.S.Office, or rely on Java to operate.

So you can simply sidestep most of these issues. The downside is that some websites fail to adhere to published standards and actually require proprietary Windows features, although these are rare, and restricting Java does restrict the functionality of a lot of sites - if you trust the site you can always allow it to run.
Of course you also have to learn another operating system.
John

Microsoft vs Linux vs Mac, bit like Landrover vs Toyota vs Nissian :D

I use MS a lot, it's my Job, and I don't have any problems with spyware, virus etc...

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Originally Posted by George130

OK. I am going to try CCleaner.

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Note CCleaner has nothing to do with removing spyware it just frees up space on your hard drive so you can get other things running which you might not otherwise be able to. If you are getting loads of popups when you are online you may need a 'course of treatment'. I can try and help you via PM if you want but if your really in the poo then your choices are either 1) get expert help, such as at Bleeping Computer or 2)Format the hard drive and start again.

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Originally Posted by incisor

CCleaner installs yahoo toolbar by default, so it is a trojan installing cleanup program..

give me a break.....

read the yahoo terms and conditions and work out for yourself just how much info you will be sending their way.... unless you dig down several pages and turnoff and decline their access...

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or just disallow it net access,,,

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

Not quite - virtually all viruses "in the wild" will only run on Windows, and trojans and other malware that are not tied specifically to Windows operating systems either operate only on specific programs such as I.E. or M.S.Office, or rely on Java to operate.

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that used to be true, it no longer is.. the surging popularity of the mac has spawned a multiude of backdoors into publicware *nix versions. there are several trojans and virii specifically targeting the common *nix platforms and unfortunetly they are spreading pretty much uncontrolled because many refuse to acknowledge they exist...

but they are still much safer to use by an order of magnitude but they are much more vunerable than they were.

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Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

or just disallow it net access,,,

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most people wouldnt have a clue how to do that....

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Originally Posted by incisor

that used to be true, it no longer is.. the surging popularity of the mac has spawned a multiude of backdoors into publicware *nix versions. there are several trojans and virii specifically targeting the common *nix platforms and unfortunetly they are spreading pretty much uncontrolled because many refuse to acknowledge they exist...

but they are still much safer to use by an order of magnitude but they are much more vunerable than they were.

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Yes - I have to agree with that, but compared to zero vulnerability any increase is a large one! There is considerable discussion about this, but as long as *nix remains a small proportion of the net connected computers the spread of malware targetted at is much slower and less likely - and the fact that there are a variety of different *nix variants which do not share common vulnerabilities makes the situation a lot less serious than it may appear. And despite the increasing Mac popularity, by and large the *nix variants remain far less vulnerable than Windows variants, even apart from these factors.

A further factor for open source operating systems (note this does not include Mac) is that the people, who with proprietary systems would be looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, are looking for vulnerabilities to fix instead - and fixes happen a lot quicker.
John

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

A further factor for open source operating systems (note this does not include Mac) is that the people, who with proprietary systems would be looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, are looking for vulnerabilities to fix instead - and fixes happen a lot quicker.
John

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thats pretty much a furphy with most distributions these days. there are noted exceptions, mainly debian based variants and some bsd variants, but it isnt the norm it used to be.

the major distributions are these days subject to the same commercial pressures as the "big" end players.

the *nixes including osx are much safer than windows for trojans and virii etc because of their basic structure, but the day is fast approaching when some one is going to come up with the one that does the deed...

bit like the early dos days being relived...

but the bottom line is, you are way way safer at the moment, just not 100% secure like you used to be.

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Originally Posted by incisor

thats pretty much a furphy with most distributions these days. there are noted exceptions, mainly debian based variants and some bsd variants, but it isnt the norm it used to be.

(snip)

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My direct experience is limited to Mandriva, Gentoo and Suse, but my impression is that proportion of proprietary software involved in all Linux distributions is fairly minor - almost all of each distribution is a selection of open source software to which my remarks DO apply. For example, with my current Suse distribution the only major package that is proprietary is the control/update manager. So I don't think it is a furphy at all. Certainly my remarks apply to the Linux kernel, which determines the basic structure, and the remedy I suggested is likely to counter the one that "does the deed" a lot faster than Microsoft's updates.

Unfortunately (or fortunately given the advantage of having only a small proportion of computers using *nix) most users are not going to even consider changing operating systems, in many cases because their games will only run on Windows.
John

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

but my impression is that proportion of proprietary software involved in all Linux distributions is fairly minor

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it has nothing to do with proprietary, and all to do with the way the kernel is compiled and the drivers and modules used, not to mention package management. The basic design of linux has several week spots when to compared to the bsd variants, which have their own weak points.

there is no secure flavour of *nix that installs out of the box, they all have to be hardened, if you think otherwise you are having yourself on.

to harden a box requires some clue, most people are not interested in finding that clue for one reason or another.

a google search for "list of trojanised linux websites" and "list of trojanized linux websites" also returns some interesting reading....