In retrospect, a more likely source of this nuisance software from Lavasoft is one of the two Kingston USB thumb drives I installed on June 25th. One came from the Gov't, the other from Staples. I seem to recall incidents in the past where 3rd party sticks piggybacked software.
Whatever the source, this software installed silently, without my explicit consent. Lavasoft and Ad-Aware are now my sworn enemy.
I've always wondered about the need for it... as I was focusing on virus/malware rather than PUPs. But the gurus at avast have long been recommending it (in addition to avast of course), and I have it installed/running on my systems.
The only caveat is that the first time you install it, it initially/automatically scans all your drives... including your hard drive... and quarantines suspicious items BY DEFAULT. Of course, you can remove them from quarantine. After installation, I have since adjusted its SCANNER settings to use INTERACTIVE MODE (user input rather than automatic decisions), and to scan only Flash drives and Memory cards (but not hard drives)... so I now feel much more comfortable with it.
If I remember correctly, there was "dreck" bundled with TrueCrypt when I downloaded it from here: https://www.truecrypt.org/downloads about a month ago. And I inadvertently let some get installed in Win 7/IE11 too, but Revo Uninstaller (free) came to the rescue.
WARNING: Using TrueCrypt is not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues
The development of TrueCrypt was ended in 5/2014 after Microsoft terminated support of Windows XP. Windows 8/7/Vista and later offer integrated support for encrypted disks and virtual disk images...You should migrate any data encrypted by TrueCrypt to encrypted disks or virtual disk images supported on your platform....
I am reliably informed that TrueCrypt version 7.1a from Steve Gibson's website is still considered safe, and includes no piggybacked software from Ad-Aware. It is true that development of TrueCrypt has been halted, but experts are telling me that 7.1a is still ok. I can refer you to here: https://www.grc.com/misc/truecrypt/truecrypt.htm
@ky331:
Thanks for that link. In that thread, we discussed the merits of having too much security. I declined installing MCShield.
Lavasoft programs, including Ad-Aware Security Toolbar, are of course not malware. But they are not programs I want. And when they infiltrate my system via some back door without permission, I take exception. I am surprised that WinPatrolPlus did not alert me when they were installed.
I got 7.1a when I downloaded from my original link. But I believe I did get some other junk with it. Didn't download anything else afterwards but suddenly some stuff was flagged and I know it was clean beforehand.
We'll have to see what happens from here. If the code becomes readily available one has to wonder if some hackers (eg, NSA) will find a way to open files that were created with TrueCrypt. :emotion-5:
joe53
2 Intern
•
5.8K Posts
0
June 27th, 2014 18:00
In retrospect, a more likely source of this nuisance software from Lavasoft is one of the two Kingston USB thumb drives I installed on June 25th. One came from the Gov't, the other from Staples. I seem to recall incidents in the past where 3rd party sticks piggybacked software.
Whatever the source, this software installed silently, without my explicit consent. Lavasoft and Ad-Aware are now my sworn enemy.
ky331
3 Apprentice
•
15.6K Posts
0
June 27th, 2014 18:00
Joe,
No guarantee that this would have stopped it... but have you considered MCShield (My City, NOT MCafee) discussed here: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/virus-spyware/f/3522/t/19470683.aspx
I've always wondered about the need for it... as I was focusing on virus/malware rather than PUPs. But the gurus at avast have long been recommending it (in addition to avast of course), and I have it installed/running on my systems.
The only caveat is that the first time you install it, it initially/automatically scans all your drives... including your hard drive... and quarantines suspicious items BY DEFAULT. Of course, you can remove them from quarantine. After installation, I have since adjusted its SCANNER settings to use INTERACTIVE MODE (user input rather than automatic decisions), and to scan only Flash drives and Memory cards (but not hard drives)... so I now feel much more comfortable with it.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
June 27th, 2014 19:00
If I remember correctly, there was "dreck" bundled with TrueCrypt when I downloaded it from here: https://www.truecrypt.org/downloads about a month ago. And I inadvertently let some get installed in Win 7/IE11 too, but Revo Uninstaller (free) came to the rescue.
Note: That link is no longer active, and you end up here: http://truecrypt.sourceforge.net/ And there's a notice on this page:
WARNING: Using TrueCrypt is not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues
The development of TrueCrypt was ended in 5/2014 after Microsoft terminated support of Windows XP. Windows 8/7/Vista and later offer integrated support for encrypted disks and virtual disk images...You should migrate any data encrypted by TrueCrypt to encrypted disks or virtual disk images supported on your platform....
joe53
2 Intern
•
5.8K Posts
0
June 27th, 2014 20:00
@RoHe:
I am reliably informed that TrueCrypt version 7.1a from Steve Gibson's website is still considered safe, and includes no piggybacked software from Ad-Aware. It is true that development of TrueCrypt has been halted, but experts are telling me that 7.1a is still ok. I can refer you to here:
https://www.grc.com/misc/truecrypt/truecrypt.htm
@ky331:
Thanks for that link. In that thread, we discussed the merits of having too much security. I declined installing MCShield.
Lavasoft programs, including Ad-Aware Security Toolbar, are of course not malware. But they are not programs I want. And when they infiltrate my system via some back door without permission, I take exception. I am surprised that WinPatrolPlus did not alert me when they were installed.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
June 28th, 2014 18:00
I got 7.1a when I downloaded from my original link. But I believe I did get some other junk with it. Didn't download anything else afterwards but suddenly some stuff was flagged and I know it was clean beforehand.
We'll have to see what happens from here. If the code becomes readily available one has to wonder if some hackers (eg, NSA) will find a way to open files that were created with TrueCrypt. :emotion-5: