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[Firest0rm]

I'm gonna be doing a presentation about business ethics and I decided to cover how companies like C2 Media invade peoples privacy and make a buck off it. I was wondering if you guys had spefic programs or companies that hate.

 

[Firest0rm]

I would also like to add that the following programs have spyware in them:

KaZaa (offers a paid version without spyware, and Kazaa lite is spyware free)
Limewire
Audiogalaxy
Bearshare (offers a paid version without spyware)
Imesh
Morpheus
Grokster (Grokster lite is spyware free)
Xolox
Blubster 2.x aka Piolet (Blubster 2.0 and higher and Piolet are adware and bundle other adware)
OneMX
FreeWire
BitTorrent (Only the Unify Media version. Other versions are clean to my knowledge. See warning below)

according to www.spywareinfo.com

 

[Particle Physicist]

whoa.. thanks.. this is good to know.. what about shareaza ?

 

[shuri]

coolwebsearch. It's still the most vicous one. Theres so many variations, its impossible to keep track of it

 

[Mashing]

Fuck... goddamnit, pussy eating motherfuckers shithead spyware writing cocksuckers can kiss my ass.

It's a LARGE part of my job cleaning up that shit and then (due to the users browsing habits) about a week later they are fucking reinfected.

Spyware programmers can suck my left nut as well...

The funny thing is the people who have the most spyware on their machines have none of this software installed... it's PURELY becuase they download free flash games and screensavers... pisses me off if you couldn't tell

 

[mrmyth]

Fuck... goddamnit, pussy eating motherfuckers shithead spyware writing cocksuckers can kiss my ass.

It's a LARGE part of my job cleaning up that shit and then (due to the users browsing habits) about a week later they are fucking reinfected.

Spyware programmers can suck my left nut as well...

The funny thing is the people who have the most spyware on their machines have none of this software installed... it's PURELY becuase they download free flash games and screensavers... pisses me off if you couldn't tell

I quoted so I don't have to say it again. But there's light at the end of the tunnel for me - HR and the upper echelons have started handing out unpaid suspensions for damage to company property if you destroy your machine with sypware. Users are panicked.

I second CoolWWWebsearch, and and SAHagent. These are both programs that actively resist uninstallation. That crosses my line. Its one thing to sneak in unannounced, its another damn thing entirely to get an attitude and thow a hissy fit when I try to kick you out.

 

[Dilbert]

Funny you should ask -- the top story on Slashdot at the moment is a discussion around this article. Apparently, an antivirus program got paid off NOT to detect a certain kind of malware.

 

[Firest0rm]

The following are clean:

WinMX (recommended)
Shareaza
E-Mule
Gnucleus
Blubster 1.2.3 (Later versions include adware)
Soulseek
BitTorrent (avoid Unify Media version)
Direct Connect
Mute
EarthStation5

Thanks for that article -jinx-. The pattern nowadays seems to be these share programs being spyware free and once they've hit a large userbase they sell out thei users to companies.

 

[Mashing]

I haven't had much problem with CWS....

Now, those damn spyware that install proxies and screw up TCP/IP communication... THAT pisses me off.

I've got a process down now that can neutralize any spyware though.

Boot to windows and unplug network cable or disable the nic
Boot to ERD Commander (most people are not going to have this) if you don't, you can try booting into safe mode (but the spyware processes may still load which means you can't remove them manually--thankfully Giant AntiSpyware can somehow kill running processes--even the ones that normally don't end when you try to kill yourself through the task manager)
Manually delete registry keys, program file directories and any unknown services in the control panel
Boot to windows normally and run your spyware tools (I use Giant AntiSpyware, CWShredder and HijackThis)
Make sure no spyware process are running and re-enable the nic

Problem solved

 

[impirius]

I haven't worked on spyware-riddled computers in a couple of months, but CWS was by far the worst back then.