Spyware no bar

3 AM on a Fridaynight. I’m tired and click a link to download an mp3. I get a popup screen that tells me that in order to use this service, I must install an ActiveX control. Yes or No. I click yes.

1 AM on a Sundaynight, I’m still trying to remove the oodles of spyware that wrecked my system, of which IST ist.bar is the main aggressor. Ad-aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, HijackThis and Microsoft’s new anti spyware software (beta) are all initially powerless.

But I think I’m in the clear now. How did I do it?

The IST software shows up in XP’s ‘add / remove software’ control panel. Duh.



four comments:

I had one of those things once, where I clicked “Yes” too quickly, and was alerted when my PC starter rattling as if it was close to dying. Same thing… tried to remove it manually for ages, and was just about to give up when… I found the XP restore option. Rolled it back to the day before. Worked a charm.
e – 31 January 2005 – 10:15

* chuckling in the not so funny yet amusing kind of a chuckling way *

I’d wagered you as a Firefox kinda girl, so maybe it’s time to switch?

(And now we wait for the first “buy a mac” posting)
Lars – 01 February 2005 – 00:39

I’m a power user, I use both. I generally have both MSIE and Firefox open at the same time. Helps with various logins/pw, etc.

Same with Macs / Windows. Always used both.
Caroline (link) – 01 February 2005 – 13:06

I’m tired and click a link to download an mp3. I get a popup screen that tells me that in order to use this service, I must install an ActiveX control. … I click yes.
Tch, tch!

You’ve got the correct range of tools, make sure to download+use the latest reference files on Spybot S&D and Ad-aware SE from within each program. Additionally, Ad-aware has a Full Scan option (as opposed to smart scan) to use when the need arises. HiJackThis is another vital tool (I’m less enamoured to the MS beta but I digress).

When using Hijackthis it can be cumbersome to check for each item via Google to learn which ones are vital Windows components, which’re malware (or malware posing as a vital Windows component, given away by its presence in the wrong folders etc) … great tool though. Latest version is v1.99.1 I believe, so make sure you use that.

Lastly, I’d strongly recommend you also use the following tool: CWShredder to get rid of variants of a certain prolific peice of malware. Available from intermute.com freely: http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshre…
Good luck.
Richard – 20 August 2005 – 17:12

31. January 2005 von Caroline
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