Re: Scumware knocks out 2 anti-spyware sites.

[YoKenny]

BoB wrote:
> From the Langa newsletter:
>
> According to the evidence, two of the most important
> Web sites in the battle against scumware have been
> pressured (for the moment) into taking down
> information on the insidious parasite **IEPlugin.**
> One of these sites is http://security.kolla.de , the
> people who bring you Spybot Search & Destroy. Their
> http://security.kolla.de/kbase.php?lang=en&sbi=spybot
> s&kbase=ieplugin page on IEPlugin has, for the
> present, disappeared altogether. The other site is
> Andrew Clover's http://doxdesk.com/ . On his
> http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/IEPlugin.html page on
> IEPlugin he now has only the short message, "IEPlugin
> is a parasite I can't tell you about, until I can get
> back to Germany and work out a legal response to its
> manufacturers. Sorry about that."
>
> http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#ieplugin
>
> BoB
> For the duration, my address is fake.

Get a good HOSTS file to stop this nasty site:
Blocking Unwanted Ads with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

[russ]

try here for Spybot-S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/

[Sweet Andy Licious]

russ wrote:
> try here for Spybot-S&D
> http://www.safer-networking.org/


Thanks
--
Andy


email: sweetandylicious at eml dot cc

[General Mailbox]

Greetings!
YoKenny, you mentioned about using a Host file. It made interesting
reading. I am wondering a few things about it though.
1) Does it do the same thing as other ad blockers like AdSubtract?
2) Does it do a better job at ad blocking?
3) Who maintains the list of sites to block?

I have found that in my WinME Windows folder, one hosts file and 22
hosts.xxx (x's from 001 to 022) and one hosts.20030721-232451.backup file.
Are all of these ok to delete so the host file downloaded from below site
can take their place? Strangely enough, checking a few of these hosts files
show the same thing in it. Why the redundancy?

# Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
# End of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
127.0.0.1 AdSubtract # Added by AdSubtract for auto-dial.
127.0.0.1 ie3.proxy.aol.com # Added by AdSubtract for AOL support.

I ask because the below site did not have instructions that I saw about what
to do with all the other hosts files, and before I delete original files in
the Windows folder, I wanted to know what to do.
Thank you in advance for your reply.
B.rgds,
Kevin

"YoKenny" <YKnot@home.invalid> wrote in message
news:Y5Ybb.68792$Ch2.49916@news02.bloor.is.net.cab le.rogers.com...
BoB wrote:
> From the Langa newsletter:
>
> According to the evidence, two of the most important
> Web sites in the battle against scumware have been
> pressured (for the moment) into taking down
> information on the insidious parasite **IEPlugin.**
> One of these sites is http://security.kolla.de , the
> people who bring you Spybot Search & Destroy. Their
> http://security.kolla.de/kbase.php?lang=en&sbi=spybot
> s&kbase=ieplugin page on IEPlugin has, for the
> present, disappeared altogether. The other site is
> Andrew Clover's http://doxdesk.com/ . On his
> http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/IEPlugin.html page on
> IEPlugin he now has only the short message, "IEPlugin
> is a parasite I can't tell you about, until I can get
> back to Germany and work out a legal response to its
> manufacturers. Sorry about that."
>
> http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#ieplugin
>
> BoB
> For the duration, my address is fake.

Get a good HOSTS file to stop this nasty site:
Blocking Unwanted Ads with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

[YoKenny]

Alan wrote:
> General Mailbox wrote:
>> Greetings!
>> YoKenny, you mentioned about using a Host file. It made interesting
>> reading. I am wondering a few things about it though.
>> 1) Does it do the same thing as other ad blockers like AdSubtract?
> It was not put there with ad blocking in mind, but *can* be used to
> try to effect the same sort of result.
>
>> 2) Does it do a better job at ad blocking?

> I'd have to say not, for a couple of reasons. It was never designed as
> blocker, so doesn't "run" all the time like an ad blocker does.

It does not "run" it just is.

> It has to be reloaded from disk every time you click a link.
> So in principle it's a terribly inefficient way doing it.

Once the browser is started then the file is cached and is very efficient.

> Also, it doesn't support
> wildcards or pattern matching or "smart" searching like some of the
> dedicated ad blockers do.

True.

>> 3) Who maintains the list of sites to block?

> Numerous sources, but they end up being pretty much the same lists.

18930 entries here.
http://asp.flaaten.dk/proxo/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=20

They overlap but do address different sites.
I use HOSTESS to manage and merge the different HOSTS file sources.
http://accs-net.com/hostess/

> Keeping such a list current is probably the biggest challenge.

Just like most software.

>> I have found that in my WinME Windows folder, one hosts file and 22
>> hosts.xxx (x's from 001 to 022) and one hosts.20030721-232451.backup
>> file. Are all of these ok to delete so the host file downloaded from
>> below site can take their place? Strangely enough, checking a few of
>> these hosts files show the same thing in it. Why the redundancy?
>
> They are probably updates of the same hosts source, that haven't been
> deleted. Point is that Windows can only use one hosts file - the one
> named "hosts", without any extension at all. So all the ones you
> mentioned will never get used by Windows. BUT, this is not to say that
> they don't belong to some 3rd party software.
>
>> # Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
>> # End of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
>> 127.0.0.1 AdSubtract # Added by AdSubtract for auto-dial.
>> 127.0.0.1 ie3.proxy.aol.com # Added by AdSubtract for AOL support.
>>
>> I ask because the below site did not have instructions that I saw
>> about what to do with all the other hosts files, and before I delete
>> original files in the Windows folder, I wanted to know what to do.
>> Thank you in advance for your reply.
>
> My own advice would be to go with a good proxy and firewall (free )
> that can do the job of hosts, do it much more efficiently, and provide
> many additional valuable services as well. As to deleting them, maybe
> you could try to move them to a temp folder for a while and see if any
> of the 3rd party stuff you run is affected.

[YoKenny]

General Mailbox wrote:
> Greetings!
> YoKenny, you mentioned about using a Host file. It made interesting
> reading. I am wondering a few things about it though.
> 1) Does it do the same thing as other ad blockers like AdSubtract?

Basically but it is free.

> 2) Does it do a better job at ad blocking?

Never used AdSubtract so can't comment.

> 3) Who maintains the list of sites to block?

Mike Burgess maintains it.

hpguru maintains this one.
http://asp.flaaten.dk/proxo/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=20

Ray Marron's Hostess page helps you manage them
http://accs-net.com/hostess/

> I have found that in my WinME Windows folder, one hosts file and 22
> hosts.xxx (x's from 001 to 022) and one hosts.20030721-232451.backup
> file. Are all of these ok to delete so the host file downloaded from
> below site can take their place? Strangely enough, checking a few of
> these hosts files show the same thing in it. Why the redundancy?

You can delete them as the only active one is the HOSTS file.
I don't use the SpyBot HOSTS file as it is not up to date.

> # Start of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
> # End of entries inserted by Spybot - Search & Destroy
> 127.0.0.1 AdSubtract # Added by AdSubtract for auto-dial.
> 127.0.0.1 ie3.proxy.aol.com # Added by AdSubtract for AOL support.

I guess AdSubtract acts like a proxy and adds these items.

> I ask because the below site did not have instructions that I saw
> about what to do with all the other hosts files, and before I delete
> original files in the Windows folder, I wanted to know what to do.
> Thank you in advance for your reply.

YW.

> B.rgds,
> Kevin
>
> "YoKenny" <YKnot@home.invalid> wrote in message
> news:Y5Ybb.68792$Ch2.49916@news02.bloor.is.net.cab le.rogers.com...
> BoB wrote:
>> From the Langa newsletter:
>>
>> According to the evidence, two of the most important
>> Web sites in the battle against scumware have been
>> pressured (for the moment) into taking down
>> information on the insidious parasite **IEPlugin.**
>> One of these sites is http://security.kolla.de , the
>> people who bring you Spybot Search & Destroy. Their
>> http://security.kolla.de/kbase.php?lang=en&sbi=spybot
>> s&kbase=ieplugin page on IEPlugin has, for the
>> present, disappeared altogether. The other site is
>> Andrew Clover's http://doxdesk.com/ . On his
>> http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/IEPlugin.html page on
>> IEPlugin he now has only the short message, "IEPlugin
>> is a parasite I can't tell you about, until I can get
>> back to Germany and work out a legal response to its
>> manufacturers. Sorry about that."
>>
>> http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm#ieplugin
>>
>> BoB
>> For the duration, my address is fake.
>
> Get a good HOSTS file to stop this nasty site:
> Blocking Unwanted Ads with a Hosts File
> http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm