Symptoms of Spyware

Found on Spyware Warrior

From a great MSN community devoted to the fight against spyware -

1. Your usual homepage is changed and you have no idea why.
2. An unexpected toolbar appears and you don't know how it got there.
3. Your firewall alerts you to an unknown program or process trying to access the interent.
4. New shortcuts appear on your desktop or your task bar, or even your system tray that you didn't put there.
5. New entries appear in your favorites folder that you didn't put there.
6. Your computer starts acting sluggish and slow (this could be from a number of reasons however).
7. Excessive CPU usage. Each bit of malware has its own program, and, thus uses resources.
8.Excessive popup windows, unable to stop or close.
9. If you have AdAware or Spybot S&D, should either one open, and appear for a few seconds, then disappear(without scanning), more than likely, its avariant of CoolWeb infection.
Every time you do a search, you wind up at the same unsual, unknown website.
There is a new program, in the add/remove section of your control panel.
Your firewall, is mysteriously turned off, same with firewall.
Your unable to access any of these: task manager, regedit, MSCONFIG, they just pop up, and disappear.

TeMerc Internet Security Site

New Netsky worms change their stripes - Computerworld

New Netsky worms change their stripes - Computerworld

News Story by Paul Roberts

APRIL 06, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - New versions of the Netsky e-mail worm are spreading on the Internet and may be the work of a different author than previous editions of that worm, according to antivirus software companies.

Netsky.S appeared yesterday, and Netsky.T was detected today. They are the 19th and 20th editions of an e-mail virus that first appeared in February. Unlike earlier variants, the new Netsky strains open 'back doors' on machines they infect, prompting at least one antivirus expert to declare the worm the work of a different virus author.

MSBlast epidemic far larger than believed | CNET News.com

MSBlast epidemic far larger than believed | CNET News.com:

By Robert Lemos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-7349-5184439.html

Story last modified April 2, 2004, 5:02 PM PST

New data from Microsoft suggests that at least 8 million Windows computers have been infected by the MSBlast, or Blaster, worm since last August--many times more than previously thought.

The latest data comes from the software giant's ability to track the usage of an online tool that its engineers created to clean systems infected with the worm. Since the January release of the tool, more than 16 million of the systems that connected to Microsoft's Windows Update service were found to be infected with MSBlast and were offered a patch and the use of the disinfecting tool, the software giant told CNET News.com. During the same period, about 8 million systems actually called on Update to patch them and prevent reinfection and used the special tool to remove the worm.

Though Microsoft believes the total number of users infected by the worm is likely closer to the higher, 16 million, tally, the 8 million figure may provide a more solid indication of the minimum number of systems hit. The larger number may include systems counted more than once, as busy computers users declined to deal with the worm immediately, or canceled the process once it had begun, only to return to Windows Update later. Once those systems were disinfected and patched, however, they would not be re-counted. Microsoft did not track what systems, specifically, used the tool, just that it was used.

Meet the author of Spybot S&D in a PC World interview

PCWorld.com - Three Minutes With Spybot's Creator Patrick Kolla: "Patrick M. Kolla wrote Spybot Search & Destroy, a free download that is one of PC World's most recommended programs. Spybot is an anti-spyware scanner that finds and cleans out adware on your PC so your private information can't be transmitted. The software is so popular worldwide that user donations support Kolla's company, Safer Networking Limited, which he runs with part-time help from his father, Dr. Michael Kolla, and a group of computer science students called Team Spybot. Kolla, 26, lives in Germany 300 steps from the Safer Networking office that takes up a floor in his parents' home. An edited transcript of the February 23, 2004, conversation follows."