What is attacking your computer? - the spyware problem
For many years, viruses were the primary threat against your computer. Today the attack of choice is ‘spyware’. Generally spyware is a program installed on your computer that either monitors your activity and sends the information to potential advertisers or sets itself up to allow a hacker to control your computer for a malicious purpose.
- How do you know you have spyware on your computer?
- Your system runs noticeably slower.
- You get pop-up advertisements when your browser is not running or when your system is not even connected to the Internet. You get pop-up ads that address you by name.
- When you start your browser, the home page has changed to something undesirable. You change it back manually, but before long you find that it has changed back again.
- You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar on your usual search site, but an unfamiliar site handles the search.
- When you're not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem may blink just as wildly.
- A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't request or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back after removal.
(adapted from www.pcmag.com, “11 Signs of Spyware”)
How to get rid of spyware?
There are two excellent programs available free of charge to clean your computer: Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.2 and Ad-Aware. But be careful. Many programs pose as spyware removal tools (with similar names), but are actually malicious. Once you have the program downloaded and installed, it will scan your system for all the potential spyware, much like a virus program would scan your drive. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the cleaning.
To obtain these programs, browse to www.download.com, search for ‘spybot’ or ‘ad aware’, then follow the download instructions.
Spyware scanning has become as essential in protecting your computer as running an updated virus protection program and downloading Microsoft security updates. Scan your system even if you don’t have any symptoms. Chances are you’ll have some form of spyware on your computer.
-Doug DeVries
www.Equine-Design.com
doug@equine-design.com
