I've completely uninstalled IE, restarted the computer and downloaded & installed IE anew.
Same problem with this activity in the background.
what can I do about this? Get rid of IE and leave it completely? Hit the computer with a hammer? We have an AntiVirus programm running and it never said a word about this.

edit: downloading some anti-malware program now. trying to solve it this way. thanks for the very professional explanations, Chris and Sergio, always grateful you're there to offer your knowledge on these things that I have no clue about
:
Certainly can't justify extra for the retina display of the 'New iPad' (why not call it iPad 3?). iPad 2 also has the best form factor of the three devices.