(resending as my first one did not reach the List......unless the Listowner held it up........) If so Dean, please let me know. Heather See interspersed comments......and I just noticed your follow-up, Denis. I am not sending it there until I read what has been said. It is not one I am using at the moment.......alt.comp.virus, GRC security, and the MS groups is where I operate out of. But I have now put some comments out on that group.......and I was blunt (what else, grin). The problem was on this List......not on soc.genealogy.computing.....so posting the warnings on here is the place they should be posted. Hmm, blunt again. But that is my middle name!! "Denis Beauregard" <spam-is-rejected@genealogie.com.invalid> wrote in message news:d1c7bv0e4cspks6p58evp56hstn21pot6t@4ax.com... > (follow-up set to soc.genealogy.computing which is thew > newsgroups to discuss that subject) > > On Fri, 2 May 2003 22:59:04 +0000 (UTC), dialincc@tpg.com.au ("Di > Coghlan") wrote in soc.genealogy.west-indies: > > >to students and friends. I have downloaded and run AdAware which found 6 > >"infections", mainly in the Cookies folder, but one in the registry. > > cookies can't be "infected", i.e. they will keep > information to track you, but only information you already > gave them. Cookies are not infected.......right. But they can contain spyware that reports back to 'home base' on your web interests and conceivably your banking numbers and so on. As I use Zone Alarm Firewall 100% of the time, not one of them is able to 'phone home' and report back. For a long time I handpicked them out and also rigged the security section of Internet Explorer to not allow them to download. My 'cookie jar' (cute phrase) contains roughly 20-30 when I clean them out (usually every day). I get rid of the harmless ones as well.....the ones from every website you visit.......and YES.........that is where you get them from. Every website, good or bad, drops a cookie onto your machine to facilitate a return visit with the information. I never take off my banking ones for instance. My cookies jar for example has 86 cookies or 55 > unique ones if I removed duplicates. Some obvious "spies" are: > > .2o7.net > .advertising.com > .bfast.com > .doubleclick.net > server.iad.liveperson.net Add some more here........fastclick, mediaplex, atdmt, and so on and so on. All of these are causal factors for spam.....they report back on your surfing habits......you get spam re those areas of interest. BUT, I have never been on a porn site (huge grin).......so I am not getting the 'male enhancer or viagra' ones from my surfing habits.....I get them from mass spambots scouring the news groups......which this list is gatewayed to. So......think on that one. > > None is from a site I visited. They can track sites you > visited to better target you, but otherwise, they are not > vicious. > It was not a cookie that I had in the Registry.......the browser hijacker had hidden itself in there in 3 places/keys and I used Spybot to find them. I then downloaded a special program called "Hijack This" and sent the resulting reports to a Spyware Forum and they were amazed that I had totally gotten rid of it myself.....manually. It is a common one apparently. Everyone should have an up-to-date antivirus......and also Zone Alarm or some other firewall, which keeps intruders out and cookies or trojans from phoning home. And I see you are inferring that an antivirus is not enough. You are right.........it isn't. And FWIW......I used a special program to view the website in question and it was chock full of popup ad instructions......this should be reported to the Max pages owner!! If he gives a damn!! But it is also down now and will give you a '404 - not found' error. > If you use safer products (avoid MS Internet Explorer, > MS Mail, Outlook, etc.) and know what you do, then you can survive > to the net. Otherwise, you can't without anti-virus but anyway, > anti-virus are not enough. But I totally disagree with you on MS OE/IE and so on. I have used it for 7 years and it normally is pretty malware proof. This one slipped by me because my security was lowered as someone else was also using this computer who was a newbie. And things will happen from time to time even with all the security precautions in the world........my ActiveX happened to be a bit loose for the above person's usage. Ergo, I got the browser hijacker. Properly configured.......Microsoft products CAN be just as safe as any other mail or news program. You just have to know what to do to make it safe. And I also practice 'safe hex'.........which is basically common sense, with some security features of my own I have thrown in. Yes......I am OT again. But I have had some interesting off List emails and one in particular sounds like she has a hijacker problem.....but she is not on this List and hadn't been on the Max Pages website. I will be sorting her out in 2 minutes. Microsoft Troubleshooter can be your best friend at times........I used it in part to sort this mess out. Along with Spybot, a registry cleaner and a final check with my antivirus. (and a few other tweaks in between.....grin). So again.......if you folks need help, you know where I am. Computer security and antivirus work are my alternate passion. As well, I answer 'problem' questions when I can on the MS WinME news groups. And if I can't help you, I have a lot of people I can call on to do so. Cheers from Brampton on a bright sunny cold day..........Heather