Hijackware

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

Is this legal?

Well, Gator's terms and conditions do tell you they are going to do this. And you are supposed to read them (all gazillion pages) before you downloadrepparttar program. And of course,repparttar 132104 terms and conditions are written in such a user friendly and simple way that you would certainly have no trouble completely understanding and agreeing to their tactics. (Sarcasm intentional).

I'm sure Gator would also argue that web sites do not ownrepparttar 132105 user's desktops. And after all,repparttar 132106 users did agree torepparttar 132107 terms and conditions by installing Gator, so they must want this "service", right?

I must admit I am just as guilty as everyone else, when it comes to reading terms and conditions. I mean, I just downloadedrepparttar 132108 silly thing and installed it. I did what everyone else does - I clicked throughrepparttar 132109 terms and conditions without a glance. For all I know, I could have signed away my soul.

This is a lesson we all have to learn - by clicking throughrepparttar 132110 terms and conditions we AGREE to them. By installing a program, we AGREE torepparttar 132111 terms and conditions. Sincerepparttar 132112 ONLY WAY to installrepparttar 132113 program is to click throughrepparttar 132114 screen containingrepparttar 132115 terms and conditions and clicking a button that says, "yes I read this and I understand that my soul now belongs to you and I am happy with it", well,repparttar 132116 companies are covered. Oh yes, and your soul is toast.

Are programs such as this ethical?

No. Not by any definition ofrepparttar 132117 word. This is unethical in terms thatrepparttar 132118 adult web sites have not even come close to. Programs like Gator are produced byrepparttar 132119 lowest form of pond scum - scum which is so dirty and filthy that even normal scum does not want to be associated with it. In fact, if this pond scum enters a pond, all ofrepparttar 132120 other scum will go to a different pond in a different country just so as not to sully their own names any more than they already have.

What should we do about it?

First, we all need to start reading terms and conditions. The web is based upon these poorly written, conniving and often one-sided documents. We must ALL begin to read them, understand them, and if we don't agree to them, then we must not installrepparttar 132121 program or userepparttar 132122 service.

Second, do as I have done. If you have any Spyware (programs which report your information back torepparttar 132123 home office) or Hijackware (programs like Gator), uninstall it immediately without any delay. Download Ad-Aware, run it and followrepparttar 132124 directions. This will allow you to safely remove all of this junk from your system fast.

Third, if you find out that advertisers are using Hijackware, then refuse to purchase their products. Be sure and send them an email to let them know why you are doing so. Be polite and direct.

Forth, if you likerepparttar 132125 Hijackware's functions but do not want to experience it's side effects, then look for an alternative. There are plenty of programs out there that can do what you want without being so unethical, obnoxious and downright, well, evil about it.

My final advice. Just say no. It's simple and it's easy. Don't use these kinds of programs and don't purchase from companies who use them. This isrepparttar 132126 only way that we will force this kind of scum out of business.

Additional Information

Ad Blocking http://www.internet-tips.net/Security/adblocking.htm Banner ads are everywhere, and they take up valuable bandwidth. In addition, they are ugly and distracting. Here's how to remove them.

Browser Helper Objects http://www.internet-tips.net/Browsers/bho.htm Is your system crashing? Perhaps you've unknowingly done what I did - added a Browser Helper Object.

Products - Ad-Aware http://www.internet-tips.net/Products/adaware.htm Want to remove spyware from your system? Ad-Aware is a quick and simple product which will help you do that safely.

Products - AdSubtract Pro http://www.internet-tips.net/Products/adsubtract.htm You want to eliminate banner ads and web bugs? AdSubtract Pro does an excellent job.

Products - Cookie Pal http://www.internet-tips.net/Products/cookiepal.htm Need to manage cookies as you surfrepparttar 132127 internet? Then you will not find a better program than Cookie Pal.

Tanstaaf - Spyware http://www.internet-tips.net/Tanstaafl/spyware.htm Be careful installing ad supported products - you may find that you every move onrepparttar 132128 internet is being watched!

Tanstaafl - Spyware - Alexa http://www.internet-tips.net/Tanstaafl/spyware_alexa.htm Alexa is one ofrepparttar 132129 more flagrant spyware products. My advice is to avoid it likerepparttar 132130 plague.

Tanstaafl - Juno http://www.internet-tips.net/Tanstaafl anstaafl_juno.htm Juno wants to turn your computer into a module of it's own supercomputer. Do you really want to let them?

Web Bugs http://www.internet-tips.net/Security/webbugs.htm Web bugs are little graphic images inserted into web pages, emails and other web-aware documents to allow companies to gather information about you without your knowledge.

Web Bugs Are Crawling Everywhere http://www.internet-tips.net/Security/webbugs_growing.htm You've heard about web bugs. They are little things designed to track your movements. Watch out - they are exploding all overrepparttar 132131 internet.



Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.


Security: Referrer

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

Thus, some clever webmasters have come up with alternate ways to allow their web sites to know that "you are you" as you move around on their site. A very sloppy method consists of adding a username and password on torepparttar end of each URL.

For example, suppose you log into a shopping site with a username and password like so:

URL: http://www.anyshoppingsite.com Username: innocent Password: naive

If you moved to a page called "toys.htm",repparttar 132102 URL might become:

http://www.anyshoppingsite.com?u=innocent?p=naive

You seerepparttar 132103 problem? Not yet? Okay, there is no problem as you move around from page to page withinrepparttar 132104 shopping site. The problem results when you surf to another page outside ofrepparttar 132105 shopping site.

What happens? Well, if you surfed to another site fromrepparttar 132106 page above, that URL complete withrepparttar 132107 username and password would be added torepparttar 132108 server log files. Guess what, your username and password just got recorded in plain text somewhere completely unexpected.

So what'srepparttar 132109 problem really? Well, let's say you went to your shopping site, logged in and made some purchases. To make it simple for you, your credit card numbers are stored onrepparttar 132110 site and you can retrieve them at any time after you are logged in. Everything seems safe because you need a username and password to get in.

Now, when you are finished shopping you are supposed to log out. This would removerepparttar 132111 username and password fromrepparttar 132112 referrer. However, you don't do this and instead surf to another site. You leave your username and password in that webmasters log files. If that webmaster happens to check his log files he could get your username and password, log into your account and get your credit card numbers.

Are you alarmed yet?

Okay, how do you stop this from happening? It's relatively easy, actually. You get a product called AdSubtract and install it on your computer. By default this product will removerepparttar 132113 referrer field as you surf around. You are now protected.

Oh yes, one side effect is you cannot just surf to that shopping site, sincerepparttar 132114 login information is removed by AdSubtract. Fortunately, AdSubtract allows you to configure exceptions. All you need to do is enterrepparttar 132115 "filters" section, add your shopping site and specify to not removerepparttar 132116 referrer.

And that, my friends, is how you protect yourself from one ofrepparttar 132117 internet's biggest gaping security holes. I hope this has been of use to you.



Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com


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