----- Original Message -----
From: "Marty Rimpau" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 9:52 PM
Subject: web hijacker snares victims


Hi all, thought this would be interesting to share.
Web hijacker snares victims

Thousands of people have been caught out by a sneaky Internet Explorer
toolbar that hijacks their web browser. The Xupiter toolbar changes a
browser's home page, redirects searches to pre-selected sites, and
automatically opens a back door into a computer to let in ads and
games.

The toolbar takes advantage of low security settings to automatically
install itself and many people do not know they have downloaded it
until too
late.

The program can be difficult to remove because it does such a good job
of
concealing itself.

Seek and destroy

Browsing the web is not without its dangers, especially because many
unscrupulous marketing firms are happily exploiting the flexibility of
Internet Explorer to foist their wares on unsuspecting net users.

Web users have found to their cost that if the browser security
settings are
low they become victims of "drive-by downloads" in which programs they
never
asked for automatically install themselves.

Privacy sites such as Doxdesk and Spyware Info provide helper programs
that
scan for the presence of these pernicious programs and give advice on
how to
remove them.

Software such as Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy will find and
remove
well known spyware programs.

The Xupiter toolbar has raised the hackles of many web users and
privacy
advocates for its hijacking of web browsers and because it makes itself
hard
to remove.

Tricky to remove

Once installed Xupiter changes a browser's homepage, forwards searches
to
its own site, downloads other games, bombards people with pop-up ads
and
blocks attempts by users to re-assert control.

The program also aggressively checks to see that all its parts are
intact,
downloads missing parts and nags users to re-install the toolbar.

Removing Xupiter can be tricky. Many people have resorted to editing
the
registry of their computer which acts as a master list of the programs
and
settings on a Windows computer.

There are conflicting reports about the Xupiter uninstall program
provided
by its makers. Some have reported success using it, others said it did
not
work.

Many people were caught out by Xupiter when browsing webpages and
others
have said it was bundled in with the Grokster file-sharing program.


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html