ep6network | Network security

One of the engines that has driven the explosive growth of the Internet is the concept of eyeballs. For a relatively low price, you are provided with a high-speed broadband connection that gives you access to an endless amount of mostly free information, services, digital media, and even software programs.

Ever ask yourself how these companies stay in business? For example, how does Weather.com pay their bills to be able to bring you awesome up-to-the-minute radar images for your city's weather? How can people give you software programs such as screensavers and games for free?

The answer is eyeballs. Eyeballs refers to the number of people's eyes someone can get to view their Internet content (and accompanying advertisements). Yes, the Internet is based on relatively the same concept as commercial television.

The difference is the Internet can bring highly targeted advertising like never before and sometimes nearly force you to view it. Banner and popup ads were the first wave, but most people are tuning them out, so to speak, by installing popup blockers. So, advertisers are relying on more sophisticated methods to get their stuff in front of your eyes.

An all-out brawl is looming between consumers and advertisers. Between cable networks, DVRs, and TiVo players, we can screen out quite a few commercials. With increasingly good technology, we can also screen out a lot of advertisements online, too, which is the focus of the rest of this chapter.


What Is Spyware and Adware?

So, why spyware and adware? Well, quite frankly, online advertisers are getting more desperate to keep the ads under your nose. As a result, there is an escalation of techniques occurring, some getting pretty aggressive. These techniques include adware and spyware.

Adware

There is not one agreed upon definition of what adware is and is not, but in general it includes any program used to facilitate getting advertising content in front of you on your computer, including the following:

Popups Advertisements that pop up on your computer screen as new windows, especially while you are browsing the Internet.

Adware Although the whole category of advertisements is often referred to as adware, the term also is used in reference to hidden programs inside of other programs. This is usually from free software or a game you download that is permitted to shower you with ads as the price you pay for using it for free.

Annoyware Term for aggressive adware practices, such as asking whether you want to install a program and then only allowing you to click OK and not Cancel, or popups that when you close them keep popping up more and more additional ones.

Banner ads Blending an advertisement into a website in an official-looking banner, enticing you to click it because you think it is part of the page you are browsing.

Drive-by downloads Suddenly asking you to download a program that you did not ask for while browsing the Internet.

Warning boxes Making a popup ad look like a typical warning box you get in Windows. Our favorites are those that claim your system is infected with adware/spyware and then try to sell you an antiadware program. Adware selling antiadware. Beautiful.

Most adware is obtained willingly, by you agreeing to see advertisements for using a free piece of software or service on a website. You probably do not even notice this in the fine print of the user agreement when you click the Accept button. (Adware vendors are counting on the fact that you don't.)

Spyware

There is also not one agreed upon definition of what spyware is and is not, but in general it includes any program used to gather and relay information from your computer to a location collecting the information, including the following:

• Data miners Actively collect information from you and then relay it to a remote server.

• Spyware As in the adware case, this term is used for both the category and for a particular instance within the category. In this case, we are referring to a hidden program that collects information and sends it to a central server without your knowledge or consent.

• Trackware Generally passive method of tracking with cookies what site or sites you have visited and also some amount of personal information.

• Hijacker These little gems like to hijack your Internet Explorer settings, such as changing your home page to where they want you to go or hijacking and overlaying the search function.

• Searchbars and toolbars Toolbars for searching that can be added as add-ons to Internet Explorer. They generally cause slow performance on your computer and can be used to track what information you search for and browse.

Some spyware is obtained willingly, by you agreeing to participate in some trial marketing for using a free piece of software or service on a website. Just as often, you might think you are agreeing to adware when in reality a program has been placed on your computer that can collect information and send it to a marketing company.



Are Spyware and Adware Viruses?

Although many adware and spyware programs increasingly share some of the characteristics of
viruses, especially stealth and doing things without your knowledge, the primary distinction
is that viruses live to replicate, whereas spyware and adware live to gather information that
can be sent to marketing companies or to entice you to buy a specific product.

In general, spyware and adware are a one-to-one relationship between you and whatever
marketing organization is trying to sell you stuff. They generally do not replicate themselves
and send themselves to other computers. Spyware and adware tend to operate more on the "cow pattie" model: meaning they lie around on websites until you step in one, and then they cling to your shoe until you can shake them loose.


Preventing Spyware and Adware

Adware is mainly an annoyance but can slow down the performance of you computer. Spyware is a larger threat because it can be an invasion of your privacy. You can take four steps to remedy the threat:

Exercise common sense.

• Block popups.

• Install an antispyware/antiadware program.

• Implement a personal software firewall.

The first three are covered in the sections that follow :


Exercising Common Sense

• The easiest way to avoid dealing with spyware and adware on your computer is the same as for viruses: Do not get them in the first place. Easier said than done, but here are some tips:

• Avoid downloading "free" software programs, screensavers, and any program that comes with strings attached.

• If you are not sure whether there are strings attached, do some quick Internet research on the software program.

• Do not click on popup ads, even to win money from a monkey.

• Do not fall for popups on your computer saying your computer is infected with spyware.

Ask yourself why something of value is being offered for free. What do they have to gain from giving it to you? It is almost impossible never to get adware or spyware on your computer. Just like viruses, we have had them, and everyone we know has had them.

Installing a Popup Blocker

• The first step in avoiding adware and spyware (and to save yourself a ton of annoyance) is to turn on a popup blocker to stop the endless stream of windows with advertisements popping up on your computer screen while you are on the Internet. You have a couple of options.

• Turning On the Internet Explorer Built-In Popup Blocker

• If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), you have a popup blocker already. All you need to do is turn it on. If your version of XP is not SP2, you can acquire it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx


Popup blocker is built in to Internet Explorer. To turn it on, click Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Turn On Pop-up Blocker

That was easy. Periodically, some websites might use popups you want to see, not as ads but as part of the way that website functions to show you information. You can just toggle the popup blocker in your browser off temporarily. Just remember to turn it back on when you leave that website.

When you turn on the popup blocker, the menu option will change to Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Turn Off Pop-up Blocker. You just use the same menu option to toggle the feature on and off.

Installing a Third-Party Popup Blocker Program

If you do not have Windows XP (still running Windows 98SE, 2000, or ME), you do not have the option to upgrade Internet Explorer to receive the built-in popup blocker.

However, several popup blockers are available for free (yes, we know we said not to download free stuff). Pop-Up Stopper from Panicware is a pretty decent one. You can get it here:

http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html

After you install it, a little white glove icon will appear in the lower right of your screen (on the running tasks bar). If you double-click the glove, you can toggle Pop-Up Stopper on and off,


Installing an Antispyware/Antiadware Program -

The next step in adware and spyware prevention is to install an antispyware/antiadware program.

Your computer is scanned for known spyware and adware programs, matching them against a list of known spyware/adware signatures. If detected, you can remove them. If a piece of spyware is not yet in the signature list, it will be missed, again similar to antivirus.

Also similar to antivirus, but not quite there yet in terms of technology (that is, it is pretty new at the time of publication), is the ability to do active scanning, meaning blocking the insertion of adware and spyware into your computer in the first place. This is preferable rather than detecting and deleting it, after it is already on your computer and operating.

You have several options for antispyware/antiadware programs, including the following:

• Installing a freeware program from the Internet

• Installing Windows Defender, a relatively new option

• Enabling the antispyware/antiadware function in a security bundle you already own or plan to buy

The following sections look at each option. Any option will work, but they do have different advantages and disadvantages, so weigh which one is right for you. You might want to install all of them and then pick which one is right for you. Multiple programs for scanning are okay. However, be careful having multiple programs setup for active scanning at the same time because it could affect your computer's performance.

Free Antispyware/Antiadware Programs

A couple of really good antispyware/antiadware programs are available on the Internet for free. If you have been paying attention at all, you should be saying, "Hey, you told me not to do that." Well, exceptions apply to every rule.

The basic version of these programs is free. They make money by offering an upgrade to a premium version that has more features and a higher level of service. We look at the basic versions here.

Spybot Search & Destroy

The first is a product called Spybot Search & Destroy from Safer Networking. It is available here for download:

http://www.safer-networking.org/

After installing the program, you can double-click the desktop icon to start it.

Clicking Search for Updates downloads the latest signatures over the Internet to your computer so that Spybot has the latest set of spyware/adware knowledge to search with.

Clicking Check for problems scans your computer for known spyware and adware problems. When the scan has completed,


Very Important

Some adware programs are on your computer because you downloaded something, such as a screensaver program, that you are using for free under the agreement that the adware can live on your computer and bring you advertisements. If you remove the adware with Spybot or any other tool, you will likely disrupt the freebie program you are using. So, if you want to keep a particular piece of adware, uncheck it in the list before you click Fix selected problems.