Massive ID Theft Ring Uncovered -- uses "CoolWebSearch" spyware --

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122149,tk,dn080805X,00.asp

This means crackers can empty your bank account, damage your credit rating, and worse, if you keep any sensitive information on your hard drive, and/or do any online shopping/banking/trading.

Anyone running Windows should run 2 or 3 spyware scanners/cleanup utilities, at a bare minimum. There's no one 'silver bullet' program that catches them all at present.

• CWShredder is free, and targets CoolWebSearch in particular:

http://www.trendmicro.com/cwshredder/


• Ad-Aware is also free:

http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html


• as is Spybot S&D:

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html


• If you run Windows 2000 or XP, Microsoft Antispyware is also free (won't run on Windows 98 or ME):

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx


• SpywareBlaster is free, and keeps a lot of spyware from getting into your machine to begin with:

http://www.download.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022_4-10396039.html


Some other good antispyware programs that cost money are Sunbelt CounterSpy, and Webroot Spy Sweeper.

All of these need updated definitions from time to time, just like antivirus programs do; and system scans should be run periodically, just like with an antivirus program. Spyware has actually become a larger problem than viruses here in the last couple of years.

John, I run spywareBlaster and spybot S&D as well as Webroot (I finally gave in and bought it)
and also run Ad-Aware (all these are thanks to you!!). I think that is all I have so far. Should I run some of the others you have listed here too?

I try to remember to upgrade them and run them every Sunday...

Thanks John H. A program like Zone Alarm can also be helpful. I think it's $30. It's a firewall program.

Debbie, you sound like you're doing just fine.

Tom, ZoneAlarm is indeed one of the best firewalls out there, and a good firewall is a necessity these days, especially for people on fast broadband connections (cable, DSL, satellite, fixed wireless).

ZoneAlarm does come in paid versions, but they have a free one too --

http://www.download.com/ZoneAlarm/3000-10435_4-10421033.html

bump

de bump bump...thanks.

Here's another article concerning this from Mike Healan of SpywareInfo.com --

http://www.spywareinfo.com/newsletter/archives/2005/aug12.php#Srv.SSA-KeyLogger

There are links there to software that can detect this exploit (HijackThis), and software that can remove it (SSA-KeyLogger Clean). It's really a pretty nasty infestation that can do real damage to a person's financial status.

I also just realized that people running Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, and NT4 don't need to worry about this, since the SSA-Keylogger exploit code can't run on those platforms.