Do you think this is wrong?

[blackhalo15]

Have you ever heard of CoolWebSearch? Well, if you haven't, it hijacks your browser, and sometimes has porn pop ups. Now, the law seems to be doing nothing about this. And I really don't think that's good... What if your kid gets on the computer and he views pornography due to the CoolWebSearch crap? Do you think it would be wrong, if someone made a worm, that wouldn't harm your computer, but it would search for the virus, and delete it, and if you don't have the virus, it would send itself to the people in your address book, and then delete itself. Or, if you did have the CoolWebSearch infection, the worm would delete it, and then send itself to the people in your address book, and then delete itself. Does this seem to you like a bad idea? Would it really slow down internet traffic since it would probably be small and wouldn't try to attack any websites?

[Karl Lenin]

Get used to the CAPITALISTIC society or start a revolution. I prefer the later.

[GrandAdmiral]

The porn is fine. It is legal to have porn pop ups on the net. The internet is not tailored for children so if your kids happen to run into objectionable material then thats their parents fault. For cinfecting people's computers with worms they should be burned at the stake. I'm sure if some hacker infected their system the hacker would be prosecuted so I don't see why they can get away with it. Problem is these aren't TV stations. The internet isn't supposed to be policed an any attempt to do so for your own interests and there would be no difference between the net and television.

[Turner]

SoBig? I think it was. . . someone tried to use that virus as an anti-virus, to search out and destroy that particular worm. It backfired pretty bad. I'm surprised it took this long for someone to try and do it.

Gotta be careful on the net. My son tried to go to www.whitehouse.com and it's a porn site.

Hell, even the google toolbar is spyware. But they tell you that up front, too. Doesn't make it any better, but at least they're honest about it.

[blackhalo15]

I say that CoolWebSearch, should be destroyed, all files deleted, along with the source code. And the author should be fined tons of money. Like, $250,000 or something.

[Turner]

Won't happen.

Most of these places have buried in their EULA that they can install and do whatever they want, as long as you click 'I agree' and install the software.

Caveat Emptor. You need to be smart on what you're installing, and must be viligant at all times to keep hostileware from taking over your system.

Would it be nice? Yeah, but it's not going to happen.

[blackhalo15]

No, I didn't download, or install anything. I know how I got it. There was some vulnerability in php, or however you're supposed to say it, and it runs by itself. I don't know how, look on hackers sites, I'm sure they will tell you. But now, with Window's source code leaked, there's worse to come, with .bmp's. Oh joy.

[Sodapop]

PHP is server side scripting. When you request a php file, the only thing you get is an html parsed page, all the work is done on the server. So viewing a php page is as dangerous as viewing an html page, and it means it can't install anything (well it can install IE components, but that's about it, and if you're clever enough, you have checked the software installation request popup in case something tries to install itself.)

[sebanaj]

What about all GAIN, ALEXA software, etc...

[FireBall]

Originally posted by blackhalo15
Have you ever heard of CoolWebSearch? Well, if you haven't, it hijacks your browser, and sometimes has porn pop ups. Now, the law seems to be doing nothing about this. And I really don't think that's good... What if your kid gets on the computer and he views pornography due to the CoolWebSearch crap? Do you think it would be wrong, if someone made a worm, that wouldn't harm your computer, but it would search for the virus, and delete it, and if you don't have the virus, it would send itself to the people in your address book, and then delete itself. Or, if you did have the CoolWebSearch infection, the worm would delete it, and then send itself to the people in your address book, and then delete itself. Does this seem to you like a bad idea? Would it really slow down internet traffic since it would probably be small and wouldn't try to attack any websites?

All right, let see...

All viruses and worms are illegal to distribute, as well as spyware, and since someone got them, it is being distributed, making it illegal. The thing is tough, it's very difficult to track down someone who is distributing these things, they are often very crafty and leave little trace of themselves behind, if any.

It's like having an antivirus to protect yourself from viruses, you need to have a Spyware program t oprotect yourself from spyware like CoolWebSearch and other crap. Believe me, there are worse things on the web.

You likely got it by going to a website and pressing Yes on the "Accept Contect from this Site" window, or they exploited a flaw in MSIE.

Really ,that's life, just keep yourself secure from the spyware/viruses that are out there and you'll be fine. Is it bad? Yes. Is it wrong? Yes. Is it illegal? Yes. But it's so difficult to do anything about it that most law enforcement agencies don't even bother wasting time and money trying. The only way these will ever stop is if everyone gets a Spyware blocker and no-one gets the spyware/malware/____ware. Or, the internet, or at least MSIE have to be taken down and redisgned from the ground up... and that's not gonna happen.

[hbdragon88]

Don't complain if it's wrong, fight back. I have Spyware Blaster installed - prevents a lot of spyware like CoolWebSearch (which you mentioned) from installing or doing anything bad. I also use Ad-Aware to scan my computer for spyware or malware or adware and remove all of it. So I am clean from the spyware problems.

EDIT: Added links