What is Spyware?
Broadly speaking, Spyware is something that sneaks on to your
computer, usually with the intentions of extracting money from
you. At its worst, Spyware can take control of your computer,
directing you to web pages you didn't want to go to, downloading
other nasty stuff in the background, and even harvesting email
address, passwords and your credit card details. But even a mild
case of Spyware infection can be nuisance.
If you've ever been plagued by annoying pop-ups when your
computer loads, or have strange new icons where your clock is
(bottom right, called the System Tray), or if you're directed to a
strange webpage when you try to go on to the internet, then you
may well be infected.
Spyware, in the main, gathers information about you and your
online habits, and sends that information to third party. And all
without asking for your permission!
Where does Spyware come from?
Spyware can come from a whole host of different sources. But
Spyware mainly gets on to your PC through deception. For example,
suppose you receive this email:
You'd assume that this email was sent to you in
error. Can you resist clicking on the link? After all, what harm
can it do? Well, a lot actually! There well may be a joke on the
site, but there's something less funny going on in the background
- the web page is trying to sneak something on to your PC! You may
also have seen a harmless-looking popup window asking you to click
a button to proceed. You'll click it anyway, just to get rid of
it. Clicking OK is what's infected your PC!
Other sources of Spyware infection are freeware or shareware
software, an operating system that is un-patched and hasn't got
the latest security software, downloading stuff from peer-to peer
applications - the list is long!
And don't think your Anti-Virus software will protect you - it
won't! Spyware is not considered to be a virus, so your Anti-Virus
software won't spring in to action once an infection takes place -
it will stay sleeping in the background, unaware that anything
malicious is going on. The best tool for the job is a dedicated
Spyware Detection system.
Beware of the Scam Merchants!
You may have come across a website that promises to check your
PC for Spyware infection. All for free. All you need to do is to
click a button to scan your PC. So you download, scan, and lo and
behold - it's found something! Then up pops a message directing
you to a website that lets you buy the software.
Except, it didn't really detect anything. Or if it did, it's
what's know as a false positive (Something that sounds dangerous
but isn't). The job of the scan is to scare you into buying their
software.
If you type in "Spyware detection" into Google, most
of the results that come back are for these types of programmes.
According to Suzi
Turner, writing on Zdnet
, some of the most popular Spyware scams are these products:
- SpyAxe
- SpySheriff
- PSGuard
- WorldAntiSpy
- Spy Trooper
- Razespyware
- SpywareNo or SpyDemolisher
- WinAntiVirus or WinAntiSpyware 2005
- SlimShield tied with "Winhound Spyware Remover"
- Spyware Bomber (shut down by the FTC)
Hopefully, you haven't bought anything on the top ten list!
Even if you haven't, check out the alarmingly long list of scam
Spyware on spywarewarrior.com
(Fortunately, they also have a good-software list!)
If you've bought any of the software on the bad list then the
protection you have is at no protection at all. At worst, these
pieces of software can be incredibly difficult to get rid of -
Spyware themselves!
How to get Rid of Spyware
As a computer owner, you really need your wits about you in the
Spyware detection game. So what are you to do if you can't even
trust the very people who say they are going to help you clean
your PC? Well, you can fight back! The best way to do that is with
software from very reputable companies. The following are the most
well-known (and free) anti-spyware solutions:
Ad-Aware is probably the easiest to use of the three. SpyBot is
good, but a bit complex for beginners. Microsoft Windows Defender
is well worth getting, too. However, it's not the easiest piece of
software in the world to use. You do get some good tools with it,
though. Check out the websites by clicking the links above
(there's a tutorial on the Microsoft site for Windows Defender).
Once you download your chosen anti-spyware solution, you need
to install it on to your PC. After you have installed it, start
the software and do a full scan of your computer. (Ad-Aware has a
nice big button that says "Scan"!)
Unlike anti-virus software, it IS recommended that you have
more than one anti-spyware solution on your PC. This is because
spyware can be very difficult to get rid of, and anti-spyware
software will rarely find 100 percent of threats. By having more
than one solution, what one piece of anti-spyware programme
misses, the other should (hopefully) pick it up.
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