McG

There are several known offenders - sites or "freeware" programs that install "tracking" or "reporter" software (Trojans) to tell the issuing criminals where you have been on the web and/or what software you use most.

Most of these wait until you connect to the web, and then report; but "unexpected" attempts to connect (i.e. to open windows you didn't ask for) can be a clue that you've picked up one of them.

This sounds like what you're encountering, althugh there could be other causes. Incidentally, nearly all browsers are vulnerable to various versions of this kind of junk, so it's more a matter of "where you go" than how you get there.

If you have been to a site you hadn't previously visited, or if you have downloaded a "free game," you have an immediate suspect. Unfortunately, uninstalling the "freebies" often doesn't remove the Trojan.

There are utilities to detect these, but I don't know of a freeware one that gets good recommendations. We recently installed one called SpyCop when one of our clients reported an infection. I'm less impressed with it than I'd hoped, but so far it has not reported anything for us to worry about.

John