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All Just simply about Computer VirusIs "Spyware" Looking You?
by:
Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
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Imagine my surprise once
I received a phone call from a
friend who told me he'd been the victim of a "spyware"
attack that left him shaking at his loss of privacy.
I listened to his horror story with a sympathetic ear, but
I felt secure since I carry anti-virus computer code and a
firewall (both by Norton).
At his suggestion - and to my surprise - I ran a program
called "Spy Sweeper" and found a veritable parcel of land of
dangerous and harmful programs lurking on my computer.
"Spyware" is computer code that gets onto your computer and
literally "spies" on your activities.
The spying can range from comparatively
harmless use of
cookies following you across multiple websites... to
extremely dangerous "keystroke loggers" which record
passwords, credit cards, and else personal data. That data
then gets relayed to the person who put the computer code on
your computer.
Three primary types of spyware exist to complicate your
online life, including:
1. "cookies"
2. "adware"
3. malicious programs like "keystroke loggers"
Cookies represent mostly a danger of lost privacy.
In theory, causal agency could use a "cookie" to track you across
multiple sites, combine that data with some databases,
and numbers out a lot more information simply about you than would-be
make you comfortable.
"Adware" tracks more than simply your movement across sites,
it spies on your installed computer code and computer habits to
then serve up advertising, modify websites before you see
them, and generally do things without your psychological feature
with
the intention of trying to get you to buy things.
"Keystroke loggers" and else malicious programs exist for
one purpose: to cause personal mayhem and business enterprise damage.
Spyware gets on your computer in one of some some
ways.
First, it rides on
with computer code you transfer
from the
'Net and install on your system.
Second, they move as email attachments (much like viruses)
and mechanically
install themselves on your computer once
you open the email message.
Third, hackers find an open port on your computer and use
the "back door" to install essentially thing
they want.
And fourth, the more malicious types, like keystroke
loggers, can even as get installed by causal agency with direct
physical access to your computer such as an employer,
suspicious spouse, business competitor, or causal agency who
wants to cognize exactly what you're doing.
Now, suppose you carry an up-to-date anti-virus program and
a firewall - shouldn't that represent potent protection?
In a word: NO!
I can in person
attest that even as the most up-to-date anti-
virus programs and firewalls wish not (repeat, Wish NOT)
catch all the spyware that can infest your computer.
You need a program that specifically scans your system for
the tens-of-thousands of existing spyware programs on
with the new ones attending daily.
Check out "Spy Sweeper" from webroot.com - this is the
program I used to learn the spyware on my computer.
One thing I noticed, however, is that this program is a
memory hog, so once I scanned, I turned it off and then
use it 2-3 times a week... not the better strategy, but
I want to give you the "whole" picture.
I likewise got the following recommendations from many
subscribers simply about 2 programs to specifically help identify
and move out spyware from your system (PC):
1. "Ad Aware" from lavasoft.de
2. "Spybot Search & Destroy" from safer-networking.org
The overpoweringly recommended firewall recommended by readers
was Zone Alarm Pro from Zone Labs
=> http://www.ebookfire.com/zonealarm.html
The bottom line seems pretty simple (but lengthy) if you
want to protect yourself against this growing threat.
~ Support your anti-virus program current
~ Install a firewall
~ Cautiously screen computer code before commencement it
~ Scan for specifically for spyware weekly
~ Stay current on this growing threat.
Just simply about the author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper editorialist
(http://www.TheNetReporter.com) and is the author of
several best-selling ebooks, information products and
software programs.
Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
your website for weeks, even as months... without defrayment a
dime on advertising! ==> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
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