Saturday, April 23, 2005
Adware/spyware/malware crap
I still haven't registered for tagboard account, which is why Lase is rolling her eyes now. Yadda yadda yadda...Editus: Tagboard down again, huh? I really wish there's another service available. There's this one DIY tagboard I saw, the only problem was that you need to have your own php-enabled webserver. And my webserver ain't that...Oh, if you don't already noticed it, I've updated my links (now calls it "crack houses") and one of them is Pablo's blog. Why don'tcha visit there and mess it up a litte? She won't mind.
hmm, i guess exam's over for MMU people. G'luck to Lase on surviving the cuti. Us UiTM people got it worse than you. 3 months. But hey, can't make brain pudding without killing a few grey matter, eh?
Oh yeah, been looking into hello.com and the ability to put pictures into blogger. My question is, it's not picture-dump site like others? Huh?
I've been thinking lately (an amazing feat nowadays, even for me) about an issue that's supposedly unrelated, but is very much intertwined.
It began when I was repairing my homie's PC. It was his second PC's turn for my consultation. This time it's worse: adware and spyware infestation. The PC was so bloated with malware we had to soft-reset twice to be able to launch scandisk.
I asked him, "did you go surf porn sites? Did you install weird programs? Did you open up weird attachments?" Of course, all no. I believe him. Even if he does do it, I'm not gonna sell out my homie. Nevermind about that la. Oh, he uses dial-up.
I'm not questioning my buddy's internet skills. Granted, He's luckier than any other horny bloke who's cluesless about PC protection. But what I do question in a general way is about Malaysian's awareness about PC security.
I'm not gonna go preaching on do's and dont's of PC security. All I can say are two things: Adaware and Spybot. It comes to the point that I think adware/spyware/malware crap are a more of a threat than virus threats. Yeah yeah, I don't have a proof to support opinions.
The bottom line is, Malaysians surf. And they don't pay attention to security. Fine. Maybe they need people to teach them how to surf safely. Maybe they need to experience it firsthand. Hell, I don't know shit.
Which brings me to another unrelated item. Malaysia has the lowest rate of broadband penetration in Asia. The government wants to push broadband usage and closing the digital divide and all. We want the nation to be knowledge-based yadda yadda yadda.
I'm cool with it. Heck, I even try to promote people to broadband. But one thought hits me as I repair my homie's PC: ain't being on broadband makes you more vulnerable to attacks? Viruses of course, but what about the damned malware? I could imagine broadband-enabled PCs getting hijacked by the icky gooey crap that is adware like, all the time.
Of course, our tech-savvy minds jumps straight to the solution. "But of course, there's routers and firewalls. We could just install them and everything will be alright, luv." [/snotty upper class accent]. I want to say, even if there's firewalls and waterwalls and stone brick walls, if you don't know how to scan for adware, you're screwed. If you don't know to differentiate between "install now and get this crap!" and not installing, you're screwed. If you have a metal grill over your 24-hour open window and don't know how to use the grill (as well as the window), then you're screwed.
Yes, yes. It's up to us tech-savvy people to help them, to teach them. We should tell them to use this firewall. We should tell them to scan for viruses as well as spyware periodically. We should teach them not to click malicious links/sites/programs/buttons. We should teach them to watch out for this or that. We should teach them this, we should tell them that. Yadda yadda yadda.The beef here is that, do they listen? Do they learn?
Yeah, from what I've talked about, you could surmise that I'm getting sick and tired of being tech support. Actually, that is farther from the truth. I love being tech support. Only the closest family and friends seek me for tech support. I love dealing with PC crap (and laughing at what they did wrong). It's no matter about the tech support. It's about the people.
We tell them this, we teach them that. But it happens over and over again. They won't listen. And imagine that fiasco when we go broadband-enabled.
Jeez, I guess I'm going nowhere with this, am I? Maybe I am getting tired of listening to malware crap. If it's an honest problem, I can deal with it. Botched OS? Hardware on the fritz? Cat shat on the motherboard? Rogue virus? I can deal with all that. But adware/spyware? That's the user's problem. You surfed there. You didn't take precaution. Yes, there's also drive-by downloads. You didn't scan your PC.
Here's one (of many) articles on how to prevent adware crap. Just google the rest.
Well, I bet I got on so many people's hate list after this. I talked about crap, and I don't have substantial proof to back up my bullshit. Just great.
But hey, I've laid down my beef with the world. What's said is said.
@syaoran: Easy solution - use linux ;)
Nowadays,I like to pretend to be dumb with computer. That way, nobody will nag me with petty computer problems. I've had my share of being a "free" consultant and techie.
Heck, If i get $1 from each person who asked me to "fix" their pc, I'd be a millionaire! (well, not quite, but you get the picture)
Not that I'm blamming over half of the internet-abled population for being an ass for not exercising the basic rule of web surfing.
The OS itself is not smart enough (OS with good AI is the future!). Not everyone like to sit infront of their pc, you know. Most of the time, they don't have any real choices because their work dictate them.
Sure, there might be 12345667 apps to scan and prevent adaware/malware but don't think the authors are dumb too. ;)
sorry for the long and nonsensical comment.
I guess, I'm still depressed about losing in UT2k4's tourney.
@everyone: Heh. >:D