Scumware, plain and simple.

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

One of my users got hit with spyware today. It seems they went to a website that used either an ActiveX or popup javascript to drop an .exe file in their Temp folder at 8:59AM. This .exe then went to work and by 10AM his PC was infected with eZula, eXact search, WhenUsearch, MaxSpeed, Bargain Buddy, and about 10 other spyware/adware programs. I was able to get it clean after a few hours of work, I think, thanks to a combination of a lot of Googling, AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and the background info provided by TrendMicro on the original culprit, WinWildApp, which in turn helped me find the file and process that was restarting itself and downloading new stuff as soon as I tried to put it back on the internet!

Now I have to figure out what IE or other setting let this f#$%^r get downloaded in the first place, and how that setting got overlooked or changed. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper!

By the way, the fact that one of the very first popup ads these wonderful little programs brought up on his PC was a warning that he had been infected with spyware and a link to a cleaner made me even angrier!

Share with your friends!
LinkedInBlueskyMastodonThreadsRedditBuffer

Similar Posts

  • Talking Google

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    Did we really need another IM service? Of all the many things Google could build with all the IPO money they’ve gotten recently is this really one of the things that should be high on the list? Are they in cahoots with the makers of Trillian, who’s free version won’t work with the Jabber protocol,…

  • The number one rule

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Everyone knows what the number one rule of the helpdesk is. Users lie. We all accept that as truth, we all have plenty of stories about catching users in a lie, and I think even our users find it completely acceptable to lie to the helpdesk. But why? What’s the point? Seriously, if we all…

  • OPML Editor

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I downloaded and played around a bit with Dave’s OPML Editor last night because I thought I might have use for an online outliner. You can see the result here. I think it’s a decent tool, and useful for a lot of things, but I’m not sure it’s the right tool for what I want…

  • SPY Act

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    Get the full analysis on the SPY Act from the fine folks at Spyware Info in today’s newsletter. As usual with federal legislation, it’s a mixed bag. Tags: spyware legislation Follow these topics: Uncategorized

  • Wedding pic

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    Mt wife has posted a picture of the two of us from her brother’s wedding last weekend. So if you wonder what I look like “all gussied up”, there ya’ go! Follow these topics: Uncategorized

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)