Joel was talking about 'SpyFalcon'or something a while back, and how annoying it was. Well, it appears there are also a host of clones
I downloaded a game from gamehippo.com that looked pretty damn cool. It warned on the site that this game was known to contain spyware, but knowing I had decent AV and Spybot Search & Destroy installed, I decided to d/load and install it anyway - big mistake
Part of this little package was 'SpySheriff' a very similar thing to what Joel described SpyFalcon as being. It puts a load of ruddy viruses etc. on your disc, and every 5/10 seconds, you get a little bubble warning come up about 'You are infected'...
...It changes your desktop wallpaper, startup stuff, installs a bizarre (and non-functional) anit-spyware tool, and stops you from doing system restore. If that wasn't enough, it stops you accessing the internet, syaing "SpySheriff is protecting you from known threats". Its a bugger to remove.
Luckily, I did manage to get rid of (about an hour ago) by booting into safe mode and nuking a ton of startup entries, and changing system files it had edited.
So heed mine and Joel's warnings! Do not, under any circumstance install anything with the following name (all of which are clones of the same thing)
* Pest Trap
* SpywareNo
* SpyDemolisher
* SpyFalcon
* BraveSentry
and of course, SpySheriff
Thank you!
Quote: "Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
