Privacy abuse-Redsheriff

[IanRob]

In the process of installing LimeWire, I also downloaded and installed a Java Plug-in (recommended by Limewire, but no warning about info gathering function either)that appears to have a reporting function to a marketing company called RedSheriff.com. I feel very uncomfortable about this. So much so that I uninstalled LimeWire. I cannot get rid if this RedSheriff though. Anyone heard if it or know how to get rid of it. I sent them an email requesting information about removal and they sent this back...

[Thankyou for your recent email.

RedSheriff is a market intelligence organisation that provides clients with statistical information about how people use the clients web sites. When someone visits one of our client's sites, we record statistics including details of the web-pages that are viewed, the number of visitors to the site etc. No personal information relating to an individual visitor is reported to RedSheriff clients.

RedSheriff takes considerable care to ensure that the highest standards of privacy are maintained with respect to our services. Further to this, may I please direct your attention to our comprehensive privacy policy information, which is available online at the following location

http://redsheriff.com/6.0.0.htm

From a technical perspective when using the internet your computer receives information known as cookies, which allow the sites you visit to gather basic information about the computer which is visiting that site. You may wish to change the settings on your personal computer to prevent these cookies from being accepted. Please find a text document attached with instructions on how to enable this function on your computer.

RedSheriff Measurement relies upon information sent to our global data nodes. If you do not wish to participate in this anonymous data collection, please follow the below instructions:

If you are using a Windows NT / 2000 / XP machine, your hosts file will most likely be located in the following path:

c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

For Windows 95 and 98, your hosts file will most likely be located in the following path:

c:\windows\hosts

You need to edit the aforementioned file using a text editor (e.g: notepad.exe) and add the following lines:

server-au.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-uk.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-dk.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-fi.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-us.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-nz.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-sg.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-se.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-no.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-pl.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-de.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-by.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-ee.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-lv.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-lt.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-ru.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-ua.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-jp.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-it.imrworldwide.com localhost
server-br.imrworldwide.com localhost
telstra.imrworldwide.com localhost
ninemsn.imrworldwide.com localhost

Adding the above lines will redirect all traffic collected by RedSheriff to your own PC, thus excluding you from RedSheriff data collection. If you have any further questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care organisation at care@redsheriff.com

Thank you

RedSheriff Privacy

R E D S H E R I F F

http://www.redsheriff.com

]

Any help out there?[MAD]B-(

 

[rmpuk]

get a copy of adaware - removes all spyware

http://www.lavasoft.de

hope this helps
rmpuk

 

[IanRob]

Nope.... Adware won't work

 

[lgebhart]

How comfortable are you with the registry? Making wrong changes in the registry can cause your system to be unbootable or unstable because the changes are immediate and there is no undelete. You want to export your registry to a file so you can retreive it if you delete an important entry.

START
RUN
REGEDIT

Go to EDIT on the menu
Click on FIND

Type in REDSHERRIF and delete any folder with that name or any reference on the right hand side of the screen if REDSHERRIF is not on the folder name. Keep pressing F3 to get the next instance of redsherrif. ggebhart@clover.net
I hope I never get too old or arrogant to learn something new!

 

[TheOldMan346]

IanRob,

AdAware doesn't remove it because it is a Java applet that gets loaded from web pages that subscribe to RedSheriff's service. There are some big names that do so! Here is some info on it.

http://cexx.org/sheriff.htm

The email message they sent you explains how to prevent your information from being collected by using the HOST file. Essentially, what this does is to redirect the Java applet to send the information back to your own computer. If you follow the instructions for editing the host file, you should be safe.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[IanRob]

Nope, nothing in the registry. However, I managed to shut down Java via tools/internet options/advanced (unchecked box) and the java icon no longer appears in tray. I assume this means it is no longer reporting. I may try the host modifications later but I annoys the heck out of me that it even got on my machine without my permission, and they are so nonchalant about it. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

 

[TheOldMan346]

IanRob,

Actually, if it is a plug-in, look where IE is installed, x:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS, for example, and see if you can identify the plug-ins there. Do a right click on each one and choose Properties. Then click on the Version tab and see if any of them are attributed to RedSheriff. If they are, just delete them.

Java applets are downloaded each time you hit a web site and you will not find them on your machine unless they leave a trace in a Temp area. But a plug-in is different.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[IanRob]

Nope, nuttin there. Thanks anyway