Free Spyware Software

Despite the real threat of computer viruses, it’s still amazing just how many folks operate their PC with little or no antivirus protection. There are literally millions of PC’s that are infected with malicious malware, spyware, and various viruses, and quite often unbeknown to the user. Many complain that their machines are running sluggish, or behaving oddly, but don’t always connect viruses with these problems and usually blame the PC as being useless. If you are one of these people, then I urge you to install and run an anti virus check before you do another thing.

I have been using a free anti virus checker on all my machines since 1997 called AVG. It has protected me well over the years and has an automated update facility included in the giveaway version. Every single day, its anti virus check updater finds and installs new updates. This means that every single day they are finding new threats to online security. This should give you some idea of just how big the menace is. These virtual villains are writing code and nasty programs for no other purpose than to spy on, destroy, or steal your data, but it’s up to you to protect yourself. Don’t worry, there are many free programs out there which are designed to do just that.

Another mistake many folks make, is that they think they can simply visit one of the free online anti virus check programs should they get infected. The problem with this is that some viruses can wipe our your entire hard drive, stop you from opening web browsers, or simply shut your PC down each time you try to boot it up. No, the only way to keep your PC and your personal data safe is to download either a free or paid antivirus program, then run an anti virus check immediately to safeguard hardware, software, and stored information.

Most folks have a standard line of defense and despite running an anti virus check weekly (recommended), it is not enough defense on its own. Once again, there is some good free protection out there and here’s what I have running on my PC:

Zone Alarm firewall: to block all unauthorized access to my machine.

AVG Free Edition: My anti virus check program.

Ad-Aware SE Personal: Which provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware etc.

SpywareBlaster: Another anti-spyware and anti-adware line of defense.

Spybot - Search & Destroy: Detects and removes different kinds of spyware from your PC.

That little lot should be enough to give most home users a good line of defense. Whichever programs you choose, they will become pretty redundant if you don’t update and run them on a regular basis. These are not labor intensive tasks but you must remember to make a schedule and stick with it if you care anything about your privacy.

Your firewall will just run in the background, so there’s nothing to do there. Your virus checker will scan you emails and find most viruses as they attempt to enter your secure zone, but it’s still crucial to run a full system scan weekly to route out any that have gotten in through the back door. Ad-Aware needs updating and running weekly as does Spybot, but SpywareBlaster just needs updating.

So there we have it. Start by giving your PC an anti virus check, then download you free firewall followed by the rest of the programs.

The above is just a guide and there are many ways to protect your PC and personal data. If you require more advanced suggestions, I recommend you hop online and check out your options.

Janis Elliot is a proficient writer and webmaster for Anti All Sorts dot com where she has articles on Anti-aging Creams and Anti Virus Protection. She also has other pieces on the site relating to Anti All Sorts!

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When reading an article where some term is used often, it is useful to make sure the author of the article and you mean the same. Not surprisingly for those who still remember English lessons at school, every noun ending with “ware” is a mixture of objects having something in common–usually used for similar purposes. So it tends to be when “ware” is short for “software”; sometimes it’s pretty tricky to define exactly what kind of software it includes and what these programs do.

If the terms “adware” and “spyware” are used in an article as synonyms (sometimes even experienced journalists make such a mistake), readers will just wonder why there are so many words for the same stuff. Since computer programmers and gurus don’t read these articles at all, an average user feels bewildered when he finishes reading. Too many terms with too vague meaningsit’s nothing more than my own impression, because I am not a programmer or a guru–just a linguist. I’m still trying to make a head and tail of it.

Spyware, adware, malware, what else? - trackware, trapware, crapware, junkware, snoopware Readers have heard a lot about browser hijackers, dialers, keyloggers, cookies, BHOs, Trojan horse programs, viruses, wormsWhat a motley crew! Is it possible for the average non-tech person to memorize their numerous definitions and knotty relations with one another? What is a part of which? If one looks trough several definitions of “spyware” given in some articles, he is going to find muddle and confusion instead of clarity.

Well, let’s use common sense. Fortunately, it is sometimes easy to guess from the type of a program what such programs actually do–so, let’ try.
A browser hijacker is software that hijacks browsers (and does some other nasty things). Correct.
A keylogger is software that logs keystrokes (ditto). Exactly.

Adware is software used for targeted advertising. Well, yes. There must be as many types of programs as there exist methods of advertising. Pop-up flood is also method of advertising.
Is hijacking a browser also an approach to advertising? If it is so, creators of those annoying browser hijackers have somehow perverted logic.

And what about tracking potential customers? It is exactly the point where “adware” and “spyware” meet. People also tend to call all unwanted software “spyware” because these programs are installed without users’ consent. Butnobody has ever wanted any advertising in print or on TV. Will you watch an ads-only channel? Will you buy an ads-only magazine? Online advertising just follows the tendency (sometimes going too far) to get exposure, to make a user notice ads– at all cost.

Is spyware software used for spying, as one may deduce from the name? Yes and no. If software collects information and transmits it, such a program is automatically called “spyware” no matter how valuable this information is. That is why keyloggers (programs specially created for capturing key strokes) and cookies are both called “spyware”. Well, if cookies and BHOs are kinds of spyware– then a unicycle and roller skates are vehicles. When calling some kind of programs “spyware” we should at least consider what they “steal” and how this information is used.

Other terms are also pretty indistinct, though sometimes amusing.

Terms like ” crapware” and “junkware” aren’t very good, they just show attitude to such software instead of meaning anything clear.

“Malware” is too broad and too general. If one hears that some software is called malicious, he has no idea about what kind of software it is. Dividing software into malicious and benign is like dividing all, say, plants just into eatable and uneatable.

As for viruses, worms and Trojan horse programs, this fauna (not paying a slightest attention to the laws of biology) has already made up such hybrids with one another that no genetic engineer could probably dream about. Programmers say that there are almost no such viruses, worms or Trojans as they used to be only several years ago. These terms might become obsolete pretty soon because of this “evolution”.

“Trojan horse” is pretty elegant term, by the way — there is a clear idea of something benign-looking with some potentially dangerous core inside. Makes people remember history, Ancient Greeks and Homer.

All these may seem amusing for a philologist and make a good material for a linguistic study, but for an average PC user who would like to know what exactly his anti-spy software protects against, it is still a confusing mess of terms.

Alexandra Gamanenko currently works as a PR manager at the Raytown Corporation, LLC–an independent software developing company.
website
http://www.anti-keyloggers.com

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NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC’s security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out for later reference.

A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users not aware of it. (Your computer could fall into this lot too.) The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software is running, these software can even inactivate them and take over your PC.

Have you experienced any of the following?

• Awsome popups comes out of nowhere, when browsing the web

• Home page reset to some other site

How can this happen?

- The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up and running as soon as it’s finished installing (or after the page is completely loaded) and with every windows startup since then. Their job is to collect information and report (or transfer) it to an external computer.

What is deceptive software? (Reference: www.microsoft.com)

Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of “deceptive” software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your home page or search page without first getting your permission. There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your system. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program.

Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of adware in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement.

Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at the medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being installed on your computer.

Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to accept a download even after you said “no”? Creators of deceptive software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If this happens to you, do not click “yes”. Instead, try to close the Web page that first asked you to accept the download by hitting the “X” in the corner of the window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to begin browsing the Internet again. If you visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust.

Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know the status of your computer. You must clean infections once you find it and the game is not over yet. The spyware might reinfect your PC. So it’s highly recommended that you run a firewall on your system after the clean up. This will allow you to monitor every single communication occurs with your computer and block the ones which you feel unnecessary. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the external world (Internet / Network).

A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all the infections and potential dangers in great detail. It’s free to scan but not to clean. It’s a good idea to have a scan even you have no idea of cleaning, since you know the status of your PC in great detail. This gives two advantages.

Firstly, if there are minor infections and if you have a fair knowledge on registry settings and how to edit them, you may have a try to clean them up. Secondly, if it shows that there are major infections, you can avoid using credit cards and doing other confidential stuff, until you clean it up later.

You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems (eg. Windows XP), there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how to activate it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com.

You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these spyware? Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut answer, we can safely state that every thing boils down to the urge of more profits. How? The spyware collects all your personal information and transfer it to an external computer. The information is reviewed by a software in the receiving computer and then deleivered targeted popup ads to your PC. There are many things that spyware does in addition to this. The most dangerous of those is that collecting the credit card numbers.

If you have some technical knowledge on your PC, here’s a technical explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause.

1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your activities in your PC.

2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC and the spyware writer’s computer.

The first process in it self is an unneeded process and it contributes to slow down your PC. Second is the most harmful. It transfers logged info to the external PC (spyware writer’s PC). Then the external PC transfers targeted popups to the infected PC. This, in addition to slowing down your PC because of these extra processes, it also slows down the internet connection, as the bandwidth is shared. In short, PC with a spyware is like a dumping ground for snakes. Once its there and up and running, it can do almost anything with your PC.

Please pass this on to all you know. The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is the most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more attention of many malicious software developers.

About The Author

Fazly Mohamed - fazlymohamed@yahoo.com

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