What Is Spyware and Why is it Dangerous?

Author: Dennis Reynolds


Spyware is a general term used to describe software that
performs certain behaviors such as advertising,
collecting personal information, or changing the
configuration of your computer, generally without obtaining
your consent first.

Most of the time spyware is used to monitor your internet
surfing habits, and this information is used in conjunction with
adware to target specific advertisements to your tastes.
However, spyware can be used to monitor much more than just
surfing habits. Depending on the purposes of its creator,
spyware can monitor and gather information about:

1. Email addresses
2. Passwords


3. Credit card numbers
4. Keystrokes
5. Chat
   programs
6. Word processor documents
7. Web
   pages visited
8. Download habits
9. Cookies
   (little packets of information stored in your internet browser
   to identify you to websites that you visit
10. Anything
    on the hard drive

It's because of this kind of malicious behavior that
spyware presents such a risk to the everyday computer user and
according to the National Cyber Security Alliance, spyware
currently affects 80% to 90% of desktop computers worldwide.
Now that is one scary statistic.

Because spyware can gather so much information about you and
send it to another source without you even knowing what's
happening, spyware is a huge privacy and security threat.
In the wrong hands, spyware can be used to take someone's
personal information for the purposes of identity theft or
fraud. Information about you gathered by spyware can even be
sold by the spyware creator to third parties. The most
concerning part about this is that you have no control over what
the spyware monitors or where the information goes. Because of
this, you should choose to remove spyware from your
computers and take actions to prevent spyware from being
installed on your computers in the future.

How Does Spyware Get Onto My Computer?

Spyware typically finds its way onto your computer when you
download other programs, mainly freeware (free software, often
for trial purposes). This is called bundling - basically the
spyware producers pay the freeware producers to include the
spyware in their products. This helps finance the freeware that
you download so that you don't have to pay for it.

When you download your freeware, the spyware application that
you're also downloading may be mentioned in the licensing
agreement. The spyware company is counting on you to click "Ok"
without really reading the agreement, but if you do, the spyware
installation will be mentioned in very hard to understand jargon
so you may not realize that spyware is being added. Sometimes
the spyware is not even mentioned in the agreement, in which
case even if you read it, you will not be aware of the spyware.

Spyware can also be installed on your computer just by
visiting certain sites. You may be prompted to download a
certain application to see the site properly, to view a greeting
card, to watch a video or hear a song on the site, etc. But
really the application could have nothing to do with what the
site says its purpose is - it could be spyware instead.

Another trick spyware makers use to get you to download their
spyware is through ActiveX controls (simple programs that run in
your internet browser). When these start to load, your browser
will ask if you want to install. If you hit "No" this is only
good for the page you are on. Every time you load a new page,
your browser will ask you again. Lots of people give up and just
click "Yes" after this happens a few times. Little do they know,
they are agreeing to spyware.

Spyware is a problem that cannot be ignored and we
encourage every visitor to our site to learn how to href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com/best-way-remove-spyware.htm
l" title="Read how to best get rid of spyware and
adware.">remove spyware from their PC's.

href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com/best-way-remove-spyware.htm
l" title="Read how to best get rid of spyware and adware.">
Read: What is the best way to remove spyware?

Or title="Download the best spyware removal tool"> download the
Spyware removal program we've had the most success with.

About the author:
I spend my days working in IT and write for the site-

Spyware - which can cause your Computer Slow

Author: johnsunvalley

Do you know what is spyware, and what it will bring for your
laptop computer, now let me tell details of spyware which can
cause your Computer Slow.

Spyware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software
(Adware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a
product, other than by selling it to the users. There are
several large media companies that offer them to place banner
ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue
from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the
software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find
the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them,
by paying the regular licensing fee.

Spyware is a general term used to describe software that
performs certain behaviors such as advertising, collecting
personal information, or changing the configuration of your
computer, generally without obtaining your permission. Spyware
may be installed along with other software or as the result of a
virus infection. Spyware blockers can detect an invasion of
spyware into your computer and have become as popular as
antivirus programs. These days, it is nearly impossible to surf
the internet without being infected with spyware. A computer
infected with spyware can cause someone to pull their hair out
with frustration, because of all of the problems it can cause
related to the performance of your computer.

Spyware will log your keystrokes, steal your passwords, observe
your browsing choices, cause pop-up windows, send you targeted
email, redirect your web browser to phishing pages, report your
personal information to distant servers and deliver pornography,
whether you want it or not. It will perform a variety of nasty
activities, ranging from simple email advertising all the way to
complex identity theft and password stealing. It can flood your
browser with pop-up advertising, hijack your browser and
redirect you to an advertising or a phishing con web page.

Signs that your computer has been infected with spyware include
one or more of the following:

Slow Performance:

Spyware and other unwanted programs are not necessarily designed
to be efficient. The resources these programs use to track your
activities and deliver advertisements can slow down your
computer significantly, and cause your computer to crash. If you
notice a sudden increase in the number of times a certain
program crashes, or if your computer freezes or is slower than
normal, you may have spyware or other unwanted adware on your
machine.

Annoying Pop-ups:

Some unwanted programs will bombard you with pop-up ads that
aren't related to the Web site you're viewing. These ads are
often for adult content or other unwanted material. If you see
pop-up ads as soon as you turn on your computer or when you're
not even browsing the Web, you may have spyware on your computer.

Adding Toolbars:

Spyware and adware can add additional toolbars to your browser
that you don't want or need. Even if you know how to remove
these toolbars, they may continue return when you restart your
computer.

New Start Page:

Some spyware has the ability to change your home page or page
settings. This means that the page that opens first when you
start your web browser may be pages that you do not recognize.
Even if you adjust these settings, you may find that they revert
back every time your computer is started.

About the author:
Do you know what is spyware, and what it will bring for your
laptop computer, now let me tell details of spyware which can
cause your Computer Slow.

Has your computer been hijacked by Spyware?

Author: Ken Morris


Chances are it is. Why? Because Spyware is Everywhere! And if
you are infected, your privacy--and your sanity--could be at
risk.

A 2005 consumer study by Symantec revealed
that more than 85% of personal computers are affected by some
form of spyware. Even more frightening, the study found an
average of 24.5 instances of Spyware per computer. These
renegade programs can slip into your system in an instant--wreak
havoc on your computer or steal personal information--and then
be maddeningly difficult to remove.

Is your
computer one of those infected with spyware?


Ten surefire signs that your privacy may be at risk;

1. Your computer is running noticeably slower than usual


2. You are bombarded with popup ads or irritating spam


3. New toolbars suddenly appear in your browser
4. Your
   home page changes on its own
5. You are taken to an
   unfamiliar search page when you hit the search button


6. Strange software loads on startup
7. You download
   freeware, shareware, music or video files
8. You've found
   new entries in your Favorites that YOU DO NOT WANT


9. Your phone bill shows expensive calls to 900 numbers that
   you never made
10. The send/receive lights on your modem
    blink wildly even when you're not doing anything online

The most devious Spyware programs don't leave any traces
you'd notice. So even if everything appears to be perfectly
fine, you should still scan your system.

So why
take the chance? Find out right now if your computer is
infected with spyware.

To remove spyware from
your machine and protect from further privacy invasions, href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com/download.php"
title="Download a Free Copy of XoftSpySE Now">download the
XoftSpySE Spyware Scanner. In a few short minutes it scans
your computer's memory, registry entries, files and folders for
more than 42,000 different threats, and lets you know if you
have any unwanted intruders and is the safest way to remove them
completely.

For more detailed information, href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com/best-way-remove-spyware.htm
l" title="What is the best way to remove spyware?">read our
guide to ridding your PC of spyware.

About the author:
I'm a Windows System Administrator with over 15 years experience
in building and maintaining Windows based PCs. I'm now trying to
help others with my sites href="www.repair-xp.com">Repair-XP.com and href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com">Stopping-Spyware.com.

Title: What is the best way to remove spyware?

Author: Ken Morris


Now that you know what spyware is, how it gets onto your
computer, and the security issues it can create, you probably
want to remove this dangerous pest. You can do this in
two ways: manually, or by using an anti-spyware
program.

Manual Spyware Removal />
Sometimes it's pretty clear that a certain program
is spyware. In this case, you can try to remove it manually.
For Windows users, you can remove specific applications by going
to your control panel (in "Settings") and selecting the
"Add/Remove Programs" function. Once there, you will see a list
of programs. Click on the program you believe to be spyware and
select "Remove". Make sure to restart your computer after the
removal to be sure all changes required for the spyware to be
removed are complete.

Unfortunately, most of the
time removing spyware is not this easy. If you uninstall
the program the spyware came with, it doesn't mean that
the spyware will be uninstalled too. Also, many spyware
programs are invisible, meaning that they won't show up in
your program list. Spyware can also disguise itself by using
dozens of different file names in different locations, or even
by generating random names so it's not as easily detected. Even
if a spyware program appears on your program list and you can
uninstall it, not all traces of the program are always removed.
In this case, you should use an anti-spyware program. />
Spyware Removal Using an Anti-Spyware Program


The first rule of removing spyware by using a
specialized program is to not rely on anti-virus programs.
Because spyware is different from viruses, you need a
different program to remove it. We suggest using the spyware
removal program XoftSpySE from Paretologic, one of the most
trusted spyware applications on the market.

Start
by title="Download a Free Copy of XoftSpySE Now">downloading the
latest version of XoftSpySE, which you can do from the
Paretologic website. This ensures the program is up to date on
what spyware to look for and how to find it.

Next,
exit all browser windows and programs that you have
running. This includes email. You should also disconnect your
computer from the internet. These functions impede the
functionality of the spyware remover because it can't scan files
that are in use for spyware. The more activity you have going on
in your computer, the more likely it is that spyware is open and
working too.

Once everything is exited and you are
disconnected from the internet, run a scan using
XoftSpySE.

After you run a scan using your
anti-spyware program for the first time, restart your computer
and run a scan again. This ensures nothing was missed the
first time. Let the program remove any additional spyware files.
If suspicious files were found during the second scan, restart
your computer and run the spyware remover again. Keep repeating
the scan-restart-scan process until your XoftSpySE cannot find
any more spyware.

If you repeat this process three
times and your spyware remover keeps finding spyware, or if your
program can't find any more spyware but you think there's still
some left, you can then attempt a scan with a second piece of
anti-spyware software, at this point a freeware application
should do the trick, href="http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html"
title="Download SpyBot Search & Destroy" target="_blank">SpyBot
Search & Destroy is the leading freeware spyware removal
program and running it after doing a series of scans with
XoftSpySE will rid your PC of any remaining spyware.
/> For more detailed information on running href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com/download.php"
title="Download a Free Copy of XoftSpySE Now">XoftSpySE and
title="Download SpyBot Search & Destroy" target="_blank">Spybot
Search & Destroy together, read href="http://www.stopping-spyware.com/dont-trust-one-spyware-tool
.html" title="Why you can't trust one spyware removal program">
"Why you can't trust one spyware removal program".