Spyware is a serious concern and problem when it comes to keeping your personal information protected on the Internet. If you aren’t familiar with the term, here is a quick overview that should help demystify any misconceptions.
Spyware proliferated in the early 2000′s and gained widespread media coverage as marketing and media companies such as Gator (renamed Claria in 2003) leveraged the use of this information to segment and target advertising on behalf of its advertising clients. The companies that have encouraged the proliferation of spy ware have had to find a way to get it installed on your computer with, or in some instances, without your knowledge. Unfortunately, getting spyware applications unknowingly installed on your computer is much easier than you might think.
One way that these companies get you to install their application is to offer free downloads or toolbars as a “bonus” for downloading the primary application. These downloads are seemingly harmless so many users just go ahead and opt-in to have them installed. For example, most people don’t realize that in the process of installing P2P file sharing software such as Morpheus, Kazaa, or Grokster, they are actually also agreeing to download spy ware applications, such as Bonzi Buddy or Zango (formerly 180Solutions), that are bundled with the primary file sharing application.
Pop up ads can also be the source of spyware. These ads will offer great deals, prizes or worse yet, warnings that claim that “your computer has been infected” by a virus, enticing you to click on the pop-up ad which then begins the download process for the spy ware application.
If you notice any strange behavior on your computer, such as your home page being randomly redirected to another web site or other strange activity, you may have already been sacked by spyware. But don’t freak out…
In order to further protect yourself, you should always keep your Internet security settings at least “Medium” and always keep your browser and firewall up to date. Secondly, you should absolutely utilize an anti-spy ware application to keep watch for you. Popular programs include the following:
Windows Defender
AdAware Lavasoft
SpyBot Search and Destroy
To test your knowledge and to learn more about how to protect yourself, visit McAfee’s “SiteAdvisor Spyware Quiz“
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