Beware of Spyware
Spyware is a relatively new kind of computer threat not yet covered by common applications that concentrate solely on viruses. Spyware silently keeps track of all of your surfing behavior in order to create a marketing profile of you that, without your knowledge, is given to the makers of the spyware and then sold to marketing strategy firms who will then be able to make a profit and form a better ad campaign.
How will I know if I have spyware on my computer?
The first sign that a computer is infected is when the Internet browser pops open, and suddenly a million pop-up advertisements show up on the screen. Another warning sign appears when your Web browser’s home page is different from the original. There could also be new pages added unexpectedly to your Favorites folder. Many more negative side-effects are brought on by Spyware. Possibly the worst will happen when your computer is no longer able to run a program, nor get directly linked to a website. All kinds of spyware can drastically slow down PC performance and share confidential information to computer hijackers like CoolWebSearch. However, if you do not see any of these symptoms, there is still a good chance that your computer may be infected, because every day, more and more spyware is emerging.
Fortunately, if you are having problems with too much spyware, there is plenty of anti-spyware software available.
Available anti-spyware software:
There are ways to fight against spyware infecting your computer. Some Internet Service Providers include anti-spyware software in the computer service packages. Anti-spyware software can also be downloaded for free.
Norton Anti-Virus proudly vaunts that it is the “Winning protection against viruses, spyware, & other malicious software.” Still, the trick is that this protection costs anywhere from .99 to 4.99.
There is, however, some software that can be downloaded for free. If you have Windows XP SP2, you can download Windows Defender. Simply run the tool to scan for unwanted spyware, and then review to make sure nothing important has been included. The most popular choice of anti-spyware is Spybot Search and Destroy. According to PCMag.com and PC World, this is the best anti-spyware software available. The only trick with downloading this “free” anti-spyware software is that in no time, it will ask for strong funds to keep protecting your computer from spyware.
Overview:
If your computer is running too slow, if pop-up advertisements are covering the entire screen, or if the home page is no longer the same, there is a more than good chance that spyware taking up space on your computer. Fortunately, there is a lot of software out there than can make the computer as good as new.
