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Sonar5

Gator spyware company being sued by the big boys......

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Hi folks. Great News......I would like to share some good news I just read on The Drudge Report:http://www.drudgereport.com/The New York Times, Washington Post, Dow Jones and looks like sven other publishers are suing this spyware company called gator.Link to story on Yahoo here:http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...40104&printer=1Ever wonder why you get all those ad popups. Gator is one of the slimey companies that uses these ads to hijack your surfing experience without your knowledge.After reading this, you may be asking how to get rid of those nasty pop-ups.I use a 4 Pronged defense.1) I use Guidescope, which is a cookie and ad blocker for which you can set up permissions. Freeware get it at http://www.guidescope.com/home/2) I use AVG ANti virus Software Also Freeware, notice the pattern. this is a free program for non-commercial use. Get it here:http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm3) I use the Freeware version of Zonealarm for a stealth firewall which basically tells the computers that you don't exist. Get it here:http://www.zonealarm.com/4) For pesky spyware, I use the best. The Freeware Ad-Aware program, available here:http://www.lavasoftusa.com/These programs will do you know good if you just install them and run them one time. You must continually update the AVg and Ad-Aware program which both come with auto-updaters.It is imperative that you follow the directions for each program in its entirety. If you do not understand what the program can and cannot do, don't install it.There are many other programs out there for you to use, and these are the ones that I recommend because I am familiar with them. They may no longer be the best, but they were at one time, and I see no reason to change mine now. :-)To check if your computer is safe from attacks, try out this link and check your results before and after. Shields Up:https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2Just some food for thought.Regards,Joe :-wave.Oshkosh Pictures From 2001 (Part 1) 78 Pics in Frames with 1mb in ThumbnailsHigh speed connection Recommended:http://home.attbi.com/~flypics1/FrameSet.htm.Oshkosh Pictures From 2001 (Part 2) 106 Pics in Frames with 1.5mb in ThumbnailsHigh speed connection recommended:http://home.attbi.com/~flypics2/FrameSet.htm.Picture Gallery of My Flight in a 1945 SNJ-6 on June 1st, 2002Joliet, Illinoishttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/FrameSet.htm.http://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif


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Guest mikehaska

I hope they shut down those crooks for good. I absolutly hate software that "thoughtfully" packages it in the installer for you.

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That's good news! Thanks for posting the links. I've been using Ad-aware for quite some time, and there's one thing I have to say: Do keep your updates CURRENT! New spyware comes out faster than you can count to three, and Ad-Aware will become ineffective if not updated regularly. The same applies to all virus scanners etc. Scan your system regularly, and download all available updates. Those few minutes of inconvenience are worth it - a couple of years ago we spent an entire weekend reformatting the drives and reinstalling everything on our computers, just because we've been too lazy to install the updates to the anti-virus program....Cheers,Gosta.

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Hi Gosta,Good points and others would do well to adhere to your advice. Thanks for posting it.Regards,Joe :-wave


CryptoSonar on Twitch & YouTube. 

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Joe, I actually had something from Gator on my system that I KNOW I didnt authorize to be there. You ever heard of that? I know that I would never authorize anything from gator on my system because I had heard that they were a spyware/adware company. The other day I disconnected my connection and a window popped up saying that a program was requesting information from gs.gator.com. I sometimes get pop ups asking if I would authorize an installation of gatorware or whatever they call it and I never, ever say yes. If anyone wants to see the file I found on my system, Ill be happy to email it. Its just a txt file that looks like an installation log or something. Just thought it was a little weird, and most likely illegal as h*ll for them to put that crap on my system.Craig

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Hi Craig,It most likely was installed from accesing an on-line game or downloading a shareware program. Which one is anyones's guess.Ad-Aware will remove it, though.My kids were getting it from one of the game sites. I think the last time was a game they downloaded from Cartoon Network.com.After Ad-Aware nukes it, you should not see the pop-ups anymore unless the site you are visiting is pushing them on you as a standard instruction from their site.Hope this helps, and good luck.Regards,Joe :-wavehttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif


CryptoSonar on Twitch & YouTube. 

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Hey Joe, After posting last night I did think about what programs I might have downloaded that would have allowed that installation. Ever since I moved and had to switch to dial-up internet, I have had horrible download speeds compared to my old DSL. I downloaded DAP (Download Accelerator Plus) to see if that would help. After noticing that it didnt do a whole lot, I uninstalled it. Unfortunately, it didnt take Gator with it. I know that Gator had to slip in that way because DAP is the only program Ive downloaded since moving. Im sure it was in the fine print when downloaded DAP, I just failed to read it. Thanks for your help, Joe.Craig

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yes this is good news. this is one reason why i got rid of Kazzaa. yes kazaa does bring this stuff in its installer. i found out the hard way.Gen. Ernesto AlvarezNational CommanderVirtual Civil Air Patrolhttp://ealvarez.net/vcap.jpg

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Many "download accellerators" install spyware, either Gator or something else. They usually don't tell you they're doing it, and don't list the fact in their fine print either. To them it's just part of the program (in fact, many even detect whether the spy is running and refuse to work without it).Not uninstalling the spyware is also common, that way to keep getting information (at the very least URLs visited, but sometimes also usernames, passwords etc.) after you think you got rid of it.The uninstaller for Gator itself does seem honest. At least I got no more reports from ZoneAlarm about elicit outgoing traffic after I removed it from my previous machine (where Roger Wilco had installed Gator without asking).

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Thanks for the reply Ernesto.Glad you found it useful.Joe.Oshkosh Pictures From 2001 (Part 1) 78 Pics in Frames with 1mb in ThumbnailsHigh speed connection Recommended:http://home.attbi.com/~flypics1/FrameSet.htm.Oshkosh Pictures From 2001 (Part 2) 106 Pics in Frames with 1.5mb in ThumbnailsHigh speed connection recommended:http://home.attbi.com/~flypics2/FrameSet.htm.Picture Gallery of My Flight in a 1945 SNJ-6 on June 1st, 2002Joliet, Illinoishttp://home.attbi.com/~jranos/FrameSet.htm.http://home.attbi.com/~jranos/mysig.jpg http://avsim.com/hangar/air/bfu/logo70.gif


CryptoSonar on Twitch & YouTube. 

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