Winsock 2 LSP and Spyware Trojans

This section describes how the Winsock 2 LSP stack can be exploited by spyware trojans to relink existing or adding new LSP registry entries.

As you can see from the Winsock SPI and LSP design, Internet spyware and trojans can easily exploit the following areas:

1. Modifying Winsock 2 LSP stack settings to run trojan DLL files instead of Windows system files: rsvpsp.dll and mswsock.dll.

2. Adding extra entries in the Winsock 2 LSP stack to run trojan DLL files.

Once a spyware trojan DLL file gets installed into the Winsock 2 LSP stack through one of the above methods, it will quietly filtering all Internet communications going out of and coming into the system and:

The diagram shows how a spyware trojan DLL can be installed into the Winsock 2 LSP stack:

Winsock 2 LSP Spyware Trojan
Winsock 2 LSP Spyware Trojan

A simple way to detect spyware trojan infections in Winsock 2 LSP stack is to use the "netsh winsock show catalog" command as presented in the previous section. You need to inspect all DLL files reported by the command and find who is a trojan DLL.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction to Microsoft Windows

 Introduction to Windows Explorer

 Introduction to Internet Explorer

 "Paint" Program and Computer Graphics

 GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program

 JPEG Image File Format Quality and Size

 GIF Image File Format and Transparent Background

 "WinZip" - ZIP File Compression Tool

 "WinRAR" - RAR and ZIP File Compression Tool

 FTP Server, Client and Commands

 "FileZilla" - Free FTP Client and Server

 Web Server Log Files and Analysis Tool - "Analog"

 Spyware Adware Detection and Removal

 IE Addon Program Listing and Removal

 Vundo (VirtuMonde/VirtuMundo) - vtsts.dll Removal

 Trojan and Malware "Puper" Description and Removal

 VSToolbar (VSAdd-in.dll) - Description and Removal

 Spybot - Spyware Blocker, Detection and Removal

 Setting Up and Using Crossover Cable Network

 Home Network Gateway - DSL Modem/Wireless Router

 Windows Task Manager - The System Performance Tool

 "tasklist" Command Line Tool to List Process Information

 "msconfig" - System Configuration Tool

 Configuring and Managing System Services

 Windows Registry Key and Value Management Tools

 Startup Programs Removal for Better System Performance

Winsock - Windows Sockets API

 What is Winsock (Windows Socket) API

 Winsock 2 API Architecture

 Winsock 2 SPI and LSP Layers

 mswsock.dll - Microsoft Windows Sockets 2.0 Service Provider

 "netsh winsock show catalog" - Showing Winsock 2 LSP

Winsock 2 LSP and Spyware Trojans

 rundlll.dll - Winsock 2 LSP Spyware Trojan

 Winsock 2 LSP Stack Registry Corruption

 LSP-Fix - LSP Stack Repair Tool

 Java on Windows

 Glossary of Terms

 Outdated Tutorials

 References

 Full Version in PDF/ePUB