"SURF SIDEKICK" pop-ups (888.com + AllJackpots)...

**johnsteed** · 2nd June 2006, 06:24 PM

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In relation to "Jackpot Factory", sorta anyhow...

Surf SideKick....JPG

All of these pop-ups are coming via "Surf Sidekick"...

SurfSidekick2.JPG

This is another example - in a long line - of advertisements that are getting-the-way...

spyware2.JPG

Quarantine, quarantine, quarantine, quarantine...

Simmo!

What they are trying to do I think is to build up new pages on their sites with relevant gambling terms to try and gather better importance in Google. It's not an uncommon tactic, but is seen by many as spamming in that the pages have little or no interest to web surfers whatsoever. It's similar in many respects to the 888 saga but on a lesser scale and with a more direct involvement by the casinos.

Funny thing here, is that "888.com" also advertises via "Surf Sidekick."

These pop-ups have been crippling my computer for some time now. Most of these advertisements come from the same source. Just 3 days ago, I went to go teach for a couple of hours, came back home to check on something, and noticed that there were at least 100 pop-ups that I had to get rid of.

Out of curiosity, this has been a problem (until my trusty A/S man took care of it... I hope

) for some time now. I never had any pop-up problem like this before. Has this been happening to anyone else?

Steed

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**spearmaster** · 2nd June 2006, 06:40 PM

Must be the Korean version of IE you're using... LOL...

Seriously - I used to monitor this stuff all the time - I even had ways of detecting people visiting the website but were also infected by adware. It was amazing to see how many people actually had some form of adware on their computers.

Today, I'm not bothered. Most people do run stuff like Ad Aware every now and then to clean their computers - and besides which I don't operate a high traffic site at the moment.

One tip you've already exposed - Ad Aware.

Another tip - go to trendmicro.com and use their free online scanners to get rid of a lot of this stuff - this is quite good unless you've got a really bad virus which will detect these sites and other software and simply reboot your computer in order to save itself... Brontok is one of these nasty viruses, but fortunately it doesn't cause any other serious damage that I am aware of.

Lastly, in case you didn't already know - don't ever click on a link or open an attachment from someone you don't know. I get this stuff in my mailbox daily - but I am somewhat protected because I don't use Outlook (I use an old version of Eudora) and thus previews of emails are generally harmless.

If you do use Outlook, or Outlook Express, I have one more tip - turn off Active Scripting.

**Pinababy69** · 2nd June 2006, 06:44 PM

Spear, is TrendMicro the Housecall scan? If so, I use that, and yeah it's pretty good. I also use AdAware although I haven't done a recent scan.

I use Outlook Express, but I've turned off the preview pane unless I actually open the email. And for some reason, Outlook deletes access to any and all attachments on me, whether I want it to or not, lol. When I need to access an attachment, I have to actually log into my hotmail box and d/l it. Could be a good thing I guess, cause knock on wood, I haven't seemed to have picked up anything nasty as yet.

**johnsteed** · 2nd June 2006, 06:45 PM

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Oops, I almost forgot to show this...

7865.JPG

Steed

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**johnsteed** · 2nd June 2006, 07:01 PM

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spearmaster

Must be the Korean version of IE you're using... LOL...

The writing sure makes the pages look clustered, doesn't it? At least the abbreviated "alphabetized" icons are easy enough to figure out, when one can't read Korean...

One tip you've already exposed - Ad Aware.

Hmmm, I downloaded this program because I had a whole set of other problems with pop-ups (mainly with GoldenPalace.com pop-ups). Sure enough, those pop-ups were gone, and then a whole new and worse batch came along.

Another tip - go to trendmicro.com and use their free online scanners to get rid of a lot of this stuff - this is quite good unless you've got a really bad virus which will detect these sites and other software and simply reboot your computer in order to save itself... Brontok is one of these nasty viruses, but fortunately it doesn't cause any other serious damage that I am aware of.

Great to know, and I'll be downloaded this program A.S.A.P.

Lastly, in case you didn't already know - don't ever click on a link or open an attachment from someone you don't know. I get this stuff in my mailbox daily - but I am somewhat protected because I don't use Outlook (I use an old version of Eudora) and thus previews of emails are generally harmless.

Hahaha, I NEVER do that! Well, maybe once with the one where you're the millionth person visited a random site ("CONGRATULATIONS"), and if you don't respond in 30 minutes, you'll miss out on a great opportunity to claim your winnings. But that time goes back to at the very least... '98.

Thank you for the help!

Steed

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**spearmaster** · 2nd June 2006, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Pinababy69

Spear, is TrendMicro the Housecall scan? If so, I use that, and yeah it's pretty good. I also use AdAware although I haven't done a recent scan.

Yeah, that's the one. There are two versions - Java and ActiveX - so if one doesn't seem to work right you can always try the other. Not perfect but it's damn good for free and available online without a download...

I use Outlook Express, but I've turned off the preview pane unless I actually open the email. And for some reason, Outlook deletes access to any and all attachments on me, whether I want it to or not, lol. When I need to access an attachment, I have to actually log into my hotmail box and d/l it. Could be a good thing I guess, cause knock on wood, I haven't seemed to have picked up anything nasty as yet.

Yes, turning off the preview pane is another option - but there are so many HTML mails out there that I would consider this a bit of overkill.

Originally Posted by johnsteed

Oops, I almost forgot to show this...

LOL. Country-specific targeting as well...

Originally Posted by johnsteed

Great to know, and I'll be downloaded this program A.S.A.P.

See above - technically, no download required - this is why I recommend it!

**johnsteed** · 2nd June 2006, 07:09 PM

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spearmaster

LOL. Country-specific targeting as well...

Well then, lucky me!!!

Steed

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**spearmaster** · 2nd June 2006, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by johnsteed

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spearmaster

Well then, lucky me!!!

Steed

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What! No bulgogi???

**GrandMaster** · 2nd June 2006, 09:31 PM

I would add Spybot S&D (with resident TeaTimer enabled) and Spywareblaster to the list if you use Windows. They will stop various nasties from reaching your computer which is much better than finding and removing them afterwards. It is also a good idea to avoid MS products in general, I recommend Firefox or Opera as internet browsers and Thunderbird as e-mail programme. You can even ditch Windows and switch to Linux. It is surprisingly easy to set up a dual boot system if you have a few GB spare hard disk space.

(From secunia.com:
Number of unpatched vulnerabilities and highest rating
MSIE: 20, highly critical
Firefox: 3, less critical
Opera: none!

Windows XP: 23, highly critical
Mandriva Linux: none.)