Unless you’ve been on another planet for the last five or six years you have surely heard of Spyware and I would hope you are taking precautions against your PC being infected. But do you know that the precautions you take may be ineffective in protecting your PC? Here are my Top Ten Facts about Spyware - some of them may shock you!
You must be wondering, what is Spyware or Spyware Anti-Virus, and why it is important to have your computer scanned and updated with Spyware Antivirus software. With the rise of internet more and more users came on internet and gave rise to e-commerce benefiting users and commerce industry. With this it created problems related to user profiling and in some cases malicious attempts to intercept login and passwords for financial institutions. The word Spyware surfaced in mid 1990, right before dot com boom, it saw its use only when dot com boom created tons of companies on net and millions of user got hooked to internet.
Spyware, or software that is used to track your every move online, is one of the most serious threats that we face when using the internet and unfortunately it is all too easy to un-knowingly become a victim of it. That last piece of software that you downloaded, or that last download of mp3 music may also contain software that can display unwanted advertising, track your movements as you surf the web, collect personal information, and even change the configuration settings of your computer. These changes can include your home page and search page selection being altered and additional components being added to your browser. The speed at which your computer runs can also be affected or even worse spyware has been known to cause computers to crash altogether! Apart from the obvious, here are five good reasons why you need adequate spyware protection:
- Personal details being used for identity theft. This one is scary and all too real. Un-authorized credit card charges, loans being taken out under your name, I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of what a mess this can make of people’s lives.
Spyware is any software establishes itself without your consent or knowledge and then carries out a series of functions from your computer like keeping a log of the websites that you visit, login information, passwords, credit card details, etc. and then transferring this information to unauthorized parties. Spyware may also vary the settings of your web browser like adding a few non required tools or change your default web browser itself. In the worst case scenario, it may lead to a complete break down of your system. Every computer user should thus take a few cautious steps to stop spyware as it is rightly said that precaution is better than cure.
Different steps and measures can be taken to ensure your protection and to make sure that your computer remains safe from computer viruses. By going through with these steps and measures you can easily protect yourself and save yourself from getting attacked by hackers.
Get yourself high-quality virus protection software
One comment that I hear over and over again in my IT career is something similar to this “Hey, I need to buy a new computer! This one has tons and tons of spy ware and viruses on it and I have no idea how they got on my computer! I always get pop-ups and Internet Explorer loads up a porn site whenever I open it! What do I do?”
Spyware is a form of malicious code that extends beyond the scope of tracking and logging your activities. Spyware puts you at risk by collecting your personal information. The presence of spyware on your computer system also interferes with the normal operation of your operating system, web browser and other software. The best spyware protection for your computer system is found in one of many spyware protection software products available. However, you should be very cautious when installing any type of new software or installing an update to existing software. If these installations are not from trusted sources, you should reject any offer of installing new applications until you research the source and necessity of the installation. You should also avoid buttons included in pop-up ads that encourage you to download software. These buttons, such as “Cancel” and “No Thanks”, often link to a spyware installation. In fact, selecting any button in an ad window generated by spyware may cause spyware to download. If you use a dial-up modem, spyware may hijack your modem as you attempt to connect to the Internet and force a series of toll and overseas calls at your expense.
Spyware is any type of program that installs itself on a computer without the knowledge of the user and uses the Internet connection without the permission of the user. Removing spyware using spyware removal programs such as Ad-ware and Spybot can solve this problem. These spyware removal tools can only be effective if their definition files are properly updated. This is because uninstalling the program attached to the spyware may not remove it.
Some of the other common programs that are similar to spyware are datamining, aggressive advertising, parasites, scumware, key loggers, selected Trojans, dialers, malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. Many P2P clients such as Bearshare, LimeWire, Kazaa and Grokster are common sources of acquiring spyware.
Over the last couple of years hackers have shifted their focus from large targets to small business and individuals. Unfortunately, neither have the financial resources to protect against the hard-hitting hackers. Even more challenging, experts say the over-the-counter antivirus solutions aren’t keeping up with these ever changing threats.
· Have you heard U.S. businesses lost over $67 billion to cyber crime in 2006 according to the FBI?
· Did you know that 87% of businesses suffered from some sort of cyber crime last year according to the same report?
· Approximately 15 million U.S. citizens will lose their identity this year according to the FTC
In this age of highly advanced information technology, almost everything that we used to do manually can now be done through computers. Paying the bills, transferring funds, reserving a first class airline ticket – no matter what kind of transaction you have to do, you can do it over the Internet. Everything is so much simpler and faster.
But of course, there is a catch. When good things happen, there is usually a downside. When online transactions became popular, online theft grew rampant as well. While it is now so simple to open a bank account and transfer money online, stealing that money has become relatively simpler, too.
