It is kind of hard to imagine right now that once upon a time, the only way for an advertiser to find out the needs and wants of the average customer was market research. With the advent of the Internet, the techniques these advertisers employ seem like splendid ideas for those looking to increase their sales. But for us, innocent PC users, these techniques are just another means of wreaking havoc in our system. No, I am not talking about spammed e-mail. There is something nastier, unknown to many until they are badly affected. Yep, I am talking about spyware.
Spyware is a software that you would not normally suspect of any foul play. It usually comes bundled with another software. Ever heard of Kazaa Media Desktop or ZapSpot Games? Once you install this type of software on your PC, the hidden spyware code inside these software will start tracking your online behaviour: the type of web sites you visit, the search words you type most frequently and so on. Some types of spyware also place certain files in your cookies folders, with the result that you spend more time online closing pop-up windows than browsing or checking your e-mail. This was a very simplified version of the spyware. You can read a more clear definition of spyware at http://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html that will detail you on the different types of spyware, how the developers actually ensure what they are doing is perfectly legal, how privacy policies can mislead you and which type of spyware are a haven for the parents who wish to monitor the online activities of their children.
More information, along with some white papers and expert advice is available as Information Kit: Spyware at http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci905446,00.html. Here you can read up on the different dangers of spyware, and go through the answers given by technical experts to general users’ queries relating to spyware. You can even ask your own question here to be answered by an expert.
Another web site that is totally dedicated to disseminating information on spyware is http://www.spywareinfo.com/. Here you can subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get the latest in the world of spyware. Also, there is a plethora of forums where you can talk it out with other PC users. However, the most comprehensive section here is that of “Articles and Newsletter Archives” in which you can go through the different annoying consequences of spyware, such as browser hijacking attempts and spam bots, and ensure that you are well protected from them. It also has many precautionary measures such as deleting cookies and erasing all cyber footprints yourself. To find out the details of what exactly is it that makes spyware such a menace, check out the article “The Trouble with Spyware” http://cexx.org/problem.htm. It has some pretty good information on the subject.
Spyware Watch http://www.spyware.co.uk/ is another very good web site to refer to when dealing with spyware. Not only will it detail you on the intricacies of spyware and stealware, but it also features help on how to remove spyware as well as looking at the legal and privacy issues relating to the dissemination of software which is a spyware. To keep yourself up to date on the latest spyware news, one web site to watch out for is http://www.extremetech.com/category2/0,1556,1096648, 00.asp. This address features weekly updates on the release on the latest spyware and how to keep yourself secure from them.
So, how to purge your system of all such spyware and adware? http://download .com/3150-8022-0.html?tag=stbc.gp has the solution. It features a number of different software that can be downloaded for free. Such software, if updated frequently, can be used to scan the system and get rid of all the unwanted cookies, data miners and all such attempts to track your movements in cyberspace. I personally recommend Spybot Search and Destroy 1.3, Spyware Guard and Lavasoft Ad Aware 6 http://www.lavasoftusa.com. If you are searching for anti-spyware tools, you must be wary of what you download since some of them turn out to be spyware themselves. It is best to stick to http://www.download.com to ensure that you don’t get over-infected.
Another good web site is http://www.pchell.com/support/spyware.shtml. It will help you to remove Spyware and Adware from your system. This one features links to destroy specific spyware. Hence, this web site is useful only if you do know which spyware exists on your system, such as Cool Web Search, Comer Cursors, Hot Bar or Date Manager. However, each spyware tool is explained in detail here, along with a good explanation as to how to remove it. So even if you only suspect your system of having any one of these, the steps are worth carrying out. Keep checking this page out as it is updated frequently.
You must be wondering why bother with spyware? After all, there is nothing what-so-ever on your PC that would be of interest to any advertiser! That is precisely where you are mistaken: the search words you type, the keystrokes you enter when online, the type of material you download and the different sites you visit enable the advertisers to customize their advertisements just for you and increase their level of targeted advertising. The result is not just annoying pop-up windows, but also if you have your own web site, you will notice certain words are linking to an unknown web site, your system is clogged up to such an extent that everything takes a lifetime to load and even your Internet connection is being used to do stuff you never asked it to do (spyware uses your connection to send stuff back to the advertisers/developers of the software). Therefore, there is every reason that you should be concerned with the precautionary measures to prevent spyware from entering your system, and should it enter, purging your system of it as quickly as possible.
It is kind of hard to imagine right now that once upon a time, the only way for an advertiser to find out the needs and wants of the average customer was market research. With the advent of the Internet, the techniques these advertisers employ seem like splendid ideas for those looking to increase their sales. But for us, innocent PC users, these techniques are just another means of wreaking havoc in our system. No, I am not talking about spammed e-mail. There is something nastier, unknown to many until they are badly affected. Yep, I am talking about spyware.
