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Spyware
Does
your computer seem slow? Do strange screens pop up in
front of you while you are working, advertising some
Casino or must-have computer program? Does your PC
freeze up regularly, or want you to send error
messages off to Microsoft?
If
this sounds like your computer, then your PC is
infected with Spyware. Spyware is a general term for a
group of various Internet programs that download and
install themselves onto your PC. Spyware, also known
as Malware or Adware, come in through your Internet
connection, usually without your knowledge. Most
Spyware is designed to collect information about your
Internet habits, such as which websites you visit, and
which search words you most commonly use. These
Internet programs then send this information back to
the Spyware creators. Common programs that do this are
GAIN Publishing, BonziBuddy, MyWebSearch, and Smiley
Central.
The
more dangerous types of Spyware however are known as
key-loggers. These Internet programs record your
keystrokes, and send this information back to the
Spyware creators. These types of Spyware severely
compromise your privacy, recording things like your
passwords, your email addresses, and your bank
details. We will talk more about Internet security in
a future article, but for now it will be enough to
tell you that these Spyware parasites are everywhere.
These types of Spyware are commonly known as Trojan
Horses.
Another
group of Spyware are known as Hijackers. These
programs take over your Internet browser, and will not
let you go to any website except the one created by
the Hijacker. Common examples of this uninvited type
of Spyware are Porn Diallers and CoolWWWSearch.
Thankfully,
there are several good ways of removing and preventing
Spyware. We use and highly recommend the free program
Spybot – Search & Destroy v1.3. Once installed,
this program searches for over 22,500 different types
of Spyware. It will remove any Spyware it finds on
your PC, and block the major types from re-entering.
Along
with Spybot, we use and recommend the free Internet
firewall called ZoneAlarm. Internet firewalls act much
like a nightclub bouncer—they monitor everything
that comes in or goes out of your Internet connection.
Windows XP with SP2 already comes with a good
firewall. For the other versions of Windows, we find
ZoneAlarm an excellent program.
With these two
programs, we have been able to keep out Spyware from
our customers’ computers. Spybot and ZoneAlarm are
freely available for download from the Internet, or if
you prefer, we can assist you in obtaining and
configuring them. You can contact us on 0419 790 071,
or 4163 8061 during business hours. We are happy to
assist you.
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