Adware, Spyware, and Security Updates: Isn't It Fun
- 2004.10.08
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If you so much as remotely glance at computer articles on the Internet, chances are you have an idea what spyware is. It's that nasty software that hides within your system to bring you twenty times the popups, a 30% reduction in system speed, and 500 times the headaches that Windows alone will give you.
But you use a Mac, right?
Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any spyware out there for the Mac right now. If you don't happen to use a Mac, or if you've got a PC as well, you might have a bit more trouble. It seems like almost everywhere you go on the Internet, your PC is susceptible to being infected by these nasty, virus-like programs that render your computer almost as useless as, well, Windows 1.1.
I'd love to tell you that there's an easy way to get rid of them, but unfortunately that's not the case. While there are tools like Ad-Aware and Spybot, they simply don't remove everything. I recently had a major spyware infection on my PC, and I had to actually start up in safe mode (similar to booting a Mac with the extensions off) and remove the infected files myself. And you'll just love to know that often they take the names of some "official-sounding" software. Something named WindUpdate.exe could be watching every move that you make, on your own computer.
But you've got a Macintosh, so you don't need to worry. Or do you?
Security Updates
Right now it seems that virus and spyware writers are more interested in people with unupdated Windows PCs. There's nothing they love to see more than someone running, say, Windows 98, with absolutely no security updates installed. And for many Windows users, that's the case.
On your Mac, however, OS 9 really has no security updates, and if that's what you're running, you shouldn't have to worry. Virus and spyware authors couldn't care less about the classic Mac OS these days, since it's only going to decrease in popularity as people replace their hardware with new G4 and G5 machines preloaded with OS X.
Mac OS X, however, has security updates, and I'd recommend that you install them. While the Mac user base is relatively small, there is a chance that spyware authors will realize the potential for spreading their evil software throughout the Macintosh-using community as well. Keeping up with security updates and system patches is a good idea.
Apple has released several security updates recently.
Cookies
Now, how about some cookies? Unfortunately, these kinds of cookies aren't edible, and they can be potentially harmful as well. If you have a PC or have a friend with a PC, run a Spybot scan of the system, and it's guaranteed to have at least one "nasty" cookie. Spybot lets you view privacy policies of the companies that distribute these, and I recommend that you read some of them.
While they're often relatively harmless, only giving out information that you supply them, occasionally they can be quite bad. Some of them collect any personally identifiable information that they can find and follow your every move on the Web. The bad part about all this is that it's not just PC users who are affected. Mac users can get these things, too, so it's a good idea once in a while to browse the contents of your cookies folder, deleting things relating to advertising, since this is what most frequently collects information.
Of course, it's pointless to waste every moment of your time trying to find and delete things that you're not even sure are present in the first place. If advertising companies want to see what websites I visit, let them. If they really care that I spent a half hour at the BBC News website, 25 minutes at Low End Mac, 45 minutes at eBay, and 35 minutes searching Google for tools to remove spyware and cookies, that's their business.
Editor's note: As an occasional Windows user, I've been very happy with the free adware and spyware scanner included with the latest beta of the Yahoo toolbar. The only sad thing is that you have to launch Internet Explorer to use it, as Yahoo doesn't yet support the more secure, more robust Mozilla family of browsers. dk
Recent Apple Archive articles
- iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
- Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
- Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
- Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
- More in the Apple Archive index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'Yikes!' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - The only Power Mac G4 with PCI graphics was built on a modified G3 motherboard.
- Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
- November 21 in LEM history: 00: OS upgrades, downgrades - AltiVec vs. Pentium III - 01: Saved by the clones - Computer of the future - 02: Apple Education: Let's get to it - 03: Panther lets Macs and PCs work together, - Lombard SCSI bug - 05: 3 survivors from the 1970s - Real world battery life inadequate - Windows to Mac file transfer with Zip disks - $99 alternative to Microsoft Office - 06: Parallels 1.0 far more polished than beta
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Just Right: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear MacBooks, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20. Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
- Virtualization Shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20. Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
- Apple Caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes Videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19. Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19. Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19. Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- Anticipating Macworld: Nehalem, Snow Leopard, and Updated Desktops, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.18. Intel's Core i7 CPU has to make it way into the next Mac Pro, nVidia GeForce graphics will drive the iMac and Mac mini, and 'Snow Tiger' will unleash the animal within.
- Love My Refurb MacBook Pro, Eudora Forever, and the Lightest AA Batteries, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.18. Also questions about nVidia GeForce 8600 problems in earlier MacBook Pro models and importing Eudora mailboxes into Eudora successors.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18. Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18. New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17. Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- More deals in our archive.
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