Just Text : Combating Computer Espionage

In some cases, spies and covert operations are found in war grounds or politically tense regions. Now however, you can find spies and covert operations running undetected within your personal computer system as you use your computer and the Internet.

Have you noticed a suspicious slow down of your computer's processing without any particular reason? Are you bombarded by unsolicited pop up ads that indiscriminately appear whether you are running a program or not? These symptoms may continue to happen despite checking your system and running your recently updated anti virus program to run diagnostics on your computer.

Unless you run the correct program, you will not be able to detect the real problem in your system: spyware and adware.

Adware are unsolicited programs that usually come bundled with freeware or shareware. Yes, sometimes things that seem to be good to be true usually come with unwanted invisible strings attached. Companies usually pay freeware or shareware creators to be able to capitalize and prey on unsuspecting individuals who download these programs. Adware cause unsolicited pop up advertisements in your computer and in severe cases, adware causes pop up advertisements to pop up soon as you boot your system.

Spyware on the other hand is more covert and usually undetected in your system until you run an anti spyware program. Spyware is used exactly to spy on you. In relatively mild cases, spyware is used to track your Internet browsing habits so that the spyware can report your preferences to build a marketing profile. This means that as you go about your Internet business, you are under surveillance and your basic right to privacy is impinged upon.

In severe cases though, certain spyware better labeled as malware, are used for criminal purposes and can steal keywords and other sensitive information based on your computer and Internet usage.

For instance, malware can take note of your keystrokes or take note of your credit card number and other vital information that can be used to steal your identity and generally put your security at risk.It is said that 9 out 10 computers are infected with spyware and to make sure that you are not part of statistical majority, you need run an adware and spyware cleaner to detect unwanted security and privacy breach within your system.

There are a lot of reliable adware and spyware cleaners in available to remove these unwanted programs in your computer. You must note however that some adware and spyware are intricately bundled within their parent programs that cleaning them out from your computer will inadvertently disable the legitimate programs they infect. This consequence is a necessary evil to clean your computer of unwanted adware and spyware. You should choose an adware and spyware cleaner that can also work proactively by preventing future accidental installation of these nuisances.

Adware and spyware cleaners work like your anti virus programs except that these particular cleaners target adware and spyware.Considering the trouble adware and spyware creators take to ensure that extracting installed adware and spyware from your computer system will be difficult, the adage about an ounce of prevention being worth more than a pound of cure applies in this situation.  Be sure to install a reliable and secure adware and spyware cleaner in your system to remove existing security and privacy risks as well as preventing future hassle.    

Read Full Post ►

Test Post With Image : The Difference of Adware, Spyware and Anti-virus

Adware, spyware and computer virus share some similarities, one of which is that all three are major nuisances for computer users. Let's differentiate the three.

Spyware is software that does not intentionally harm your computer. What they do is that they create pathways wherein someone else aside from the computer owner can communicate with the computer. Normally spywares record the various types of web sites you visit which are later used by web advertisers to allow them to send you unwanted emails and pop-ups.

This is why spyware are usually frowned upon and greatly avoided. They are more intrusive than adware. Spyware have their own separate executable programs which allow them to record your keystrokes, scan files on your hard disks and look at other applications that you use including but not limited to chat programs, cookies and Web browser settings.

The spyware then will send the information that it had gathered to the spyware author. The agent will then use this information for advertising and marketing purposes. They even sell the information to advertisers and other parties.

Adware, on the other hand, are more legitimate form of freeware. Similar to spyware, adwares are advertising materials which are packaged into a software or program and are installed automatically once that particular program or software is added into the computer system. Some forms of adware, on the other hand, download advertising contents as a particular application is being utilized. It is quite unfortunate that most of the adware programs take the form of spywares that is they track and report user information to program authors.

Some signs of spyware infections include pop-up ads that seem to be not related to the site you are viewing. More often than not, spyware pop-ups are advertisements about adult contents. Also if you notice your computer slowing down, there's a big chance that spywares and its other components have found their way in your operating system. When the Windows desktop also takes a longer time to load, its best to scan your computer for possible spyware infections.

Meanwhile, viruses are destructive form of software. They were purely designed and created for one purpose alone: to wreck havoc to your computer. They destroy whatever they come in contact to and will initiate self replication and infect as many components of the computer's operating system or network as possible.

Nowadays, a lot of anti-virus software also provides spyware and adware scanning and removal utilities. Some programs, however, are focused on located and deleting or destroying spyware and adware programs. Whether is an anti-virus software or a anti-spyware dedicated scanner, they both search your computer and identify any spyware and virus installed on your system.

They then remove it as well as their components located in the system registry among other places in your computer. It is therefore, good to regularly update your virus or spyware scanner to ensure that your computer is protected from the thousands of spyware and viruses in the internet. Never be fooled from ads that claim that their products only contain adware.

These adware maybe spyware in disguised and are just waiting to be deployed for them to gather your information. Learn to setup firewall systems and always block pop-up blockers to minimize computer infection and ensure the security of all your computer files.

Read Full Post ►