Thursday, March 25, 2010

How to Spot Spyware and Get Rid of It

How to Spot Spyware and Get Rid of It
By Zoraya Tonel

Is your computer being attacked by popup advertisements from nowhere? Do you wonder why your homepage is changing constantly? Are you annoyed with those unwanted toolbars and searchbars that suddenly attach to your browser without any idea how it got there?

If you are experiencing one of these frustrating scenarios, brace yourself as chances are your computer is infected by spyware.

Viruses, spyware and adware have been around since the discovery of personal computers. As personal computers become more a part of our work and life, these threats had become even more dangerous that we should also be aware of how to protect our computers.

Spyware and adware are both softwares that came from publishers who intentionally sent these malicious softwares in your computer when you install free internet software download. They are hidden inside the install packages without your knowledge and they are very difficult to discover. These spyware and malware sneaks and spy on your internet activities, your internet habits and then overwhelm you with annoying advertisement popups.

The easiest way to get rid of these unwanted malwares is to remove the free program that you have downloaded. But if the program is an important tool that you need to use in your work, there comes the difficulty of how to retain the program while totally getting rid of the troublesome malwares.

Here are some additional inconveniences that spyware and adware can cause:

• Unknown and unauthorized sites add themselves as desktop icons
• Unauthorized websites add themselves to your list of internet favorites
• Your privacy about your personal information can be stolen and sold to other parties without your consent or idea
• Spyware and adware seize your default homepage and you can't set them back
• These malicious softwares not only attack your pc, worst they eat up your hard drive space and slows down your pc

Malwares are designed to be difficult to trace and difficult to remove. Uninstalling it doesn't help as the program reappears as soon as you restart you computer.

In choosing the right antispyware program, one must know about what to look for in the antispyware product and the things to be cautious about. There are fake antispyware known as "rogue security software" or "scareware."

Rogue security software, also known as scareware, is a deceitful piece of software that appears to be beneficial. But its legitimacy is fraudulent as it is purposely designed to bait computer users to use the application.

Rogue security software creates a legitimate-looking popup window while surfing the web. This window "updates" or "alerts" entices you to act. It gives you options to install the software, accept recommended updates or remove unwanted malwares. After choosing these options, the rogue security software downloads to your computer. This security software sometimes even appear in the list of search results when you are searching for credible and dependable software in the net, so it is really important that you know how to protect yourself from these decoy.

Rogue security software deceptively reports a virus even though your computer is actually clean but the software fails to report a virus when your computer is infected. Contrary to its description that it is a security software, it will load a virus or other malicious software on your computer so that the software has something to detect. Rogue security software might also attempt to copy the Microsoft security update process that looks exactly like that of Microsoft.

This article hopes to give caution and some knowledge about spyware, adware, and deceptive software like rogue security software and viruses. This will also guide you in choosing the best spyware removal tool so use.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zoraya_Tonel

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