Hello,
This is for information only. I have cut and pasted this from the newsletter
that I receive as a member of the Pasadena IBM User Group, PIBMUG, run by
Steve Bass who writes for PC World. I realize that PCSOFT is international
in nature, but if anyone is in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend
attending. One of the few advantages of living in the big city, and a great
$48 per year investment.
Brad Loomis

From Steve Bass, www.pibmug.org

If you're concerned about privacy, this is going to be unpleasant.
Aureate, a company that provides advertising on many "free" programs, may
have placed DLLs onto your system. These DLLs collect information about you
and IMHO, provide advertisers with way too much info.
Aureate (they've changed their name to Radiate, probably because few of us
could pronounce the other name) denies their doing anything unsavory.
What's exciting is Steve Gibson has created a terrific site that explains
the issues. (And rather than repeat the details, it makes more sense to read
about it there. http://grc.com/optout.htm )
Gibson's Internet Spyware Analysis and Removal Tool: Steve also provides
OptOut, a small, free, and easy-to-use tool to rid your PC of these DLLs.
Download and use it
http://grc.com/files/optout.exe

Infoworld's Brian Livingston talks at length about the Aureate Trojan (Now
you can rid your system of the Aureate Trojan horse that transmits user
info).
Read about it here:
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/03/20/000320oplivingston.xml
[[Caution: This URL may "wrap" onto two lines. If that happens, make sure
you cut and paste it into your browser-and get rid of any extra spaces.]]

Steve Gibson at PIBMUG: April 5
=======================
Steve's presentation at PIBMUG will include other privacy issues, things he
hasn't discussed on his web site. It's a meeting you don't want to miss.

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