spartacus
22-06-2005, 11:07
There's a crafty spyware out there called "Wind Updates". Spyware analysers say that it tracks your internet activities and reports them back to a remote database. Presumably, this information is then used for various purposes: market research, perhaps, or to target you with relevant pop-ups, etc.
The various programs that reveal this spyware, such as "Spybot Search and Destroy" and "AdAware", list it as low risk. That might well be, and for the prevention and detection of internet crime such applications might be welcomed (I for one would put up with them for that reason). However, It is my suspicion that this program, and others like it, are not designed to safeguard society but to exploit it for profit. And just as I would take exception to some person stalking me around shops and stores to note down my spending habits, or rooting around my wardrobe or cupboards or garden shed in the dead of night, simply for market research purposes, neither do I want some unknown organization covertly tracking my internet activities for the same reasons.
Its very name, "Wind Updates", furthers my argument that this spyware is dubious. It's my belief that it's been so named so that the less experienced PC user might mistake it for the legal and benevolent "Windows Updates" software that Microsoft uses to improve and secure your PC. Furthermore, it fixes itself to the register in the HKey Local Machine/Software/Microsoft folder. More evidence of an intention to deceive.
To check your PC for this pest and to rid yourself of it, download the superb and free "Spybot Search and Destroy" program (find it on Google) and run a complete scan. Unfortunately though, at this moment in its development, Spybot is unable to permanently remove this particular spyware. It returns to your registry at each bootup. You will need to run Spybot each time you bootup to remove it again. This is painful, I know, but trust me, it's good practise as there are far worse spyware out there that might also have infiltrated your system. Anyhow, a complete scan only takes as long as it takes to make a cup of tea.
Incidentally, if anyone knows how to PERMANENTLY remove this particular nuisance from the registry, let us know. Ta!
The various programs that reveal this spyware, such as "Spybot Search and Destroy" and "AdAware", list it as low risk. That might well be, and for the prevention and detection of internet crime such applications might be welcomed (I for one would put up with them for that reason). However, It is my suspicion that this program, and others like it, are not designed to safeguard society but to exploit it for profit. And just as I would take exception to some person stalking me around shops and stores to note down my spending habits, or rooting around my wardrobe or cupboards or garden shed in the dead of night, simply for market research purposes, neither do I want some unknown organization covertly tracking my internet activities for the same reasons.
Its very name, "Wind Updates", furthers my argument that this spyware is dubious. It's my belief that it's been so named so that the less experienced PC user might mistake it for the legal and benevolent "Windows Updates" software that Microsoft uses to improve and secure your PC. Furthermore, it fixes itself to the register in the HKey Local Machine/Software/Microsoft folder. More evidence of an intention to deceive.
To check your PC for this pest and to rid yourself of it, download the superb and free "Spybot Search and Destroy" program (find it on Google) and run a complete scan. Unfortunately though, at this moment in its development, Spybot is unable to permanently remove this particular spyware. It returns to your registry at each bootup. You will need to run Spybot each time you bootup to remove it again. This is painful, I know, but trust me, it's good practise as there are far worse spyware out there that might also have infiltrated your system. Anyhow, a complete scan only takes as long as it takes to make a cup of tea.
Incidentally, if anyone knows how to PERMANENTLY remove this particular nuisance from the registry, let us know. Ta!