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Cyberwalker Tips and Tricks Newsletter - "Spyware" edition |
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Clean out Spyware |
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>>Learn how to delete sneaky programs (Click here to go straight to the VIDEO on the bottom of the page)
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By Andy Walker
Created: March 20, 2006
There are more than100,000 or more viruses in the world, but there are millions of spyware programs.
And if I was a gambler I'd win a lot of money if I bet that your machine was infected with spyware right now. It's estimated that 80 per cent of all computers have some form of spyware installed on them and most people have no idea that these programs are there
What is spyware?
So what is spyware? It's a catgeory of computer software that carries out a variety of nefarious tasks. Here's a breakdown of types of spyware:
- Spyware: It secretly watches what you do on your computer and reports that behaviour back to someone on the Internet, usually some marketing company.
- Adware: It snoops on you and then show you advertising related to what are doing on the computer (this is also called adware)
- Browser Hijacker: It takes control of your web browser, sets the homepage to a website that makes money when you use it. (also called brower hijackers)
- Trojan Horse: This sneaky program looks harmless, but inside its belly is a program that gets up to bad stuff like installs a virus, downloads other spyware or causes general havoc.
- Cookies: These tiny text files are placed on your computer by a website. They allow a site to track what you do on the web. But they are also useful because they enable online shopping carts, allow for automatic log-ins for websites you belong to and do various other useful tasks.
- Keyloggers: These programs capture what you type and send the information to a bad person on the Internet.
Damage spyware can cause
Besides the privacy issues, there are other problems spyware cause:
- Spyware hogs hard drive space.
- It occupies computer memory and slow a computer down
- It is often badly written and can cause file corruptions and system crashes
- When it communicates to the Internet it uses your Internet connection's capacity to carry data (called bandwidth) and can slow your Internet surfing.
If you'd like to learn more about spyware and how to eliminate it it from your system, including the more nasty variants, check out my book called Absolute Beginners Guide to Security, Spam Spyware and Viruses available at all major books stores worldwide and at Amazon.com.
How to remove and stop spyware
Spyware can be removed very easily using a variety of free and paid programs.
I did a study of the most common free and paid programs when I co-hosted the TV show Call for Help. I discovered no one program can both protect you from all the millions of spyware variants. But I have a forumula for success.
If you install two free anti-spyware programs and scan regularly with them, you will capture and eliminate most of the spyware on your system. They will also stop spyware from sneaking onto your system. So I recommend you download and install:
- Spybot Search & Destroy
- Windows Defender (for Windows XP or 2000 users only)
These two programs used together will capture about 85 per cent of all spyware on your system. So what if you don't have XP and what about that other 15%?
I'd recommend adding a third program to your arsenal. It's a paid product that on its own captures 85% of all spyware. Used in combination with one or two of the freebies you'll get it all.
It usually costs US$30, but we've wrangled a deal for you where you can get it for FREE with a rebate. Learn more here.
That said here's a video I put together that looks at Spybot, Windows Defender and PestPatrol in further detail.
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Claim your copy of Pest Patrol for FREE (after mail in rebate) : Click here to download it.
Claim your free copy of Windows Defender: Click here to download it .
Claim your free copy of Spybot Search and Destroy: Click here to download it
This article may not be reproduced without the expressed written permission of Cyberwalker Media Inc.