how can I tell ..Please ( Newbie )

Discussion in 'malware problems & news' started by mypenry, Sep 15, 2006.

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  1. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    Sorry if this sounds a dumb question ( from a newbie ) I seem to be getting more and more Tracking Cookies, and trojans .
    and I have not altered my computer settings in any way, I normally only visit the same 6 web sites along with my Google Mail account
    Now for my Dumb question ...is there any way to tell which of my regular 6 web sites I am getting the Tracking cookies and trojans from..?
    I never open any email attachments ( only from close friends ) . I use the following ....

    ewido 4 ( paid )
    a-Squared
    Ad-Aware
    Spybot S & D
    AVG
    Spyware Blaster
    SpywareGuard

    Running Windows XP Media Edition


    Thanks ......... Mypenry
     
  2. pykko

    pykko Registered Member

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    hope those 6 websites are not warez/porn .:D :D

    Anyway, how do you know you have more trojans? AVG detected them? Which are the names of these trojans ?
    Maybe AVG can't remove them properly...
     
  3. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    HI ...pykko

    Most of the tracking cookies were found with ewido, and a-squared ,
    this is what ewido has found recently .....

    The following were found with ewido..............
    TrackingCookie.Onestat : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Statcounter : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Tacoda : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Burstnet : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Liveperson : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Com : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Yieldmanager : Cleaned.
    TrackingCookie.Adocean : Cleaned.
    Trojan.ExitWindows.e : Cleaned with backup (quarantined).

    as for a-squared , it keeps finding the same items as above + one different
    TC .... pricegrabber

    as for AVG ..its found nothing
    as for Spy bot S & D again nothing
    as for ad-aware nothing

    when i find sime thing I am deleting it, could it be some how the items not being deleted and each sacn programme keeps finding the same things over and over again..?

    The 6 web sites are all Forums sites, and just my Gmail..?

    any ideas please .... Thanks ......... Mypenry
     
  4. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    Some antivirus and antispyware programs do not detect cookie files while others which do a more rigorous scan will list them. Cookie files are inserted into the Temporary IE folder to track users who go to specific sites. I have gotten varying results on my PC using different online scanners and programs. I have rarely gotten the same results using different programs (except for those that said nothing was found). I have gotten odd cookie files that seemed to point to some kind of shopping or merchant names yet I did not surf or shop online merchant stores. A lot of forums also leave a tracking cookie file when you access them. A cookie file is not a trojan program. Cookies are usually harmless. A trojan, however, will install itself on your hard drive and attempt to make changes to your PC (both benign and malevolent). You can get rid of cookie files by clearing out the temporary folder on your browser. On IE, you just right click on Tools, then Internet Options, and then click on the Delete Cookies bar. Or you can use any of the many utilities to clear out the clutter.

    http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads12.html

    If you accepted the option to delete the cookies, they should be gone. If they are still there after you select the delete option (you can scan the temporary folder after you do that), then I would suggest using one of the utilities on the previous link or manually delete them. If that doesn't work, then you may have a trojan which resists being removed and you should then seek technical support from a help forum.
     
  5. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    Mypenry,
    If tracking cookies are all that is being detected that's not bad.
    I have tracking cookies found every week on my computer.
     
  6. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    With normal settings every visist to websites will give u some tracking cookies, i think. Some people really bother too much about them. I personally never care for them though since a while back I put my browser to reject third party cookies but I suspect some site will not work properly in this way so I have enabled even 3rd part cookies for them specifically, example is hotmail( but I am not so sure about my findings). I use Opera.
     
  7. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    Thanks every one , ive done the following , just to see what will happen ...

    to block third party cookies in Internet Explorer:
    Click start/control panel/double click Internet Options/click privacy tab/click advanced/check override automatic cookie handling/uncheck always allow session cookies/select block third-party cookies/click OK
    Third-party cookies track your use of the Internet for advertising purposes. That is why they are considered adware/spyware.

    It will be intresting to see what my sacn results are like after doing the above...? and i will post the results.


    ive checked the 6 web sites that I normally look at, with Scandoo, and Windows Live search and all come up Green, I know I got the trojan from one of the 6 web sites, is there a way to tell which one..?

    Thanks ............ mypenry
     
  8. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    Sorry guy's i forgot to tell you that I already use CCleaner after
    each browsing session...

    Thanks .......... Mypenry
     
  9. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    well before I did any thing I started by scanning my computer , using every thing I have including CCleaner , and it came up clean, Then I went to Wilders security Forum to look at the replys from you guy's, then I went to majorgeeks web site as advised by ccsito.

    and back here to post my thoughts, I then checked my email ( Gmail ) I did not open any attachments, As ive now blocked the third party cookies option I thought I would before going to any more web sites do a full scan....

    and this is what was found....

    ewido ..................Nothing
    a-squarew............ Nothing
    Ad-Aware ..................... Tracking Cookie , Data Miner
    Size 67 Bytes
    Object Type ..... IECache Entry

    AVG ...................Nothing
    Spy Bot S&D ........Nothing


    So this is it...

    started with a clean machine
    went to only 2 web sites ( Wilders security and Major Geeks )
    went to my Gmail account
    have third party cookies blocked

    So I am now wondering just how I managed to pick up the Data Miner Tracking cookie ..? after starting with a machine thats been fully deep scanned and shown to be clean, ...? and now have the Third party cookies blocked , should having third party cookies blocked fully stop tracking cookies from accessing your computer..? I know that the cookies are not bad, but I thought with having them now blocked that would be the end of seeing them in any future scans..?

    your comments and advice most welcome

    .......... Mypenry
     
  10. pykko

    pykko Registered Member

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    mypenry...you shouldn't worry so much about cookies. They are basically inoffensive.
     
  11. ccsito

    ccsito Registered Member

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    mypenry,

    I haven't ever used that setting on my IE program. But I guess I am not too sure what is a first party versus a third party cookie. I have gotten that kind of data mining file on my IE cache before while surfing. I think many forums will deposit a cookie file to track the forum members as well as ID them through their IP address should they try to do something nefarious. Not sure if Major Geeks will do that or your Gmail access would do that. I don't have Gmail so can't verify that. Your different scan results is not surprising. I often got different results when I scanned with different programs. One time I got the VUNDO trojan and many programs reported no problems. Only a handful of them said that I had the infection. The data mining file is usually harmless. If you want to absolutely know which website is depositing the file, I would check the IE temporary folder after each access to see when the file appears in that folder. I am not sure if you can completely block cookie files unless the security setting is set to high.
     
  12. mypenry

    mypenry Registered Member

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    Thanks Guy's for your advice , may be as a ' Newbie' with my new baby ( computer) I am getting just a bit paranoid !!. so again thanks to all ... by the way I have now had to post another problem and need some computer Detective Help !! ...

    Thanks ...... Mypenry
     
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