|
Information on leading
adware and spyware removal tool articles and products to help you on your way
to success.
Beware Of Spyware
By Nowshade Kabir, Thu Dec 8th
One day, you suddenly realize that your computer started to worknoticeably slower than it used to. You decide to runde-fragmentation of your hard drive and add more virtual memoryto the system. No luck! May be, it’s probably some viruses, youreckon turning on your virus scanning software. Even afterrunning the anti-virus program you notice that the problem won’tresolve. Not understanding what’s happening frustrated you pickup the phone. It’s time to call your tech-support. Soundsfamiliar? You are not alone! Each day, thousands of users arefacing similar problems caused by malicious software calledSpyware. According to Dell technical support, nowadays 12percent of their support calls involve problems related to somekinds of Spyware. Microsoft reports that fifty percent of allcomputer crushes are caused by Spyware, viruses and Trojans. What is a Spyware? Spyware – also named Malware or Adware – are malicious softwareprograms, which most of the time get installed on your computerwithout your knowledge. These programs are capable of doing manyoutrageous, sinister things to your computer such as changingcomputer settings, tracking your online behavior, monitoring andcontrolling your computer, recording your keystrokes, displayingunwanted advertisement and reporting needed information back tothe person behind it.
The main types of are: Key loggers: This type of copies everything you type toa file and send it to the hacker. The more sophisticated type,which is used for identity theft, copies the information youprovide when you are connected to a secure website. Browser hijacker: It modifies browser settings without yourpermission. This is capable of changing your start page,search page, search tool bar and redirect your url to specificpages. Email redirector: Surreptitiously copies all your incoming andoutgoing emails and sends to the hacker. Dialers: This install themselves to your dial-upsettings and dials numbers without your knowledge, often to outof country numbers. Collectware: The purpose of this is to track yoursurfing habit and transmitting the statistical data to thehacker. This information later gets sold to advertisementcompanies. Adware: This downloads all sorts of banneradvertisements every time you take some action such as typing aword on your search tool. Why my antivirus program does not block a Spyware? Although, uses same tactics like “Trojan” virus,technically it is not a virus. A virus is a program written tocreate trouble or possibly harm your computer system. Virusesare capable of replicate, evolve and cause severe damages toyour computer files, registry or even hardware. Spyware, on theother hand, does not harm your computer intentionally. Anynuisance like system slow down is the collateral damage, whichoccurs while the serves its mission of monitoring youractivities and making unwanted changes to your user experience. People rarely read the fine prints of the user agreements whiledownloading a file, a program, a game or other free stuffs fromthe Internet. Unethical sites use this to their advantage andadd tiny with the file you are downloading. The anti-virus programs can not be sure, whether this program isinstalled deliberately by you or it’s a malicious Spyware. Thismakes identifying
and blocking a difficult for anAnti-virus program. However, things are started to change! Majoranti-virus companies are planning to integrate anti-spywareprograms to their existing products very soon. How did I get infected with a Spyware? There are numerous ways how you might end up with having aSpyware on your system. - When you download and install programs, games, smilies,pictures, screensavers from dubious sites, there is a big chancethat you might install a sneaky along the way. - Some websites and pop-up windows try to download and installSpyware while you are there. According a recent analysis ofsex-based websites, up to 80 percent of these sites are nowbeing used to upload Spyware, worms and Trojans to unsuspectingvisitors. - Some add-ons to you browser that is supposed to enhance yourbrowser experience may secretively install Spyware. - The most cynical method of infecting you with is whenyou receive a sudden pop-up ad, which claims that your computeris contaminated and you have to run certain program to cure yoursystem. If you are credulous enough to run this program, it justinstalls a instead of eliminating any. How to fight back? If you carefully follow the instructions outlined below, yourchances of getting infected with are pretty slim. Update your Windows Allow your version of Windows to update itautomatically. Ensure that you have all the latest securitypatches installed. Use Firefox as your default browser Since Internet Explorer isthe main target for many Spyware, you will be better of withMozilla Firefox. Moreover, it is a better browser than IE inmany aspects. Be extremely careful with your downloads Try not to downloadanything from a unknown site. If you still feel like getting ashareware or freeware program check it out on one of theseonline database. Spychecker (http://www.spychecker.com/)is one such service, and Camtech 2000's Spy Chaser(http://camtech2000.net/Pages/SpyChaser.html) is a niftydownloadable database of nearly 1000 spyware-infested programs. Use an Anti-Spyware application Download and install one of thefollowing anti-spyware programs: Ad-aware(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/), Spybot(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html) andMicrosoft AntiSpyware. Although, Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx) is still at beta stage, I am using it and very happywith its performance. Get a Firewall If you are using Windows XP with Service Pack 2,you are probably fine! In other cases, if your computer isconnected to the Internet directly you should get a firewall andinstall it. Zone alarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp) is a greatfirewall you can download for free. A recently conducted survey of the Top Network Security threatsin 2005 reveals that two-thirds of IT managers andadministrators believe that will be the number onethreat to network security. So don’t take any chance! Make surethat you are protected! About the author:Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEOof Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wideexperience in Business Consulting, International Trade and WebMarketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions tostart and run online business. You can contact him atmailto:nowshade[at]rusbiz.com http://ezine.rusbiz.com
|