TubeNet

I set up Internet Junkbuster on my server years ago, so any attempted connection wtih DoubleClick is thrwarted before it happens.

However, Junkbuster's a pain to set up, but there's a free filtering service that's just come online:

http://www.guidescope.com/home/

Looks good; might be worth a shot.

Bloke,

You should download and install some free "Adware" detection and removal tools. Below are links to two of these and they are all free (or shareware). The second one - "Spybot" - has an 'immunize' option. Once you've updated Spybot with the latest adware/spyware definitions, click on the immmunize button, then run a scan. Immunize will prevent Doubleclick cookies (and many others) from being stored on your computer.

Ad-Aware 6 Spyware Removal Tool

Spybot Search & Destroy Spyware Removal Tool

...the second part is standard boilerplate just in case you spilt the beans on how to convert base metals into gold and they capitalized on it....

Bloke,

If you already use "Spybot", you must not have clicked on "Immunize", or else you wouldn't be getting the 'doubleclick' cookie downloaded again. Each time you update the spyware definitions, you need to re-immunize and scan again. Last week when I updated and reimmunized, there were another 90 protections added.

I'm a moderator at the McAfee Help forums and we're dealing more and more with spyware than we are with viruses/trojans lately. At last count there are 80,000 known viruses/trojans, but over 300,000 items of spyware.

Hope this helps.

Duh. What is doubleclick? I have a vague notion of what spyware is, but my home computer is not protected. I never, ever, buy anything with a credit card on my home computer (the work computer is VERY well protected) or input my real name or address on it. So I figure they can spy away and won't learn anything that can hurt me. Am I wrong???
I do have taxcut software on my computer, which has my SS# and correct address. To date AFAIK I have not had my identity stolen.

MA

It's true that some spyware can be used to get such highly personal information, but for the most part spyware just reports what sites you visit, so that advertising can be customized to hit your interests. Even that wouldn't be TOOOO bad if spyware didn't use up so stinking much of your CPU, or open up a jillion extra windows, or change your home page, or stick another search bar on your browser, or deliver porno-pop-ups....

If you use a Windows PC, you should IMMEDIATELY switch to some browser besides IE, download Spybot (see Rick F's post below), and you might avoid it. If you have Windows XP, download SP-1; it has a built-in firewall that has worked really well for us (for the grand total of 7 days it's been installed). Once you are infected with spyware, it's very difficult to get rid of it.
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Joe Baker, who spends more time maintaining his %^@&ing computers than his cars.

MaryAnn wrote:Duh. What is doubleclick?

Duh. It's ad-tracking stuff. Basically, it'll set a "cookie" in your browser's data cache (same place as the cookie that TubeNet uses to check your login status) and it checks to see what banner ads or items you click on.

This is how Amazon, for example, knows what items you've recently browsed in their store. It also can send back data to the originator about what you're checking out in their websites.

Is all spyware bad? Well, not really, but neither is it exactly comforting to know that some disembodied web server somewhere is keeping track of your internet habits.

Joe Baker wrote:If you use a Windows PC, you should IMMEDIATELY switch to some browser besides IE, ...

How do the kids say it these days... ah, yes..

"Word."

(as in, "This guy's right.")

What's a virus?

Oh yeah... must be a Windows thing..

(y'all KNOW that a virus discussion can't go without a Mac geek (like me!) making a comment like that! )

If yoiu're running Firefox (and some other browsers), it's very instructive to see how many cookies have been set from places you've never heard from. On FF's "View Cookies" panel, there's a checkbox that essentially says "If I delete a cookie, don't allow the culprit to set another one".

The nice part about using a proxy that blocks specific sites like doubleclick or googlesyndication.com is that you don't get your screen all cluttered up with ads from places like TubeNet and browsing gets much faster.

Thanks for the tip. I just installed SPYBOT and did a search and destroy. I had no idea that I had so much spyware on my notebook computer I'm going to install it on my desktop computer when I get home from work.
Norm Pearson