I like to visit web sites that you'd probably call pornographic. I call them "consenting adult content".

Some of them are free and some of them require a membership or some sort of adult pass.

The problem is, although I have McAfee AntiVirus and Windows XP firewall, and I run Ad-aware on a regular basis, every time I've spent some time on these sites I end up with all sorts of nasties. I get dialers, IE hijacking, spyware, you name it and I get it.

Ad-aware gets rid of some of it, but not the bad stuff like the dialers.

What can I do to stop it happening (yet still be able to go to every one of my favourite sites)?

(First posted November 2003)

Eric's mate , Sydney, NSW

Simple answer: Don't go there in the first place.

PC User does not in any way condone accessing such sites. Do so at your own risk.

The less ethical the content of a site, the more unethical the operators are likely to be as far as hacking you or sending you nasties. Assume you will be hacked and attacked -- apart from the serious legal, ethical and moral issues.

If, contrary to our advice, you do go to such sites. there are things to be considered.

1. Never, ever go to a site which might have any illegal content.
2. Never, ever download illegal content.
3. Never go to a site which will embarrass you when you are found out.

Now for some technical advice.

1. Don't use a computer that's also used for any other purpose -- get a separate computer. Don't connect it via a LAN or in any other way to your other computers.
2. Format the hard disk and do a fresh install of Windows.
3. Image the hard drive with Symantec Ghost or PowerQuest Drive Image. This will allow a quick restore when (not if) your hard drive is hacked or corrupted.
4. If you have a dial-up connection, get a separate phone line. Ask you phone company (in writing) to block all outgoing calls except local calls. This includes all international calls, long distance calls, mobile calls, and calls to high-cost services such as 1900 numbers. Get the phone company to reply in writing. Blocking these types of outgoing calls should defeat rogue dialers.
5. Don't log in to one of these sites with your primary email address -- use one of the free email addresses. This should reduce the flood of illegal and immoral Spam you receive.
6. Don't give the site a credit card number of a card with a high limit or one attached to your bank account. Use a prepay charge card with a low stored amount.
7. Keep your AntiVirus and firewall software up to date and running constantly. Frequently use anti-adware software to scan your system.

Can I say again - the only safe way to avoid problems is to never access such sites.

- John Hepworth

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Hi again to Eric’s mate,

John’s already given you the best advice of all -- Don’t go there. But I’m guessing you’re probably not going to follow it, so here’s a few tips to add to what he said. While I’ve no sympathy for anyone who’s trawling for pornography, and fail to understand why anyone would in any case, it’s quite easy to get redirected to such sites when pursuing other endeavours. I’ve come across ‘net nasties’ quite often, and a bit of caution and common sense has kept my computer clean. Here are a few tips from my experience:

First up, make sure the ‘Status Bar’ is enabled on your browser. That’s the one down the bottom which shows the web addresses of the buttons you move your mouse pointer over. Use it. It’ll help you work out just which of those OK and Close buttons that show up in suspect web pages are real and which ones are fake.

Set your browser’s security options as high as you can get them without disabling your browsing capabilities altogether. Don’t ever agree to any of those Do you wish to download and install boxes that pop up all over the place. You’ll find more detailed information about these points in a reader response I submitted some time back for the question How do I remove an adult chat icon from the desktop?

Take your time and take notice of what’s happening on your computer. Your eyes are the best tool you have for distinguishing whether it’s a picture that’s being downloaded or whether there’s a ‘download and install’ going on. When one of those starts happening in front of you, stop it before it completes. If there’s no functional ‘Close’ button on the browser window, try right-clicking the toolbar button and closing it from there. If the browser or download window proves resistant to any attempt to close it, try a Ctrl-Alt-Del and ‘End task’. It will probably shut down your whole browsing session, but that’s better than having malignant rubbish installed on your machine. If none of these measures work, don’t hesitate to reach for the ‘Off’ switch! It’s always best to stop dialers while they’re still downloading, because they can’t install if the download is interrupted.

Install both AdAware and Spybot on your computer. They will complement each other, because each one will identify and remove ‘nasties’ that the other one won’t. Make sure you have them set to ‘remove’ the nasties and not just to ‘report’ them. Use both every day, and before you use them check for any updates that are available for them. Spyware and general net nasties are like viruses in that new ones are continually being developed. Keeping your tools updated is essential.

(If anyone's sitting back smugly rejoicing that John Hepworth and I sat down and wasted time typing out advice so that you can enjoy viewing smut, wipe the smile from your face. We didn’t! We typed all that out for the benefit of our other readers. The typical web users who have encountered the ‘nasties’ during other pursuits. They’re the ones who simply wanted to make up an attractive CD case to replace the crappy paper envelope their expensive applications program came in, or to get that expensive computer game working from their hard drive before the kids and their mates render the CD scratched and useless.)

Cheers,

- Terry O’Shanassy

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John Hepworth and Terry O'Shanassy