Destroy CrackSpider Spyware

इ recently had a problem with spyware on my new laptop. I was surfing the web and I can only assume that while doing so I picked up some spyware. To put it more accurately it turned out to be malware. I normally run Ad-Aware SE Plus on my laptops here in the office to check for spyware and malware. So two days ago I ran Ad-Aware SE Plus and after about twenty minutes it notified me that I had picked up something called CrackSpider while surfing. I had never heard of CrackSpider but here it was on my laptop.

It’s a funny thing about me, viruses and spyware. I tend to be unusually affected when I get a virus or spyware on any of my computers. I take it very personally. Its as if it’s me that’s infected with some nasty little virus of my own. It’s a totally vicarious experience. I become obsessed with getting rid of it. I'll actually spend hours doing research and downloading software until I can find a way to get rid of it. This is how I've spent the last three days since finding out about the infection.

I started out using Ad-Aware SE Plus to deal with this particular malware since it was the application that first alerted me to the fact that I had it. Turns out my laptop was infected with a little script called CrackSpider. CrackSpider gives hackers the ability to take over certain functions of your computer. The Computer Associates eTrust EZ Antivirus software I use is great at destroying viruses but didn’t even recognize that I had malware on my laptop. I felt pretty secure knowing the Ad-Aware SE Plus would be able to eliminate the threat without any problem. After all it did recognize the CrackSpider script right?

I must have run the Ad-Aware SE Plus twenty five time over the past three days. I would use the delete function of Ad-Aware SE Plus and it would seem to delete the CrackSpider but I’d reboot the laptop and there it was again. The only good I got out of Ad-Aware SE Plus in this situation was that it told me Internet Explorer and Messenger were the possible weak spots in my system. Also that IE and Messenger were the ways hackers were trying to gain control of my laptop. I got many warning notices from Ad-Aware SE Plus after reboot and during scans that some hacker was trying to gain control of my system but still delete function after delete function was only temporary. CrackSpider would reappear after every scan and every reboot. Talk about frustration!

I already had Zone Alarm Pro installed on my machine and after careful examination of its capabilities I found out it had a spyware component built it. I ran it once and it did not even recognize that there was any malware on my system even after two scans.

My next attempt at getting rid of CrackSpider was by installing Spy Cleaner on the laptop and running it. Three scans by Spy Cleaner did not reveal that CrackSpider was present. However, running the Ad-Aware SE Plus again showed that CrackSpider was still present and still making attempts at controlling my computer. Still Ad-Aware could not delete it.

For some reason I thought that by going to the Microsoft site I could get information about this little malware demon. Oh yes! For me it took on demonic proportions. I was getting angrier by the moment. You would think that the effort and know how it took to develop and deploy a script or app to cause me this kind of headache could have been used to do something positive. Or to develop something that could be used to help people. Anyhow, I used the search function on the Microsoft site to find out all I could about malware and spyware to try and figure out how to destroy it. I’m running Windows XP so if they developed XP I figured they could give me some good advice. I happened across a link on the Microsoft site for a program called Spybot Search and Destroy. Well, it was free to download and I figured I had nothing to lose. I installed it and ran it. The scan report generated by Spybot Search and Destroy told me CrackSpider was able to deny spyware elimination software the ability to even recognize it. But Spybot Search and destroy did just what its name says it could. It searched out and destroyed CrackSpider. Hallelujah!

Well that was the end of my little debacle and the end of this article. I highly recommend Spybot Search and destroy. I need to say that each of the software programs in this article can probably handle numerous spyware and malware programs or scripts. And that in all probability they each have their areas of specialization. This situation and the way I handled would never be considered a lab study or tech research. But you can take it for what its worth. Good surfing!