Avoiding Spyware And Malware Attacks
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by Paul Wilcox
Spyware is more than just annoying - it can cause other programs to not work properly and can cause your computer to become quite unstable. Not to mention the privacy issues it brings up.
Spyware is often installed without your knowledge or consent and in many cases can't be removed from your computer without specialized software tools. When the people that distribute it need to resort to tricking you into installing it, there's obviously very little there to warrant your trust.
The first line of defense against spyware is to be careful installing software. Know what's being downloaded. A large percentage of freeware or shareware programs have spyware embedded in them. Sometimes that's disclosed in the user agreement, but often not.
Check for a guarantee that the software is spyware free. This won't protect you 100%, but it is a good step towards being able to trust a website.
How will you know if you've been infected by spyware? Some of the most common problems include unusual pop-up ads, a change to your homepage, new toolbars showing up in your browser and your computer acting strangely, such as freezing up or rebooting out of the blue.
If you do get infected with spyware, there are ways to get rid of it. A number of companies make software designed to get rid of it. These programs will scan your computer and check through their database of known spyware for any matches. These databases get updated frequently as new forms of spyware are found.
Many are free, though sometimes the paid versions have more automation features such as removing spyware on receipt rather than requiring a manual scan. None will find every piece of spyware on your system, since they rely on a database which has to be populated according to someone's judgment. And, one man's spyware is sometimes another's welcomed advertiser.
Some spyware is notoriously difficult to remove. They may make several alterations to your system settings and install files in different places. Often the only way to remove this type of spyware is to find the locations of all the files and manually delete them.
This is obviously not something you should undertake unless you're quite familiar with Windows and working with system files. You wouldn't want to delete something that renders Windows inoperable.
Once the spyware has been removed from your system, you should run scans on a regular basis to keep it clean. Whether you do this manually or use a program that does it automatically on a schedule is up to you (and your pocketbook).
Of course, you need to always be wary of anything you download. You never know when there is going to be a significant cost to that free software that looks so cool.
About the Author
How can you protect your computer from viruses, spyware, identity theft and other (http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com) internet security attacks? You don't need to be a technical genius to be safe. Learn the insider secrets that will keep your computer safe at http://www.onlinesecuritytoolkit.com
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