Spyware – The Internet Devil Of Our Times! – Spyware
Spyware - The Internet Devil Of Our Times!
Julian Pereira
Spyware and Adware infest over 90 percent of computers in use today. Internet linked computers has made it easy for spybots, adware, and trojans to infiltrate and compromise online privacy. Installed toolbars can also contribute to browser hijacking and spyware related problems.
Spyware, malware, scumware, and trojans gather information about people and online activities. It is important to deny these
Your Computer May Be Infected. Heres How To Check.. NOT about virus – Spyware
Your Computer May Be Infected. Heres How To Check.. NOT about virus
Fazly Mohamed
NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PCs security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out for later reference.
A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users not aware of it. Your computer could fall into this lot too. The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software is running, these software can even inactivate them and take over your PC.
Have you experienced any of the following
Awsome popups comes out of nowhere, when browsing the web
Home page reset to some other site
How can this happen
- The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up and running as soon as its finished installing or after the page is completely loaded and with every windows startup since then. Their job is to collect information and report or transfer it to an external computer.
What is deceptive software Reference: www.microsoft.com
Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of "deceptive" software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your home page or search page without first getting your permission. There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your system. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program.
Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of adware in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement.
Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at the medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being installed on your computer.
Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to accept a download even after you said "no" Creators of deceptive software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If this happens to you, do not click "yes". Instead, try to close the Web page that first asked you to accept the download by hitting the "X" in the corner of the window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to begin browsing the Internet again. If you visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust.
Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know the status of your computer. You must clean infections once you find it and the game is not over yet. The spyware might reinfect your PC. So its highly recommended that you run a firewall on your system after the clean up. This will allow you to monitor every single communication occurs with your computer and block the ones which you feel unnecessary. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the external world Internet / Network.
A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all the infections and potential dangers in great detail. Its free to scan but not to clean. Its a good idea to have a scan even you have no idea of cleaning, since you know the status of your PC in great detail. This gives two advantages.
Firstly, if there are minor infections and if you have a fair knowledge on registry settings and how to edit them, you may have a try to clean them up. Secondly, if it shows that there are major infections, you can avoid using credit cards and doing other confidential stuff, until you clean it up later.
You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems eg. Windows XP, there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how to activate it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com
You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these spyware Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut answer, we can safely state that every thing boils down to the urge of more profits. How The spyware collects all your personal information and transfer it to an external computer. The information is reviewed by a software in the receiving computer and then deleivered targeted popup ads to your PC. There are many things that spyware does in addition to this. The most dangerous of those is that collecting the credit card numbers.
If you have some technical knowledge on your PC, heres a technical explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause.
1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your activities in your PC.
2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC and the spyware writers computer.
The first process in it self is an unneeded process and it contributes to slow down your PC. Second is the most harmful. It transfers logged info to the external PC spyware writers PC. Then the external PC transfers targeted popups to the infected PC. This, in addition to slowing down your PC because of these extra processes, it also slows down the internet connection, as the bandwidth is shared. In short, PC with a spyware is like a dumping ground for snakes. Once its there and up and running, it can do almost anything with your PC.
Please pass this on to all you know. The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is the most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more attention of many malicious software developers.
About The Author
Fazly Mohamed - fazlymohamed @ yahoo.com
6 Essential Steps to Protect Your Computer On the Internet For Free – Spyware
6 Essential Steps to Protect Your Computer On the Internet For Free
Jerry Yu
Recently one of my friends asked me to check out if his computer was infected by virus. He suspected because occasionally the computer was shut down automatically when connected to internet. My first thought was the Sasser worm 60 seconds auto count-down. As he uses Windows 98 second edition with IE5, the virus must be a Sasser variant.
Im not network security expert but I know some basic things he must do to protect his home PC. It was a shock when he told me that his 4 years old PC had no protection except McAfee anti-virus.
Bought in 2000 and no Windows service packs had been applied since then.
McAfee anti-virus software came with the PC when bought and no updates since then.
No firewall installed.
No anti spyware installed.
This is what I did to beef up his PC to the best of my knowledge.
Step #1: Patch the operating system.
The first thing I did was update his Windows 98 to the latest available Windows updates for Windows 98.
Open Microsoft Windows Update page at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Scan the PC to find out what critical updates and security fixes are missing.
Select, download, and install a selection of updates, especially any Critical Updates.
Restart the PC after finished.
When you open the Microsoft Windows Update page, click the "Scan for updates" link. The page will suggest what updates are needed based on your Windows version. You should install all Critical Updates suggested by Microsoft.
It took me about one and half hour to complete the above steps.
Step #2: Download, install, and run Spybot to get rid of all spyware.
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.phppage=download
Spybot-S&D is a free anti-spyware software to detect any spyware installed on your PC.
Spyware is any software that is installed on your PC and tracks your online behavior without your knowledge or consent. Spyware generally can
Track what web pages you are visiting and send these information to advertising companies. This kind of spyware is commonly called adware.
Track and record your computer activities such as what keys you hit. This is generally called Trojans.
Change your web browsers home page.
And more...
After installed Spybot, I immediately scanned my friends computer and found 166 problems. The first run killed nearly all of them except some memory residents that had to be killed after a reboot.
Step #3: Download and install Kerio Personal Firewall KPF.
http://www.kerio.com/us/kpf_download.html
Kerio Personal Firewall limited free edition is for home users. After installation, KPF works as the full edition for 30 days, after which it becomes the limited free edition.
You may also try the free ZoneAlarm firewall. Be aware that ZoneAlarm free edition uses a lot of computer memory.
The following is the free ZoneAlarm firewall download link. You hardly can find this download link on ZoneAlarm site because they want you to buy the Pro version which is a much better choice.
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Step #4: Download AVG anti-virus software
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Because my friend has McAfee antivirus installed but has not been updated for about 4 years. I downloaded AVG Free Edition antivirus software and let him to consider if he wanted to pay and update his McAfee or use the freebie. Running two antivirus software on the same computer can cause conflicts.
Step #5: Install password management software - RoboForm free edition.
http://www.roboform.com/affid=siter
RoboForm is a password management software with Artificial Intelligence built in that can automatically fill online forms for you. It has been featured on The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times, Financial Times, PC Magazine, etc.
Nowadays we all have many usernames and passwords to use on the internet. Some spywares record your keystrokes and send them to the hackers. It has been reported many times that people lost all their money in online bank account or internet payment system account.
One of RoboForm key features is designed to combat this kind of key logger hacking. RoboForm can
AutoSave passwords in browser.
AutoFill passwords to login form.
Click Login button for you.
Fill personal info into online forms.
Save offline passwords & notes.
Generate Secure Random Passwords.
Encrypt passwords and personal info using 3-DES.
All personal info is stored on your computer only.
Put passwords on USB KeyChain for extra security.
Sync your passwords and safenotes to a Palm.
Backup & Restore, Print your passwords.
More features: drill down for more.
RoboForm works best with IE 5.0 and above. IE6 is the recommended browser to use with Artificial Intelligence RoboForm.
Note: free eidition comes with some limitations.
Step #6: Apply additional security measures.
More security measures and resources:
Read Web Security tutorial from W3Schools, especially the paragraphs for home users.
http://www.w3schools.com/site/site_security.asp
Use Audit My PC to do three Penetration Testing.
http://www.auditmypc.com/freescan/prefcan.asp
Use Gibson Researchs ShiedsUP to do port scan and get useful advice.
https://grc.com/x/ne.dllbh0bkyd2
Download Gibson Researchs LeakTest and check if personal firewall can be fooled. If the firewall is good, the LeadTest will not be able to reach the internet.
http://grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm
Browse Microsoft security home page to learn more about Windows security.
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx
Mission completed. It took me nearly 4 hours that night and the result is so far so good.
About The Author
The author, Jerry Yu, is an experienced internet marketer and web developer. Visit his site http://www.WebActionGuide.com for FREE "how-to" step-by-step action guide, tips, knowledge base articles, and more.