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Detecting spyware...

post #1 of 11
4/15/02 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
I can't for the life of me find any programs or utilities that are capable of detecting as well as deleting all types of spyware from my Mac. Does anyone know what the best solution is? <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
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post #2 of 11
4/15/02 at 3:46pm
I really doubt you have any spyware on your Mac. I'm not aware of any at all.

If you are paranoid, though, you could always install a firewall and only allow the specific ports open that you want open.
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post #3 of 11
4/15/02 at 5:29pm
netscape is spyware, uninstall it
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post #4 of 11
4/15/02 at 5:58pm
[quote]<strong>netscape is spyware, uninstall it</strong><hr></blockquote>Why do you say that?
I have yet to see any evidence.
Sounds like FUD to me.
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post #5 of 11
4/15/02 at 7:05pm
[quote] Sounds like FUD to me. <hr></blockquote>

Really? Sounded like sarcasm to me.
Peace, Love, Joy... Macintosh.
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post #6 of 11
4/15/02 at 7:18pm
Oh yeah... I suppose I should contribute something vaguely intelligent too.

starfleetX is right; to the best of my knowledge, there aren't any known spyware hacks which run on MacOS X yet -- unless you consider commercial software like Timbuktu Pro and banner ad profiling via cookies to be spyware.

There are, however, a few gizmos for MacOS 9 which could be classified as spyware, but I don't think any of them are in the same class as typical Windows spyware. Here's one example: <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=13144&db=mac" target="_blank">http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=13144&db=mac</a>
Peace, Love, Joy... Macintosh.
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post #7 of 11
4/15/02 at 8:28pm
Sorry, R. H., but I've heard several people preaching that Netscape is spyware lately. I'd seriously like to know why these people think so because I have yet to find it doing anything it shouldn't.
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post #8 of 11
4/15/02 at 10:33pm
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>Sorry, R. H., but I've heard several people preaching that Netscape is spyware lately. I'd seriously like to know why these people think so because I have yet to find it doing anything it shouldn't.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I don't know how true this is, and frankly, i don't care, but the case that people make for netscape being spyware is that when you use the search function in netscape, what you search for is recorded by netscape. apparently it's for data analyzing purposes only. for what it's worth...

<a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000532" target="_blank">AI thread with link to article</a>

[ 04-16-2002: Message edited by: Stroszek ]</p>
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post #9 of 11
4/15/02 at 11:06pm
[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>
If you are paranoid, though, you could always install a firewall and only allow the specific ports open that you want open.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Is there a list of ports that should be open someplace? I know what ports should be open for incoming traffic, but outgoing traffic is a mystery to me. TIA.
for sale. or rent
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for sale. or rent
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post #10 of 11
4/16/02 at 1:11am
[quote]Originally posted by torifile:
<strong>Is there a list of ports that should be open someplace?</strong><hr></blockquote>Actually, I've kinda made my own list. I blocked ALL incoming and outgoing traffic on ports 1 to 65535 and then started opening individual ports as I found necessary. BrickHouse's log makes this extremely easy. For outgoing, here's what I've opened up:

TCP 80 for www
TCP 443 for www ssl
TCP 5190 for AOL IM
TCP 20-21 for FTP
TCP 22 for SSH
TCP 23 for telnet
TCP 25 for SMTP mail
TCP 110 for POP3 mail
TCP 143 for IMAP mail
TCP 119 for NNTP news
TCP 8888, 7777, and 6666 for OpenNap servers
UDP 123 for Apple's Time Syncronization
TCP 548 for AFP (iDisk)
TCP 2401 for CVS
TCP and UDP 6700-6702 for Carracho
TCP 2000 for SnapperHead

Of course, your mileage may vary.

[ 04-16-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
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post #11 of 11
4/17/02 at 7:37am
[quote] Sorry, R. H., but I've heard several people preaching that Netscape is spyware lately. I'd seriously like to know why these people think so because I have yet to find it doing anything it shouldn't. <hr></blockquote>

No prob; I was just slightly amused. Actually, I had forgotten all about reading that in the media awhile back -- probably because I had totally discounted it.

Personally, I don't put much stock in the whole "they're watching you" syndrome -- because frankly, I doubt that there's really any profit in tracking any single web surfers every move. Tracking general demographic statistics is one thing, and I'm sure that every company who's ever purchased banner space on a web page is familiar with the cost benefits of that... but beyond that, it all just sounds a little too unrealistic to me.

[ 04-17-2002: Message edited by: R. H. ]</p>
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