Ad-aware from lavasoft, may have spyware!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gerry O
  • Start date Start date
Yeah sounds weird how you would blame spyware, when it didn't detect
any. I know that ad-aware caused it.
Click to expand...

Then please provide proof. I have used adaware for years and it has
indeed been a lifesaver, and I have encountered no problems from it
whatsoever.

It sounds like nothing more than sour grapes to me. Or a rumor-monger.
 
In fact you say "Yes", Aaron.. Chuck says the same... the way I read
it. Now while AV programs show this behavior because they see the other
program's definitions in memory as active viruses, IMO targetting other
Anti-Spyware programs is a completely different matter!
Click to expand...

That's not the only way, they foul up, they certainly don't have to be in
memory for false positives to occur. HJT is detected as a virus by Dr
Web, even when HJT is not active. And how about some of the heurtistics
based on behaviour that cause false positives?

But all this besides the point....
And then the "not so geeky "Geeks" come in :-D


Wow, given the fact that my (FREE!) introduction to packet sniffing is
downloaded hundreds of times each month, there must be an awful lot of
geeks around.
Click to expand...

Compared to the millions of people who use computers that's just a drop
of water in the whole deep ocean. But let's not quibble about what a geek
means.


IMHO, packet sniffing is not so much a matter of being
"geeky", but more a matter of people who want to be sure about what
they heard, read or possibly even think they themselves encountered...
and there are those who want to do just that!
Click to expand...

You can call it whatever you want, and I certainly think people should
learn more, but millions more don't have the time, energy or motivation
to learn how to. It's nice that people like you know how to of course.

Chuck, you wrote:

<quote>In any case, even the slightest hint that the allegations were
true
would unlikely come as a whimper in the form of an "I read some guy
say somewhere" type of revelation. Those kinds of "informational"
posts raise my crap defenses. </quote>

No, it is presented as a "fact", as a "truth"... and so far for these
kind of allegations (also for other programs in the anti-spyware tools
section) have proved to be false. Researching these things takes a
considerable amount of time <snip>
Click to expand...

Wow, sure doesn't sound easy. You sure it doesn't need a geek to
investigate? :)

As far as I can see, nobody even thinks the original poster is doing
anything but trolling. It's just a discussion here, though given the way
how this thread is turning, I have decided to stop posting in here, lest
it erupts into flames.

Which is exactly what the troll wants. I bet.


Dick
Click to expand...



Aaron (my email is not munged!)
 
I have used ad-aware from lavasoft.com for awhile on my computer now
but have recently noticed that it causes my computer to lockup, even
when I'm not running it. It also causes me to get an error in IE that
shuts IE down. I also read a post, where someone said that it acts
like spyware itself because it reads your drive and sends the
information back to the swedish guy that makes the software and that
he doesn't have a swedish domain (.se) but only a german domain (.de)
because he's doing some fishy stuff with users computers. I tend to
not trust companies outside the US because that's where all the
trojans, viruses, and other bad stuff come from. Has anyone else had
simillar problems.

Gerry
Click to expand...

I have never had a problem with Ad-Aware.
As additional security, I do not use IE because it is a pitiful
example of programming, known the world over for it's security flaws.

I always double-check American software for spyware, because that is
where most trojans, viruses, and other bad stuff come from.

Cheers,
 
On 28 Dec 2003 11:38:21 +0800

Aaron> This one appears to be a half truth.
Aaron>
Aaron> http://www.coast-info.org/lavaresign.htm

What's half-truthful about it? I don't see anything there backing up
the assertion that they were "thrown out," as it talks about them
accepting Lavasoft's *resignation* and really doesn't give any hard
facts about the situation.

Unless someone can read between the lines for me.

--
Chuck Mattsen <[email protected]>
(Remove CLOTHING before replying)

Random Thought/Quote For This Message:
The more you say, the less people remember.
 
As "Sumairp" wrote, it's a bit rich to see complaints regarding trojans,
viruses etc coming from the USA.

The original poster seems to have forgotten that there is at least one
American virus creator currently languishing in jail as a guest of the
American Government. He also neglects to mention that the vast majority of
spyware originates from his country and that this is the source of the a
great proportion of the spam from which e-mail users throughout the world
suffer. It is estimated that 80% of the spam received in the European Union
originates from 17 operators in the state of Florida, which has no effective
state law to deal with the situation.

I have heard nothing whatever from any reputable source which supports the
allegations made about Ad-Aware. I, for one, would never be without it.

Phil
 
Hi,

Those of you who know me from the early days of spyware, know that I
have had my issues with Lavasoft. Having said that, I really have to
jump into their defense. As you also may know I hate it when some joker
puts information on the WWW which could ruin the name of a perfectly
good piece of software.

That seems to be happening here. Just as the rest of the anti-spyware
community I use both programs and in none of these tools I have found
the slightest proof for any such allegations. In cases such as this I
always ask for a very recent packet sniffer capture file of such
actions... most of the time that settles the discussion.

As far as I am concerned, AdAware is still in my toolbox!

The "COAST" issue is very well covered in our forum's thread at:

http://www.hazeleger.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=PrSpy;action=display
;num=1071586556

as far as I'm concerned we should leave it for what it is and continue
with the "WASP" (War Against Spying Programs").

Regards to all,
Dick Hazeleger
"The Hare's Lair"
www.hazeleger.net
 
On 28 Dec 2003 13:24:00 GMT

H.M.A.> That seems to be happening here. Just as the rest of the
H.M.A.> anti-spyware community I use both programs and in none of
H.M.A.> these tools I have found the slightest proof for any such
H.M.A.> allegations. In cases such as this I always ask for a very
H.M.A.> recent packet sniffer capture file of such actions... most of
H.M.A.> the time that settles the discussion.

I would think -- though I may be wrong (there's always a first time :-)
-- that the various anti-spyware applications would be monitoring the
other, similar applications just as diligently as they do the more
run-of-the-mill software.

No?

In any case, even the slightest hint that the allegations were true
would unlikely come as a whimper in the form of an "I read some guy
say somewhere" type of revelation. Those kinds of "informational"
posts raise my crap defenses.

--
Chuck Mattsen <[email protected]>
(Remove CLOTHING before replying)

Random Thought/Quote For This Message:
There is always a way.
 
On 28 Dec 2003 14:38:00 +0800

Aaron> [email protected]:
Aaron>
Aaron> > I would think -- though I may be wrong (there's always a first time :-)
Aaron> > -- that the various anti-spyware applications would be monitoring the
Aaron> > other, similar applications just as diligently as they do the more
Aaron> > run-of-the-mill software.
Aaron> >
Aaron> > No?
Aaron>
Aaron> No. The problem is whenever, an antivirus, calls another
Aaron> antivirus , a virus , 99% of the time it's a false positive
Aaron> due to it detecting some signature in the database or in terms
Aaron> of behaviour. Eg HJT is detected as suspicious by a few
Aaron> antiviruses.

Actually, I didn't state my assumption clearly; what I meant was that
the various anti-spyware application *developers* (who *are* geeks :-)
would be monitoring the other anti-spyware applications for suspicious
activity just as diligently. You're quite correct that there can be a
lot of false positives when multiple A-S apps are run (and I think
it's Spybot that alerts the user to that possibility when it detects
Ad-aware installations).

--
Chuck Mattsen <[email protected]>
(Remove CLOTHING before replying)

Random Thought/Quote For This Message:
Meditation is not what you think.
 
All the above taken as read, there is still no support for the OP's
(GerryO's) assertions that AdAware is "doing some fishy stuff with
user's computers", that "it acts like spyware itself because it reads
your drive and sends the information back", and the *implication* that
it (AdAware) contains a trojan, virus or "other bad stuff"
(whatever?).
Put up or shut up Gerry!
Your computer and IE problems sound more like your own ineptitude than
some imagined conspiracy theory.

KeithS
 
Yeah sounds weird how you would blame spyware, when it didn't detect
any. I know that ad-aware caused it.
Click to expand...

Now make up your mind. Did it cause your system to crash or did it run a
check and not detect any spyware? And how do you "know" that ad-aware
and not some remaining dreg of a previously-removed spyware application
caused the crash?
Also I just read that
Click to expand...

You seem to have "read" a lot of things that nobody else here has ever
heard of.
...Lavasoft was thrown out of COAST (Consortium of Anti-Spyware
Technology Vendors) because they have issues of actually being spyware
themselves.
Click to expand...

It isn't news that Lavasoft quit COAST. Your interpretation of their
reasons is, as with all your other accusations, unique and unattributed.
 
On 28 Dec 2003 11:38:21 +0800

Aaron> This one appears to be a half truth.
Aaron>
Aaron> http://www.coast-info.org/lavaresign.htm

What's half-truthful about it? I don't see anything there backing up
the assertion that they were "thrown out," as it talks about them
accepting Lavasoft's *resignation* and really doesn't give any hard
facts about the situation.

Unless someone can read between the lines for me.
Click to expand...

Perhaps Lavasoft should be allowed to explain its actions. See:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

and click on "News".
 
Aaron said:
No. The problem is whenever, an antivirus, calls another antivirus ,
a virus , 99% of the time it's a false positive due to it detecting
some signature in the database or in terms of behaviour. Eg HJT is
detected as suspicious by a few antiviruses.
Click to expand...

In fact you say "Yes", Aaron.. Chuck says the same... the way I read
it. Now while AV programs show this behavior because they see the other
program's definitions in memory as active viruses, IMO targetting other
Anti-Spyware programs is a completely different matter!
The same thing has happened for antispyware software. There was a
stink about Pest Patrol (or perhaps it was something else..I don't
really remember) detecting stuff like Spybot as Ad-aware. It's very
hard for normal users to figure out whether it's really a false
positive, or really spyware.
Click to expand...

And then the "not so geeky "Geeks" come in :-D
Short of using a packet sniffer that is. But that's for geeks :)
Click to expand...

Wow, given the fact that my (FREE!) introduction to packet sniffing is
downloaded hundreds of times each month, there must be an awful lot of
geeks around. IMHO, packet sniffing is not so much a matter of being
"geeky", but more a matter of people who want to be sure about what
they heard, read or possibly even think they themselves encountered...
and there are those who want to do just that!

Chuck, you wrote:

<quote>In any case, even the slightest hint that the allegations were
true
would unlikely come as a whimper in the form of an "I read some guy
say somewhere" type of revelation. Those kinds of "informational"
posts raise my crap defenses. </quote>

No, it is presented as a "fact", as a "truth"... and so far for these
kind of allegations (also for other programs in the anti-spyware tools
section) have proved to be false. Researching these things takes a
considerable amount of time, may ruin a good tool's name and may leave
us with lesser and lesser tools to work with... if not researched
properly. However we all can help cutting off the start of these "urban
legends" by asking immediately for evidence... not circumstatial like
"my traffic indicator show a huge amount of outgoing traffic when I
ran product "ABCDE"" but real, rock stable evidence... most of the time
that will end it (all)... pardon the pun!

Dick
 
Sietse said:
How could I possibly take it the wrong way? :)

Anyway, the nice ascii I nicked.
But then, you could expect that from someone from outside the USA. ;-)
Click to expand...

No freeware there........

--
lsj7

It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you
can fool enough of them to rule a large country.
________will durant
 
Sietse said:
I'm sure you heard it before, but you have a nice smile yourself.

LOL
Click to expand...

No freeware there...




--
lsj7

It may be true that you can't fool all the people all the time, but you
can fool enough of them to rule a large country.
________will durant
 
Aaron said:
, >> a virus , 99% of the time it's a false positive due to it
detecting >> some signature in the database or in terms of behaviour.
Eg HJT is >> detected as suspicious by a few antiviruses.

That's not the only way, they foul up, they certainly don't have to
be in memory for false positives to occur. HJT is detected as a virus
by Dr Web, even when HJT is not active. And how about some of the
heurtistics based on behaviour that cause false positives?

But all this besides the point....


Compared to the millions of people who use computers that's just a
drop of water in the whole deep ocean. But let's not quibble about
what a geek means.


IMHO, packet sniffing is not so much a matter of being

You can call it whatever you want, and I certainly think people
should learn more, but millions more don't have the time, energy or
motivation to learn how to. It's nice that people like you know how
to of course.



Wow, sure doesn't sound easy. You sure it doesn't need a geek to
investigate? :)

As far as I can see, nobody even thinks the original poster is doing
anything but trolling. It's just a discussion here, though given the
way how this thread is turning, I have decided to stop posting in
here, lest it erupts into flames.

Which is exactly what the troll wants. I bet.






Aaron (my email is not munged!)
Click to expand...

Hi Aaron

Well, it seems GerryO is also active (at least according to a post
there) in alt.privacy.spyware. Whether this is trolling or an attempt
to discredit AdAware is yet to be seen; however the thousands of people
who use these tools know better (I hope!).

The time issue in researching this kind of behavior, Aaron, is not a
matter of "geekyness" (you can't stop, can you <LOL>) but of waiting
for the conditions, under which this should occur, to happen, and then
to collect the data, iow: you could be collecting data for quite a long
time (up to infinity if it never happens).

In one thing we do agree: People should learn more! But people want to
play games, do their eMail, Surf, whatever... they don't want to use
their brain to learn how to determine whether a program is "calling
home", they don't even read EULAs in which the 'spying part' of the
program they're about to install is described in so much detail that
even a certain person who cannot count to three (according to some)
would get the picture!!! Ignorance and disinterest are far more
dangerous than the lack of time, energy etc.

Ask YoKenny, Sponge, JavaCool, Siljaline, Merijn, and all the others
who come to the rescue when someone cries again "help, I've been
'spywared'" how much time and energy it costs THEM!!! Not to mention
those who do (or seem to do) this full time (LS, PeppyMK, etc.!)

Regards, and once again a "Happy, spyware free, 2004 wished to all
readers, and a THANK YOU to those mentioned in the previous paragraph,
without their help it would be virtually impossible to even come close
to having a spyware-free computer... Perhaps something to think about...

Dick
 
Then please provide proof. I have used adaware for years and it has
indeed been a lifesaver, and I have encountered no problems from it
whatsoever.
Click to expand...
It sounds like nothing more than sour grapes to me. Or a rumor-monger.
Click to expand...

Or another example of spyware vendors posting dis-information ?

Ever seen posts here by Gerry O here before ? Thought not. His
"agenda" is pretty blatant.

Still, it helps more people to be aware of an excellent anti-spyware
product.

Regards, John.
 
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