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Gator
see ya later..

When you see this screen what will you do? -- despite supposedly resolving security issues with its digital wallet software, Gator corporation still finds its application being branded a "Trojan" by Symantec. Ironic, considering Symantec is one of the companies that have invested in Gator corporation.

The "digital wallet" called Gator seems to be spawned from a swamp as murky its reptile mascot. The windows application (labelled Adware/Spyware by unwanted links) has come under fire numerous times for both "devious" practices in the ad industry AND having a spotty security record.

Gator comes bundled with many software applications, and is also installed (with only a

brief pause for the user to deny it) merely by visiting many websites that have chosen to be paid by Gator to include the installer links in their pages (the ad-supported community forum ezboard.com is one offender).

In-experienced users agree to the installation notice since it comes in the familiar windows form -- perhaps not understanding fully the dense pages of semi-legal text (hidden behind the links) to which they are then tacitly accepting.

As a result of these "Guerilla marketing" tactics, learned by the Gator execs from their stints at Excite and other "dotbombs", the software is installed on over ten million computers. While the application is marketed heavily as something helpful (we fill out your forms for you!), its main purpose is to track users shopping habits, and provide them with customized advertisements for products, which kick back fees to the Gator corp when purchased. (all this information is in their fine print).

Gator was recent target of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, who criticized the company for not properly informing users of the software's true function, and not providing adequate (and clear) means of uninstalling the application. Gator came under further criticism for its sly trick of replacing website advertisements with its own banners, sucking revenue away from websites without their approval or permission.

Gator filed suit against the IAB, claiming that the bureau's claims were unfounded. Last November the suit disappeared, and the two parties decided to take their spat to the backrooms after Gator disabled that feature, where they would work on more acceptable solution.

The Gator security problems were exposed last month by a security researcher who calls himself "Obscure". The vulnerability allows the application to be tricked into placing spyware and other assorted nasties on the user's PC. The technical specifications can be found at the Eye on Security website.

Gator claims they have resolved the issue, replacing the application installer with a replacement free of holes. Symantec is still listing the application installer as being infected with a trojan horse. The Gator home page does not mention or admit the security hole, rather they offer a software upgrade "for enhanced security".

Gator corporation has been making proclamations over the past few days about how it wants to spearhead new standards in the on-line advertisement industry. Their newly proposed rules, many of which Gator themselves have violated in the past, would require publishers to obtain consent for installing software or displaying ads, and include ways to opt-out or uninstall any such software.. The cynical may think that such rules are designed to "lock in" Gator and its installed base as the premier spyware app foisted on unsuspecting users, and "lock out" any of their competitors?

Wish to remove Gator from your computer? we clicked many times around their site until we found this FAQ entry: here. Follow it and be free!
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SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

SRFireside

Member

Digital Wallets... feh

We're not talking about major inconveniences regarding manually typing this information when you buy. If you are worried about the security of a digital wallet just don't use it. Digital wallets are for the most part a tiny luxury for the average consumer.

SMCinAZ
Premium Member
join:2000-11-29
Glendale, AZ

SMCinAZ

Premium Member

Gator Is Worse Than A Trojan or Virus

Worst piece of trash software ever concocted.

Digital
As-Salamu Alaykum
Premium Member
join:2000-07-24
Wickliffe, OH

Digital

Premium Member

Re: Gator Is Worse Than A Trojan or Virus

said by smcinsjc:
Worst piece of trash software ever concocted.
I couldn't agree more.

Majestik
World Traveler
Premium Member
join:2001-05-11
Tulsa, OK

Majestik to SMCinAZ

Premium Member

to SMCinAZ
Indeed.
Manik D
join:2001-03-23
Brooklyn, NY

Manik D to SMCinAZ

Member

to SMCinAZ
I completely agree with you. I have never trusted Gator, and I don't want any useless software on my PC.

Mashiki
Balking The Enemy's Plans
join:2002-02-04
Woodstock, ON

Mashiki

Member

Yes...

I have a wallet too...and in it I put all my needed information. Mostly into my back pocket, but...with the lack of security that they use for the digitial wallets and such, mostly either being a 64 or 128bit cypher it only takes 5-6 computers in a beowolf cluster to break it into itty peices and pull the information apart. But regardless this is spam ware nothing else.

Anubis Prime
join:2001-06-01
Avonmore, PA

Anubis Prime

Member

Re: Yes...

My wallet is in my pocket as well. Instead of 64 or 128 bit cipher strength protecting it, I have my two fists. It's worked well thus far.

I HATE when companies try to be real KEEN by secretly installing software on our computers, or ill-informing customers of the true functions of the software.

Maybe if we cracked-down more on these fools instead of trying to 'milk' Microsoft over nonsense that only matters to lawyers and socialists maybe the internet would be a better place.

Daishi7
Premium Member
join:2002-02-24

Daishi7

Premium Member

Thank you Symantec!

thank you, thank you.

mags2
Agent Provocateur
join:2001-07-19
SoCal

mags2

Member

Gator Companion

...preying on neophyte netizens *everywhere*

Rally1
join:2000-06-12
Long Beach, CA

Rally1

Member

when i see it i cry

It hurts me when I see someone else’s computer, with that horrid little green and orange gator down in the taskbar.

If ask the person what it is, the common answer is "I have no idea". About 2 mins later I have taken it off their computer (until they are suckered into installing it again!)

That gator and the purple gorilla are my least fav. animals.

The number of stupid little icons on your taskbar is inversely proportional to your computer knowledge!
CatholicJedi
join:2001-09-28
Mesa, AZ

CatholicJedi

Member

Re: when i see it i cry

I agree with that. Also, system-tray efficient people are generally more knowledgable about computers than those who let programs go where they want, when they want.

SeminoleRob
join:2001-12-19
Panama City, FL

SeminoleRob to Rally1

Member

to Rally1
The Gator and that Comet Cursor are the worst.

xNPC
As Usual, Have Nice Day
Premium Member
join:2000-11-08
Errington, BC

xNPC to Rally1

Premium Member

to Rally1
LMAO. couldnt be more true. tray icons and inverse proprtion.....im still LMAO...thats great!

Anubis Prime
join:2001-06-01
Avonmore, PA

Anubis Prime to Rally1

Member

to Rally1
I also hate when I walk into the 'IT' department and see workstations with 50,000 icons in the systray. THEN I hear "My computer's so slowwwwww".

People in general are 'tards'. They buy 30-40000 cars and don't read the manuals or change the oil. Should we then feel bad for them since they installed Gator, or 'caught' a virus?

What do you do with bad drivers??? You take their license away. What do you do with bad netziens??? You shut them off!!! Just like some ISPs did w/ code red--ones who had balls anyway. They warned people to use a firewall or run some antivirus, the folks didn't listen. Then one day those people had NO internet connection. Too damn bad. I'm through feeling bad for people.

Point: If you take the time to buy a computer and access the internet, you HAVE to have consideration for other people. If you install Gator, lost money, whatever... don't fill up the message boards with gobbledy-gook--"boo-hoo, they stole my password"..or "now my AOL doesn't work".
Stinkface
join:2002-02-23
Lawrence, MA

Stinkface

Member

Re: when i see it i cry

The sad part is that us 'IT' people are the ones who pay the price for the ignorance of our users. "Waaaaaaaaaaa my computer is slow. Waaaaaaaaaaaa I can't access this or I can't access that."

Or how bout the ever famous "I didn't change or install anything! I just turned it on and it doesn't work anymore." Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And if you act now, you'll also recieve, "It was working fine until the IT dept did something to it."

But wait there's more! Call in the next 10 minutes and you'll also recieve your own very special copy of "Whining User Hidden Spyware." Of course it's in divX format so you'll have to contact the It dept and whine, "waaaaaaaaaaaa How come I can't play this video."

Tards is putting it midly brother, they're absolute losers! Or as we fondly call em, "end losers". Adware was built for the UNAware and there are far more of them than there are of us.

Long live popup killers!
Peace and Love Yo ...

gsdan7
Boom Boom
join:2000-07-12
Milwaukee, WI

gsdan7 to Rally1

Member

to Rally1
I use Gator and I am not stupid.I block gators access in ZA.

John2Jonnie
No Defeat ~ No Surrender
Premium Member
join:2000-08-11
NJ

John2Jonnie

Premium Member

Re: when i see it i cry

said by gsdan:
I use Gator and I am not stupid.
Thanks for todays oxymoron

Eatmeingreek
join:2001-06-29
San Francisco, CA

Eatmeingreek

Member

It's a pig, too

I was helping a client who complained his computer started up too slowly. He had willingly installed Gator (he's a fairly sophisticated user.) So I turn on a few columns on the Windows Task Manager to see what was causing the disk to grind so heavily on logon. That damn gator thing was doing 500,000 disk reads on startup! The poor little laptop it was installed on just couldn't take it.

Avoid that stuff like the plague.
CatholicJedi
join:2001-09-28
Mesa, AZ

CatholicJedi

Member

Re: It's a pig, too

Avoid it first, and if necessary, take ad-aware and nuke it.

Techie2000
In Vertigo
Premium Member
join:2001-12-05

Techie2000

Premium Member

Need a Gator like program that's better?

I use KeyWallet from »www.keywallet.com/ and love it. It's skinnable, and freeware. No ads or spyware.
starfighter
join:2000-12-11
Valencia, CA

starfighter

Member

Re: Need a Gator like program that's better?

If you are so lazy that a wallet appeals to you, use the auto-complete function built into Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6.0.

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle

koam

Premium Member

Re: Need a Gator like program that's better?

gator works better than autocomplete. many sites don't support autocomplete.

i have DOZENS of sites to log into. i couldn't possibly remember all the logins and passwords

Kappsin
@rr.com

Kappsin

Anon

Re: Need a Gator like program that's better?

Anyone that would say they use Gator to help them login to sites is just a plain fool. Gator is a Trojan! Its that simply, its sleezeware at its worse. The people that put it out know what they are doing, if you install it willing, you deserve all the headaches and intrusions that you get!

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle

koam

Premium Member

Re: Need a Gator like program that's better?

anyone who had balls would register before flaming my ass.

Techie2000
In Vertigo
Premium Member
join:2001-12-05

Techie2000

Premium Member

It's not so much because of laziness, its because I always use different usernames and passwords for stuff, and i use it for the password Generator. AutoComplete won't do that for me...
Evil Furby
join:2002-03-08
Houston, TX

Evil Furby

Member

Worse than a trojan...

I have gone to sites where that window has popped up, clicked NO and 10 minutes later i'll notice that alligator icon in my system tray. It's incredibly annoying and we should organize a group of people to bring a law suite against that company and bleed them dry of all their money. We could claim it gives us arthritus in our hands/fingers because we have to delete the so many times.
[text was edited by moderator]

mags2
Agent Provocateur
join:2001-07-19
SoCal

mags2

Member

Ad-Aware 5.62 kills spyware dead

Gator, Comet and Cydoor, etc. For those of you who have
"no idea" what those cutesy little icons are in the task bar, or are generally clueless pc users with an internet connection, click on »www.lavasoftUSA.com Download. Install. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

[text was edited by author 2002-03-08 19:53:57]

bmantz65
join:2001-07-23
united state

bmantz65

Member

Re: Ad-Aware 5.62 kills spyware dead

I agree. The only thing I have in XP's Scheduled Tasks program is that. Every Thursday in the afternoon. I find I get a few new instances of spyware every week using the the Deep Scans.

MIABye
Premium Member
join:2001-10-28
united state

MIABye to mags2

Premium Member

to mags2
Yeah, and it killed Kazaa. After I installed Kazaa, I ran Ad Aware, and when I tried to run Kazaa it said components needed to run were missing. I like the fast track network, but Morpheus won't use it anymore, and I don't like Spyware. What am I supposed to do now?
sonicice
join:2001-07-25
united state

sonicice

Member

Re: Ad-Aware 5.62 kills spyware dead

Check out Kazaa Lite which is a hacked version of Kazaa which is Spyware free.

»www.refosearch.tk/
ACamden
join:2001-12-20
USA

ACamden

Member

Re: Ad-Aware 5.62 kills spyware dead

said by sonicice:
Check out Kazaa Lite which is a hacked version of Kazaa which is Spyware free.

»www.refosearch.tk/
Whatever you do DON'T click on that link. You get about a dozen pop up windows, and after you close them, about a minute later they all come back. Full page porn ads with no X to close them too, you have to use Alt+4 to close the stupid things. I had to clean out my temp files and internet cache.
[text was edited by author 2002-03-09 15:48:24]

ONE HUMAN
@sympatico.ca

ONE HUMAN

Anon

Re: Ad-Aware 5.62 kills spyware dead

KaZaA Lite download link (without popups): »kazaalite.infinitehostin ··· load.htm

.....

ONE HUMAN's World: www.geocities.com/one_human

Cool Programs, Tips & Tricks, Great Links, and more!
ONE HUMAN

ONE HUMAN

Anon

Re: Ad-Aware 5.62 kills spyware dead

(Oops, I didn't make the link clickable)

ONE HUMAN's World: »www.geocities.com/one_human

Cool Programs, Tips & Tricks, Great Links, and more!
ACamden
join:2001-12-20
USA

ACamden to MIABye

Member

to MIABye
You can go to this thread and it shows you how to disable the spyware in KaZaa and still use it.

»Here's how to disable the Kazaa spyware

Nsane_iceman
Premium Member
join:2001-02-26
North Richland Hills, TX

Nsane_iceman

Premium Member

School's computers

Hehehe all my teachers computer at school have the Comet Cursor or gator on them...

I just laugh and fix thier computers..


•••••••••••••

koam
Pink Pecker
Premium Member
join:2000-08-16
East Puddle

koam

Premium Member

i like my gator

saves me a lot of time. i've had other wallets. gator works better and does more for me.

••••••••

pcdebb
birdbrain
Premium Member
join:2000-12-03
Brandon, FL

pcdebb

Premium Member

eh

i've been getting that damn purple gorilla trying to force itself on me lately. and i hate sites that force comet cursor on you too

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

Doctor Four

Premium Member

All three of the nasties in this thread can get...

onto your system by ActiveX. Comet Curse (misspelled
intentionally) was the first to take advantage of
this, followed by Gator and that horrid purple Gorilla,
Bonzi Buddy. (BTW, 2 of Bonzi's other offerings are
questionable or even pure snake oil. Those are Internet
Boost - does for $30 what many freeware programs will do,
and Internet Alert - a pseudo-firewall that's really one
of those "evil port monitors" Steve Gibson warns people
about. Not only that, but probably get the gorilla as
unwanted foistware.)

BrooklynZoo
For Everthing Else, There's Mastercard
join:2001-04-01
Atlanta, GA

BrooklynZoo

Member

Gator....grrrr

Gator is that Digital Wallet that is setting you up for a Virtual Pick Pocket by others.

Penguins3
Have You Played Atari Today?
join:2001-12-01
Cleveland, OH

Penguins3

Member

One word... ROBOFORM.

Free.

Spyware Free.

Works.

»www.roboform.com
scarletsmith
join:2001-08-01
Laurel, MD

scarletsmith

Member

What do you do when you see that screen?

Run Away!

I don't want a "digital wallet". I don't need a "digital wallet". Stop trying to install your "digital wallet" spyware on my box, dagnabit!

Theo2002
join:2002-02-28
Clermont, FL

Theo2002

Member

What I do

I hit ALT-F4 to close that window. Not only that, but there are pop ups with NO window controls whatsoever; the entire window area is 'live' and clickable. I use ZoneAlarm as a software firewall behind my filtered router, mainly for intercepting OUTGOING traffic. I will most likely buy version 3.0 of ZoneAlarm once I get a job again LOL. Other software that sits on my tray is NAV - best antivirus, easy to work with etc. ICQ/Microsoft Messenger are the only chat progs I use (besides mIRC of course). Anything else that appears mysteriously in my list of processes, I investigate. Oh and I don't like Adobe Online spyware either, so I have deleted these nice dll's.

NOVA_Guy
ObamaCare Kills Americans
Premium Member
join:2002-03-05

NOVA_Guy

Premium Member

Re: What I do

Could you please elaborate on the Adobe Online stuff, or provide a link to more info? I'm curious about the specifics here...
SVTRanger
join:2001-07-17
00000

SVTRanger

Member

Die gator die!

DIE!

Playa4life
join:2002-01-13
Carmichael, CA

Playa4life

Member

Another reason why Gator is a piece of S***T!!

WHO THE HELL NEEDS GATOR?? If you average out the time it takes you to close their advertisements, and the time you save from having them automatically entering your information, your losing time! I've said it before, and I will say it again, GATOR IS THE BIGGEST PIECE OF S***T THAT I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF USING!
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