Party installing viewpoint spyware?. WTF?.

[doublesnapper]

I only use my computer for poker and surfing and I have Zonealarm and all sorts of AV soft and today yahoo anty-spy caught some nasty thing called "viewpoint toolbar" that does all kind of nasty spying and things, according to the anti-spy?.

Is party spying on me or I caught that thing somewhere else?.

[AncientPC]

Something else.

[detroitplayer]

IIRC, you get some sort of viewpoint software when you download AOL instant messenger. However, I don't think it was called a "toolbar".

[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
I only use my computer for poker and surfing and I have Zonealarm and all sorts of AV soft and today yahoo anty-spy caught some nasty thing called "viewpoint toolbar" that does all kind of nasty spying and things, according to the anti-spy?.

Is party spying on me or I caught that thing somewhere else?.

[/ QUOTE ]
Think about this.

If you were Party, would you intentionally download something to your customers that would be recognized by common anti-spyware? They control the entire client program and can do anything they want without you detecting them. Why would they possibly resort to something so stupid?

And if they did it anyway, don't you think it would be all over the Zoo by now?

Looks like you surfed someplace you shouldn't have.

[BradleyT]

It was probably from a webpage.

No, you do not have to download anything from a page to get infected (damn Active-X controls).

[Sifmole]

This showed up on my computer yesterday as well --

Talking with my wife I think she clicked some MyPoints offer and that is how it got installed. Did you do something like this? did someone else in the house possibly do something like this?

[jedi]

[ QUOTE ]
It was probably from a webpage.

No, you do not have to download anything from a page to get infected (damn Active-X controls).

[/ QUOTE ]

It's for this reason that I turn Active-X off.

[AncientPC]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It was probably from a webpage.

No, you do not have to download anything from a page to get infected (damn Active-X controls).

[/ QUOTE ]

It's for this reason that I turn Active-X off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Does ActiveX even have a purpose? I remember IE introducing it a long time ago and the only time I hear about ActiveX is when they're patching it. I don't think any major sites actually use ActiveX applets either.

[direwolf5]

It's for this reason, and many others, that I don't use IE. Firefox is a much better alternative.

I prefer my browser to NOT be integrated with the OS.

[dfscott]

[ QUOTE ]
Does ActiveX even have a purpose? I remember IE introducing it a long time ago and the only time I hear about ActiveX is when they're patching it. I don't think any major sites actually use ActiveX applets either.

[/ QUOTE ]

ActiveX is the third (or so) name that MS gave to essentially the same technology (the first two were OLE Objects and COM Objects). The idea was that instead of having complex Web pages with lots of scripts and servlets behind 'em, you would just download a black box "control" that would do all the work. The advantage was that this control wouldn't be constrained by all the silly little limitations that java applets had to operate under. It could talk directly to the OS and/or the HD to get stuff done. Of course, the downside is that you are now forced to trust that it really does (and only does) whatever the author of the control says it does. Most people didn't like that idea, and Java began pushing ActiveX out.

Why do I know all this? Because in the early 90s, I bet my company on ActiveX (and MS) blowing Java away due to the increased functionality (and marketing muscle of MS). That's why I'm here playing poker with you guys instead of sipping martinis on Bill's yacht.

[lil_o]

You get that from downloading too much porn...

[BradleyT]

Go to Tools, Internet Options, Temporary Internet Files, Settings, View Objects. There's probably a couple of Active X controls in there.

Oh and while you're on the settings page, lower the amount of HD space used for temporary internet files. 75MB should be more than enough.

[moondogg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It was probably from a webpage.

No, you do not have to download anything from a page to get infected (damn Active-X controls).

[/ QUOTE ]

It's for this reason that I turn Active-X off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Does ActiveX even have a purpose? I remember IE introducing it a long time ago and the only time I hear about ActiveX is when they're patching it. I don't think any major sites actually use ActiveX applets either.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was Microsoft's attempt to replace the functionality of Java applets.

Like Java applets, they suck ass and are far more trouble than their worth. 99% of developers who use either ActiveX or Java in a webpage should be shot. IMHO.

[TobDog]

I get the Viewpoint upgrade on my computer from time to time, I run spayware and virus programs every night and it has never been picked up by either, if anyone knows what it does please elaborate. The AOL toolbar does get picked up by anti-spyware programs often, I uninstall it, I dont need it, I appreciate AOL would like to run and fix my computer with their software, but I think I'd rather let them fix people's who don't know how to plug in the modem.

TobDog

[mosta]

in a similar vein, I installed Process Guard after reading a thread or two here. apparently it's the deepest security and the last line of defense against keyloggers and some other nasty trojans and things. (it's also good to have some computer sophistication when trying to use it, which I don't, but I'm hoping I learn.) anyway, it regularly accuses party/skins of trying to "start" "install" (whatever the right word is) low-level global hooks, or something like that. well it stops them and then I can still play. as I understand hooks can have to do with keyloggers. I don't think party is keylogging my passwords. to take a stab it, I'd guess the hooks has to do with getting enough control of the computer to take and save a screenshot (of the desktop)--which party had been doing periodically as a countermeasure to bots (in case you missed the thread a couple months ago (which came up on whatever the bot software board is)). hmm, I didn't think I deleted it but now I can't find the one image that I caught. it was in the party or empire folder in a "temp" folder I think. anyway, don't know if they are still doing it or not. I guess I might be blocking them. I hope that doesn't make them suspicious.

[Baulucky]

[ QUOTE ]
n a similar vein, I installed Process Guard

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice Thread. Where can I get this Process Guard thingy?. I think that viewpoint is related to AIM. I uninstalled that AIM and had no more instances of viewpoint.

[BusterStacks]

the culprit is AOL instant messenger. End of thread.

[theTourne]

I installed PokerNow the other day, and it seems like Process Guard stops it from "modifying" something every 15 minutes (a little notification pops up in the corner of the screen).

Process Guard is great.

[RydenStoompala]

Firefox rules! if you're not using it, you're nuts.

[mosta]

I found about about processguard in this thread:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1462497&page=&view=&sb=5& o=&fpart=all&vc=1

look for richrf 's threads. if you're poor (insert own rationalization/ disclaimer), you can get a cracked version, if you google for those kinds of sites. I leave obervations on the irony of installing a version of core system security from a hacker site to the reader (just b/c I know it has been done).

[RollaJ]

[ QUOTE ]
You get that from downloading too much porn...

[/ QUOTE ]

There is no such thing, Ill let others explain why