The Threat of Spyware: Devouring Your System and Your Privacy
by: KrisPaulita |
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A recent study conducted by AOL in conjunction with the National Security Alliance determined that, in a sample of 354 homes, over 61% of users had spyware loaded on their computers. Another study indicates that 83% of computers are infected with some form of spyware and 89% of affected consumers are unaware that they have spyware installed on their computers. Spyware can be devastating to both your privacy your computer system's performance. The good new is, security software technology exists that can keep this threat from damaging your computer, sapping your productivity and exposing you to the threat of identity theft.
It can sometimes be difficult to tell if spyware or adware has been installed on your computer. A good rule of thumb is this: if you have not taken steps to actively prevent the installation of spyware on your computer, it's likely that your system is infected. A few signs that your system is infected with spyware include:
1) Your Web browser opens to a different home page
2) Your system's desktop has extra icons on it and you have no idea how they got there, or your browser has an extra toolbar on it that you did not install.
3) Your web browser's "Favorites" list contains web pages you did not put there
4) When web browsing you notice an unusual amount of pop-up ads, often unrelated to sites you are viewing
5) Your system takes a very long time to boot, and runs more slowly than it used to.
This is how your system gets infected: while you are browsing sites on the Web, small computer programs are at work behind the scenes, gathering information about what you do, who you are, and who your friends are. These little programs gather this information and transmit it to a secret host somewhere on the network. On the other end of that connection, someone takes that information and uses it to send you spam email, or to send pop-up advertisements to your screen. Worse, they may be using the transmitted information to steal your identity!
It's called spyware, and it's the greatest threat to ever hit the Internet. In its most seemingly innocuous form, it's called adware, and is delivered to your computer--usually without your knowledge--as part of some other program or utility. But while suffering through a few ads may seem like a small price to pay for that cool new game you downloaded, think again. The licensing terms of the adware you clicked on very likely allows the adware company to sell information to third parties. It also allows them to insert that piece of software onto your PC, which ultimately eats bandwidth as it constantly transmits information back to the host. Before you know it, you're killing pop-ups every ten seconds, you are drowning in spam, and your system crashes on a daily basis.
Because adware and spyware programs are stand-alone programs, they can be designed to do just about anything on your computer. Not only can they track your browsing habits, they can also be designed to examine the contents of your disk drive, copy files from them and transmit them elsewhere on the network, change system files, change registry settings, steal passwords or even credit card number if they are stored on your system.
Getting rid of spyware can be difficult - since it lands on your system in any of a variety of ways and can affect your system in many different ways. It is highly advisable that you install anti-spyware software, but doing that alone will not provide you with a complete solution. Here are a few things that you can do to keep spyware from compromising your system:
1) Make sure that you kep your anti-spyware software up to date. Many spyware programs are identified and classified by anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Fixes are published.
2) Many spyware applications launch automatically when certain web pages are visited - porn sites are notorious for containing spyware. URL filters will prevent yousers from accessing web sites that are likely to contain spyware. Install a URL filtering solution.
3) Be especially wary of email attachments from unknown senders. Spammers email attachments in an attempt to trick you into clicking on them. When you do - you get a special delivery of spyware.
4) If you use a firewall, disallow certain file types that are likely to be spyware, such as .exe or .vbs files, Java, or ActiveX.
5) Don't use Internet Messaging or Peer to Peer file sharing programs. If you decide to, be carefull while doing so. Always know ahead of time what you're downloading and who it's from. These types of programs are notorious as conduits for spyware.
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You can find a wealth of information on anti spyware software at our home. You will find loads of interesting and informative articles on Adware and several outstanding software solutions there as well.
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