Free Articles at Neutron Marketing Article Publishing and Distribution » Computers-and-technology » Software » Spyware: Destroying Your Computer System and Your Privacy At Once
Previous Article - 2 Easy Steps to PC Registry Repair
Next Article - Microsoft Excel 2007: Ribbons And Tabs

View PDF | Print View | Html Version
by: KrisPaulita
Total views: 2
Word Count: 745

A recent AOL/National Security Alliance study conducted in 354 homes found that 61% of users had spyware installed on their computers. Recent studies have also shown that 83 percent of computers are infected with some form of spyware and that 89 percent of consumers are unaware that they have spyware. Spyware can be devastating to both system performance and your privacy. Fortunately, existing security technology can keep this threat from damaging your computer, draining your productivity, and possibly even stealing your identity.

It's not always immediately obvious that spyware has been downloaded into your PC. If you haven't taken preventative steps in the past, it's very likely that your system has been infected. Signs that your system may be infected with spyware include:

1) Your Web browser opens to a different home page

2) Your system suddenly has extra icons on the desktop, or your browser has extra toolbars on it that you did not install.

3) Your "Favoriates" list in your Web browser has pages listed on it that you didn't put there.

4) As you are browsing, you notice an unusually large number of pop-up ads. Often the pop-ups are completely unrelated to the sites that you are browsing.

5) Your system takes a lot longer to boot, or operates slower than usual.

It happens like this: while you're surfing the Web, tiny computer programs are hard at work behind the scenes--gathering information about what you do, who you are, and who your friends are. These programs compile this and other information, and transmit it to a covert host. On the other end, someone takes that information and uses it for the purpose of sending you spam email or delivering pop-up advertisements, or worse, uses it for the purpose of identity theft.

Spyware could be the greatest threat to ever hit the Internet. In its less insideous form it's called adware, and it's sent to your computer without you even knowing, usually as a part of some other program or utility. At first you may think that a few ads are a small price to pay for whatever tool you downloaded and installed, but think again. You probably agreed to a license to download that new tool, and that license agreement very likely allows the company that is sending those ads to sell any information that they gather to third parties. And along with that new software that you installed you also installd other software on your PC, software designed to compromise your system, eating up network bandwidth as it transmits data back to the originators. In no time at all you're killing pop-up windows with alarming frequency, your email inbox is stufed with spam and your system mysteriously crashes more than ever!

Because they are stand-alone programs, adware and spyware can be designed to do pretty much anything on your computer. They can track your browsing habits. They can also examine the contents of your hard drive, copy files from them, change registry settings, change system files, steal passwords and even steal credit card numbers that are stored on your system.

Removing spyware from your computer can be difficult, since it is installed on your system through many different conduits and can affect your system in many different ways. It's imperative that you install anti-spyware software on your system, but that alone won't provide you with a complete solution. Here are a few suggestions of things that you can do to keep spyware from compromising your computer:

1) Keep your anti-virus software up to date. Many (but not all) spyware programs are classified by anti-virus packages as Trojans, and will be caught by the anti-virus software.

2) Install a URL filtering solution. Certain spyware applications launch automatically when certain web pages are visited - porn sites are notorious for containing spyware. URL filters will prevent yousers from accessing web sites that are likely to contain spyware.

3) Beware of email attachments. Spammers send out emails with attachments, attempting to trick you into clicking on them--but when you do, you get spyware.

4) If you use a firewall, disallow certain file types that are likely to be spyware, such as .exe or .vbs files, Java, or ActiveX.

5) Don't use Internet Messaging or Peer to Peer file sharing programs. If you decide to, be carefull while doing so. Always know ahead of time what you're downloading and who it's from. These types of programs are notorious as conduits for spyware.

About the Author

You can find a wealth of information on Spyware Prevention at our home. You will find several more interesting and informative articles on Adware and several outstanding software solutions there as well.

---

Rating: Not yet rated

--Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

No comments posted.

Add Comment

Enter the code shown