What is spyware?
Spyware is as bad as it sounds. It monitors everything you do online and reports that information via the
internet. What’s the worst part? The vast majority of people with spyware on their systems do not even know it.
The makers of spyware want to manipulate what you see and do online to force you into buying things from
them and their advertisers. They are developing new methods every day to do this more efficiently, including:
- Displaying ads that reflect the home pages you visit.
- Stealing identifying information about you and using it to send targeted spam
- Changing your search engine results to put their advertisers on top
Antivirus software is not enough to fight spyware?
There is really no technical reason why antivirus software could not do the work of removal spyware tool. And, in
fact, some antivirus programs do identify some spyware. However, much of spyware and adware exist in a gray
area, not out-and-out fraudulent or harmful, but still raising concerns about privacy. The demarcation lines are
still unclear, and that’s one big reason why antivirus software doesn’t yet fully deal with spyware threats.
Antivirus software makers have been reluctant to tackle the spyware threat head-on, usually focusing on only
the most egregious examples of spyware. That’s why you really need to use a removal spyware tool, even if you
have antivirus protection on your PC.
How spyware cleaner work?
Removal spyware software works very much like antivirus software. They have a database of known spyware,
adware, and other similarly unpleasant programs. Using this database, the software scans your system looking
for signs of any of these programs. It then completely removes any spyware it finds.
How to choose a good spyware cleaner?
A good spyware removal tool will tackle a wide range of problems, from adware that inserts pop-up ads as you
browse the Web, to cookies that track your movements online, to browser hijacking that manipulates the sites
you visit and the content you see. The threats are ever-changing, so the best spyware removers need to
respond to an ever-widening array of issues.
- The average home PC contains 30 pieces of spyware according to an audit carried out in 2006 by security
company Webroot Software. The type of infections range from the relatively harmless adware programs to
malicious system monitors and trojan horses. Adware programs are software installations that display
advertisements. System monitors are much more malicious and track a computer user's Internet activity and
capture personal information. Trojan Horse is the name given to malicious software which, although harmless
itself, opens the way for more malicious software to be installed. Webroot Software found that, on average, the
30 pieces of spyware would contain at least 1 system monitor and 1 trojan horse.
- Your identity can be a few mouse clicks away for criminals. Spyware can gather and report all the personal
information about you including credit card numbers, bank account details, user names and passwords.
According to The Identity Theft Resource Center, 13.3 people in the U.S. become victims of identity theft every
minute. Although not all of these are due to spyware, it's still a chilling thought that it can happen so easily if
your PC is infected with this kind of malicious software.
- Spyware can slow down you computer. Any computer has a limited amount of system resources. Every time
another piece of software is run the computer must share out its resources ever more thinly. Malicious software
infections result in longer boot times and an overall slowing down of the PCs performance.
- Spyware can dramatically slow down your Internet connection. Every Internet connection has a limited amount of
data it can transfer at any one time. All spyware communicates with the Internet thereby using up some of your
available Internet communication. The more spyware, the more Internet communication will take place and the
less space on your Internet connection for your own use.
- Spyware can turn you into a 'spammer'. Some spyware can download other software on to your PC that can
relay Spam. In some cases this may lead to your Internet connection being blocked altogether if your ISP
(Internet provider) traces instances of Spam to you.
- Spyware can easily be installed on your computer without your knowledge. In some cases just one piece of
Spyware can lead to many, many more as the initial infection downloads and installs other malicious software
stealthily in the background.
- Spyware can allow hackers to control your PC. Some versions install 'backdoors' to your PC that can allow
someone from the outside to connect to your PC over the Internet and take full control of its use. Your PC can
then be turned in to a 'zombie' that sends out spam, Trojan horses and computer viruses in their millions.
- Some Spyware removal programs install Spyware. Why would they do that? In order to hide their own spying
software. Think about it. You install an Anti-Spyware program to protect yourself against Spyware. The bogus
Anti-Spyware program sweeps your PC for all Spyware except it's own secret list of allowed spy software. You
think it's doing a great job and feel secure in using your PC when all the while secret spy software is sending out
spam or monitoring your use looking for personal details. See spywarewarrior.com for a list of bogus Spyware
removal software.
- The best Anti-Spyware program only finds 90% of Spyware. Check out the review of Anti-Spyware software in
any PC Magazine and you'll find that none of them detect any more than 90% and most cannot remove more
than 80%. Don't be fooled in to thinking it's not worth using any Anti-Spyware programs, after-all 90% is a whole
lot better than 0% which would be the detection rate without the Anti-Spyware software.
- Many computer users resort to wiping their PC and re-installing everything again in order to rid their system of
Spyware. While this will do the trick, there is no guard against re-infection and can be a waste of time or lead to
a loss of important data. After the system is back in use it may only be a matter of minutes before it's infected
again (see the BBC 'Honeypot' report mentioned on my website).
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