PC Security:
Just what
is Intelligent Explorer? For your safety, you really need to
know
by Ainuddin Mohamad
I recently hit, by mistake, what I thought was
an Explorer upgrade option. It turned out to be a pop-up
appearing legitimate but really was not. It uploaded a product
called Intelligent Explorer on my machine. What a nightmare!
I did some research on the web and found
messages like this one from a BullGuard Antivirus Forum,
"PLEASE HELP!!! I HAVE A SPYWARE, TROJAN AND
HIJACKER ON MY COMPUTER. I HAVE RUN BULLGUARD, CWSHREDDER AND
AD-AWARE. ALL HAVE PICKED UP THE VIRUSES AND SAID THAT THEY
HAVE BEEN MOVED/REMOVED BUT WHEN I LOG ONTO THE INTERNET THAT
DAMN INTELLIGENT EXPLORER TOOLBAR IS SHOWING"
Another message from spywareinfo Forum goes
something like this:
"Hey I'm having issues with something called
Internet explorer toolbar - Intelligent explorer. I can’t find
a way to remove it from my comp and I really don’t want to
reinstall windows. I've used spybot, ad-ware, and cw shredder
but nothing seems to work."
It appears that Intelligent Explorer allows
other software to be downloaded to your machine and this is
where the problem occurs. What is even more remarkable is that
by downloading Intelligent Explorer, their license grants them
the right to install software add-ins on your computer at
their will. Take a look at what the software license for
Intelligent Explore says (go to http://www.ieplugin.com/terms.html
to read it all):
"You grant to us the right, exercisable by us
until you uninstall the Software or this agreement is
otherwise terminated, to provide to you the Service of
downloading and causing to be displayed advertising material
on your computer, through ‘pop-up’ or other display while you
use your browser. You acknowledge and agree that installation
of the Software may automatically modify toolbars and other
settings of your browser. By installing the Software you
agree to such modifications."
The company, IBC incorporated, is incorporated
in Belize. I really can't believe this license!
One end user found highly objectionable pop-up
advertisements generated by this software bundled with
Intelligent Explorer in the form of extreme pornography.
I have yet to break this.
Intelligent Explorer is a plug-in, which can
create a new home page, as well as start up and endless loop
of pop-ups. You can remove the view bar, but then starting up
Internet Explorer will cause it to reappear. I asked some
friends to help, and no one could tell me what to do.
This is what I did:
I bought a copy of a program called XoftSpy
and it removed the software. It took two scans and a reboot to
do it. This is not an advertisement for this product. They
advertised it was free, which it was to run, but then I had to
buy it to actually fix anything. It cost me $40 and I am sure
that there are freeware products out there as well, but that
is what ended the nightmare for me. Other spyware products I
have seen out there include spybot, NoAdware, Spyware
Eliminator, Pal Spyware Remover, and Spyware C.O.P.
Let the buyer beware!
About the Author
Ainuddin Mohamad is the Webmaster of
http://www.BestWebsites.com.my which is a Directory of Best Websites. Since
July 2000
BestWebsites.com.my has featured thousands of best websites in many
categories of interest with descriptions/reviews given by leading publications
and webmasters.
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