Everyone is very aware of viruses by now. And spam is once again becoming a household word. But there is a new nightmare brewing. Spyware is the latest threat to the security and reliabililty of computers connected to the Internet. Spyware are hidden programs that get installed on your computer without you knowing. These programs then run on your computer and perform various tasks. Most of the time they simply track your Internet activity so that the Pop Ups that appear on your screen can be tailored to your interests. Sounds great doesn't it? Well some spyware is a lot more evil. Software can be installed that actually monitors your keystrokes and can either report them back to the bad guy or store them on your machine so the bad guy can access them through the backdoor he created with another spyware program. This is not good. How often do you order things on line and type your credit card number in? Other variants of spyware just wreak total havoc with your computer, in some cases making a complete reload necessary.
So how do these things get on your computer? Well most of the time YOU put them there. Have you installed "helpful" little free programs on your computer from the Internet? Gator, Kazza, Smiley Faces, etc., etc.? These programs all contain spyware and they will even tell you they do. You do read the license screen that pops up when you download these programs don't you. These programs are the monitoring types that simply monitor your browsing habits, bad but not destructive. If you find "free" software of any type on the Internet you should be suspect.
Our experience in the last 6 months is that spyware is causing more problems for our Clients than viruses. Spam is a nuisance and is everywhere but most of the time it's just a aggravation. (Lately viruses and spyware is being nicely packaged in spam messages.)
Another way spyware can get installed on your system is through your Internet connection. If you do not have a properly configured firewall and/or you do not have the Windows Security Updates up to date on your system you are a easy target.
You can purchase spyware tracking software from various sources. One of the best is from www.bulletproofsoft.com.
I'll go so far to say that if you don't have spyware detecting software installed on your computer you DO have spyware. Want to bet?
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