3:24 a.m. - 2003-08-13
Spyware
I visited a new astronomy website this eveningwww.skymaps.com. I was automaticaly redirected to a new window where I was advised that their monitoring program detected four separate spyware installments on my PC.
The site owner explained that some of the spyware will divert the commission a site should earn from advertisers they sponsor, by redirecting the credit to their own site. This spyware can record every key stroke someone makes, allowing the thieves access to any personal data a person enters including credit card and banking information. I guess there is some value in not having credit cards after all, eh? On the rare occasion I purchase something through the net, I send a money order. I don't do any banking where I don't receive paper confirmation of a transaction immediately. Other spyware tracks your browser and search choices or co-opts your e-mail contact list to sell to spammers. He apologized for the inconvenience, but I think he deserves the thanks of anyone who is transferred.
The page I was directed to described each "parasite" attached to my PC with instructions on how to manually remove each one as well as a profile of the group behind the predation and a description of what the spyware was capable of doing. It was scary. The site also offered several links to freeware that would remove them for you. I chose that option because I really don't understand how to operate in DOS. I can use the software but not troubleshoot. There is also a link to doxdesk. This is a site that lists all the known spyware, it's capabilites, it's thieves and the methods to remove any that you detect installed on your PC.
I downloaded two freeware packages, one was safer-networking and the other was "spyware scanner". It took four hours to run everything completely plus I emptied my temporary files. That's something I do regularly once a month.
I had noticed problems with my PC starting the week of July 14, just after my last purge of temp files. First, it was the increasing number of pop up ads that appeared even though I had a blocker on. One of the parasites presents itself as a pop up ad blocker - sneaky. Then I noticed my PC running slower and slower. E-mail that other people were sending to me wasn't arriving until well after the time they were recorded as sending it. At first I chalked it up to being a problem because of high traffic times on the internet. However, it shouldn't be over an hour from the time someone hits the send button until you receive it.
During the four hours it took to clean up the mess the software did the bulk of the work. I had time to do my exercises, look after my regular chores for Miss Kitty and the babies and do some research the old fashioned way - in real books. Odd thing was that I also checked my daily planetary positions from my progressed astrology chart. Mars retrograde is on the same point as the day the problem started back in July. Hmmmm.
During the day lots of calls or e-mail from my contacts with different contracts. Time for grocery shopping, housework and to watch the second spectacular sunset as in as many days. Brilliant orange sky and a dramatic nightfall. Trouble is it's occurring a couple of hours earler than usual because the coloration is from the ash and smoke in the air, plus the build up of thunderclouds that's been starting at about 4 pm each of the past several days. Two more tornados touched down tonight. One ripped through a scout camp and one through a resort just outside Edmonton. One person injured and extensive property damage - guess it could have been worse. This just isn't normal for this area. We usually have one or two funnel cloud sightings per summer - not one or two per day. Just strange.
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