Hi

Some say Smiley Central = Mailware. Is that so?


My daughter like to play small games from the internet: Luck charm DeLuxe, Cutterball, Cake Mania ... ...
from
bigfishgames.com, Gamehouse.com, Shockwave.com, arcadetown.com ... ...


And we also like to send e-cards.

Some people say "Beware of Mailware/Spyware!

So I like to get some advise - Because we have got a 1. day old new Vista PC, who have not been on any of those places.

(But we know them from the old XP, who "are no longer")


So what is wise to do? (And still be safe)

Hi
Janus



Hope some have TIME for my little Quistion

Hi Janus,

Wow, a lot of questions and good ones too! I'm glad you have asked because I'm sure there are many parents and families in the same position.

This question first about Smiley Central has been asked before and is truly difficult to sort out for many people.

First of all, it isn't harmful. They do sponsor some free content (smileys for emails, etc.) that comes with a Funweb products searchbar and tool bar that is not malware, but is sometimes an unwanted application by some users. The Myweb searchbar had a history of being installed on PCs without a users consent and was considered an adware product because it bundles the toolbar and other programs into it's free offerings. Adware is not always a bad thing (or malware) unless you did not install it knowingly or can remove it easily once installed.

It is a low risk software should not harm your machine or compromise your privacy and security unless it has been installed without your knowledge and consent.

If you are running Vista your users should be on a Limited User Account, unless you chose to override the UAC (User Account Control) that is a built-in security feature of Vista.

User Account Control Overview
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...a/aa906021.aspx

Provided the children are running as Limited Users, your overall system security is much less at risk in the event of an unwanted application being downloaded or installed without your consent.

Vista also includes some very nice parental control features that are available as well:

Vista Parental Controls
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/...alcontrols.mspx

You might want to bookmark some of these recommended help sites for parents with children in the household using computers.

Teach Kids to be safe online visit: http://www.bewebaware.ca/english/default.aspx

Microsoft Security At Home: Protect your family
Child safety
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/athome/sec...en/default.mspx

A parent's guide to online safety: Ages and stages
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/athome/sec...rentsguide.mspx

Do be careful using ecards as some malware has been known to spread using spoofed ecards or email. Only accept those that you know and are expecting. Unexpected ecards are not a nice suprise and could be a security risk if it happens to be the habit of a user to open these or click on links because of the known tendency of malware to ecards as a social engineering exploit.

Hi LS CalamityJane !

Thank you very much for your fine answer, with all the good links, I did bookmark to look closer on tomorrow.

I liked your clever explanation on my question, and I will follow your advises.

Think the e-mail smiley's are nice from Smiley Central. So is the wallpapers. If you like EyeCandy, like we do.


e-cards .. I know we shall never visit 123Greetings.com again, because we got 3-4 unwanted pop-op from "Security" scanners from that place on the old PC.





What a nice winter-hat you have !

Hello Janus,

Glad you found the info useful. There is a lot of debate out there around Smiley Central but it boils down to if you installed it on purpose and do use and enjoy it, there is nothing harmful at all with it.

ecards used to be a lot of fun in years past. But these days, with malware using those as a social engineering exploit to fool people into downloading them, it's rather tricky these days to tell the legimate ones from the fake ones that hide malware. I have advised my family to quit using them altogether and I never accept them ever.

Another clever trick by some of those ecard websites is to collect email addresses to sell to spammers. So by sending a family member or friend an ecard - you have just given their email address (and your own) to spam. I get very angry when someone divulges my email address to some other site for that purpose because I always get an increase in spam. So it's something to think about and use very carefully and with caution.

Hey LS CalamityJane


"Glad you found the info useful"
... Sure did ...

Your word about Smiley Central is carm - and nice for those who use it and those who have used it.
(So it is more Storm in a Teacup...)

Well I`ll be careful with e-cards from now of
(But there is one who is funny: "monk-e-mail", where you can get the monkeys to read what you write - Works best in English - Sounds studid in Danish, my main language)
Do not know if it bring bad things (And have not send antyhing for some time)
Carrier Builder, I believe it come from.

But see what it look like - And you do not have to send e-mail from it.