"Clams Canino" wrote in message
ink.net...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
news:356Yg.3062

To infiltrate and then what? Call home with what info it finds?


Most spyware is benign and just tracks marketing preferences so as to spam
you better. Dangerous spyware can indeed phone home vital info you type
in, so as to rob you.

I've never seen a single thing come to me via Ebay. It's usually those
"freeware" sites that come complete with "free spyware" added in. That's
why I specified a *safe* place for whatshisname to download DVDShrink3.2.

The best way to be safe is to download nothing, past that, be SURE of your
source for "freeware".
The best source for getting spyware added is the "free anti-spyware"
sites.
etc....

-W


Question for you computer experts:

How safe is it to buy something on-line with a credit card using the
vendor's "secure" encrypted ordering page?

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Clams Canino" wrote in message
ink.net...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
news:356Yg.3062

To infiltrate and then what? Call home with what info it finds?


Most spyware is benign and just tracks marketing preferences so as to
spam
you better. Dangerous spyware can indeed phone home vital info you type
in, so as to rob you.

I've never seen a single thing come to me via Ebay. It's usually those
"freeware" sites that come complete with "free spyware" added in. That's
why I specified a *safe* place for whatshisname to download DVDShrink3.2.

The best way to be safe is to download nothing, past that, be SURE of
your
source for "freeware".
The best source for getting spyware added is the "free anti-spyware"
sites.
etc....

-W


Question for you computer experts:

How safe is it to buy something on-line with a credit card using the
vendor's "secure" encrypted ordering page?

Eisboch


Been doing it for 6 years without a problem. But, go to www.visa.com and
sign up for the "Verified By Visa" thing. And do NOT use your debit card,
ever, for an online purchase.

If you browser is showing the lock on that web site then that means that the
all the exchanges between you and the web site are encrypted. It is not a
completely foolproof encryption but nobody outside of places like nsa have
got the computer horsepower to break it. Plus they would have to intercept
your actual traffic to even begin and the comm companies have got the major
routing nodes and lines pretty well locked down.

You do have some vulnerability in that you are assuming that the other party
has taken the effort to secure their site and servers. This is not likely
to be a problem with big companies like amazon, ebay, walmart, etc. But mom
and pop operations that have decided to do their own servers may not be so
good. Usually you can tell if the store is doing their own thing or buying
web services form a big web server shop.

I once received an invitation to list our vacation rental propery on a new
site for free. I went to it and signed up to get an account. After I
snooped around a while I realized that they had left access to their
vacation site user id/password file open on their server. There along with
everyone else was my new id and password to get on their site. I downloaded
it and emailed them a copy suggesting they clean it up.

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Clams Canino" wrote in message
ink.net...

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
news:356Yg.3062

To infiltrate and then what? Call home with what info it finds?


Most spyware is benign and just tracks marketing preferences so as to
spam
you better. Dangerous spyware can indeed phone home vital info you type
in, so as to rob you.

I've never seen a single thing come to me via Ebay. It's usually those
"freeware" sites that come complete with "free spyware" added in. That's
why I specified a *safe* place for whatshisname to download DVDShrink3.2.

The best way to be safe is to download nothing, past that, be SURE of
your
source for "freeware".
The best source for getting spyware added is the "free anti-spyware"
sites.
etc....

-W


Question for you computer experts:

How safe is it to buy something on-line with a credit card using the
vendor's "secure" encrypted ordering page?

Eisboch

"James" wrote in message
link.net...
If you browser is showing the lock on that web site then that means that
the all the exchanges between you and the web site are encrypted. It is
not a completely foolproof encryption but nobody outside of places like
nsa have got the computer horsepower to break it. Plus they would have to
intercept your actual traffic to even begin and the comm companies have
got the major routing nodes and lines pretty well locked down.

I was wondering about keystroke loggers. I don't recall, but it might've
been Eisboch who said he had no need for a firewall that monitored outbound
nasties because he'd never been infected with anything nasty.

Yet.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...

I was wondering about keystroke loggers. I don't recall, but it might've
been Eisboch who said he had no need for a firewall that monitored
outbound nasties because he'd never been infected with anything nasty.

Yet.


Yup. That was me. And 4 days after I said it my computer at home picked up
some kind of spyware thing. I keep getting pop-ups trying to sell me
everything from cars to vacations to dates with beautiful, single women.
It's not porn crap or anything ... just annoying junk. I went to
Microsofts's Security Website and did an on-line scan and fix doober. It
found and corrected a worm, but there was one file it said it could not fix.
The computer ran ok for a while, then the stupid pop-ups started all over
again. I adjusted the pop-up blocker to prevent *any* pop-ups, but they
still come through.

I'll take it to a computer shop and let them clean it up.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:
"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
I was wondering about keystroke loggers. I don't recall, but it might've
been Eisboch who said he had no need for a firewall that monitored
outbound nasties because he'd never been infected with anything nasty.

Yet.


Yup. That was me. And 4 days after I said it my computer at home picked up
some kind of spyware thing. I keep getting pop-ups trying to sell me
everything from cars to vacations to dates with beautiful, single women.
It's not porn crap or anything ... just annoying junk. I went to
Microsofts's Security Website and did an on-line scan and fix doober. It
found and corrected a worm, but there was one file it said it could not fix.
The computer ran ok for a while, then the stupid pop-ups started all over
again. I adjusted the pop-up blocker to prevent *any* pop-ups, but they
still come through.

I'll take it to a computer shop and let them clean it up.

Eisboch



I had a similar worm at work, and it was a bitch, because it reinstalls
itself every time you reboot. It started in the receptionist's
computer and worked it's way into the Network.

Spybot, Windows Defender or AdAware were not ability to delete the worm.
Our contracted computer "experts", tried for a month to get rid of the
worm without success.

I used HiJackThis and the experts at
http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/ to determine what was causing the
problem and how to correct it.

I found an unusual file in the start up directory. It was a legitimate
Windows file name, but was really the worm. The exe file would credit a
random and different exe file every time it would start up. In the
receptionist's computer It had created so many new files that there was
over 3000 processes running in the background.

I had to start up in the safe mode manually delete the file and the
start up lines in the registry. Hopefully your computer shop will spend
the time to verify each and every item involved in the windows start up
to make sure the file is actually a legitimate file.

I used HiJackThis

http://www.download.com/HijackThis/3...-10379544.html

to review the registry for start up items and any other methods used by
spyware to take over your computer.

"HijackThis lists the contents of key areas of the Registry and hard
drive--areas that are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers.
The program is continually updated to detect and remove new hijacks. It
does not target specific programs and URLs, only the methods used by
hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives
are imminent, and unless you're sure about what you're doing, you always
should consult with knowledgable folks before deleting anything. "

from Download.com

..

"Eisboch" wrote:


Question for you computer experts:

How safe is it to buy something on-line with a credit card using the
vendor's "secure" encrypted ordering page?

Eisboch



"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:


Been doing it for 6 years without a problem. But, go to www.visa.com and
sign up for the "Verified By Visa" thing. And do NOT use your debit card,
ever, for an online purchase.



"James" wrote in message
link.net...


If you browser is showing the lock on that web site then that means that
the all the exchanges between you and the web site are encrypted. It is
not a completely foolproof encryption but nobody outside of places like
nsa have got the computer horsepower to break it. Plus they would have to
intercept your actual traffic to even begin and the comm companies have
got the major routing nodes and lines pretty well locked down.



Thanks. I've also done it for years without any problems so far but as a
precaution I always use the same credit card that I specifically asked to
have only a $1000 dollar limit on. I figured that way my liability, if any,
would be limited if someone was able to get the info.

Eisboch

Eisboch wrote:
"Eisboch" wrote:


Question for you computer experts:

How safe is it to buy something on-line with a credit card using the
vendor's "secure" encrypted ordering page?

Eisboch



"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:

Been doing it for 6 years without a problem. But, go to www.visa.com and
sign up for the "Verified By Visa" thing. And do NOT use your debit card,
ever, for an online purchase.



"James" wrote in message
link.net...


If you browser is showing the lock on that web site then that means that
the all the exchanges between you and the web site are encrypted. It is
not a completely foolproof encryption but nobody outside of places like
nsa have got the computer horsepower to break it. Plus they would have to
intercept your actual traffic to even begin and the comm companies have
got the major routing nodes and lines pretty well locked down.



Thanks. I've also done it for years without any problems so far but as a
precaution I always use the same credit card that I specifically asked to
have only a $1000 dollar limit on. I figured that way my liability, if any,
would be limited if someone was able to get the info.

Eisboch


I think your legal liability for a stolen credit card is $50, but I don
't believe any of the major credit card companies actually hold you
responsible for the $50.

I had someone write $2700 of credit card "checks" to pay off another
credit card (which was probably a stolen credit card), and they
immediately wrote off the total amount. I also had a $8000 card appear
on my card, from Turkey. They wrote that off without any questions.

I had Citibank Security call one day because someone in a town close by
had made 7 charges at the exact same gas station during a one hour
period. I told them they were not mine, and they wrote all of them off.

All of these charges occurred in the same month, so somehow someone got
my credit card number and was using it. I immediately purchased a
shredder and shred anything with any personal info on it. Since I
started using the shredder, I have not had any problems. According to
the credit card company, trash hopping is a common way to get credit
card numbers and is much easier than cracking a secure web site.

"Reginald P. Smithers III" wrote in message
...


I think your legal liability for a stolen credit card is $50, but I don 't
believe any of the major credit card companies actually hold you
responsible for the $50.

I had someone write $2700 of credit card "checks" to pay off another
credit card (which was probably a stolen credit card), and they
immediately wrote off the total amount. I also had a $8000 card appear on
my card, from Turkey. They wrote that off without any questions.

I had Citibank Security call one day because someone in a town close by
had made 7 charges at the exact same gas station during a one hour period.
I told them they were not mine, and they wrote all of them off.

All of these charges occurred in the same month, so somehow someone got my
credit card number and was using it. I immediately purchased a shredder
and shred anything with any personal info on it. Since I started using
the shredder, I have not had any problems. According to the credit card
company, trash hopping is a common way to get credit card numbers and is
much easier than cracking a secure web site.



I had that happen once with a Discover card. We were home in MA and
Discover called me one Saturday morning asking me if I was doing a lot of
shopping somewhere in Florida using the card. They asked to to verify that
I had the card in my possession, which I did. Someone, somehow had made a
counterfeit card with my account number on it and was having a ball to the
tune of $3,400 in one morning before Discover decided to verify the charges.
It's not known how they got my account number, since I very rarely used that
card.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...
"Eisboch" wrote:


Question for you computer experts:

How safe is it to buy something on-line with a credit card using the
vendor's "secure" encrypted ordering page?

Eisboch



"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:


Been doing it for 6 years without a problem. But, go to www.visa.com and
sign up for the "Verified By Visa" thing. And do NOT use your debit card,
ever, for an online purchase.



"James" wrote in message
link.net...


If you browser is showing the lock on that web site then that means that
the all the exchanges between you and the web site are encrypted. It is
not a completely foolproof encryption but nobody outside of places like
nsa have got the computer horsepower to break it. Plus they would have
to intercept your actual traffic to even begin and the comm companies
have got the major routing nodes and lines pretty well locked down.



Thanks. I've also done it for years without any problems so far but as a
precaution I always use the same credit card that I specifically asked to
have only a $1000 dollar limit on. I figured that way my liability, if
any, would be limited if someone was able to get the info.

Eisboch


You can ask for some one time use numbers from the CC company for just this
kind of shopping.