How To Avoid Spyware Before It's Too Late!


by John Garvey - Date: 2007-03-05 - Word Count: 603 Share This!

Unfortunately most people don't pay much attention to the threat posed by spyware until their level of infection has become acute and their private information has been compromised. The final result is that they become subject to an identity theft attempt. New methods of attack are being developed all the time and you need to get up to speed on the subject and stay informed of changes as they occur in order to know how to protect yourself. First of all, if you are a careless surfer you are living dangerously and eventually you will get nailed. The smart thing is to set your computer environment up with a secure defensive perimeter and to avoid porn, casino, and other gambling sites and to not download free software, screen savers, music or games except from environments that you know to be safe.

The bulk of criminal attempts to steal your information like bank numbers, passwords and security questions and answers are housed in what are known as trojans and keyloggers. Because of the comparative ease with which these unwanted visitors can be installed and the fact that they work without your knowledge you need to change your online habits and only deal with well known companies and sites. Additionally, criminals have developed many lookalikes to resemble legitimate sites to fool you in to downloading from them. Double check web addresses that you have previously not dealt with and be sure you are dealing only with the legitimate ones. Protection form identity theft depends on you.

Make sure that all users of your computer particularly family members are instructed how to use the internet and what not to do. You also need to monitor their activity on a continuous basis. One of the basics of your defenses should be a well respected anti spyware program that you keep continuously updated. The best of these will not only get rid of spyware already present but prevent any further intrusion.

If you are an internet marketer make sure you track your affiliate activity and check that spyware has not taken over your income stream with some version of clickfraud. In this situation, your commissions are diverted to another site and the commissions disappear for you. As your computer becomes clogged with spyware you will notice a deterioration in service in terms of loading times. Your browser may be hijacked and your home page changed. Your keystrokes will be logged and relayed to a third party for sale or use in some variety of criminal scheme. You will notice erratic behavior and a decline of the system's operation with CPU activity, network traffic, disk usage all being affected adversely. Stability issues, system crashes and application crashes are also likely. A number of problems with Internet connection will probably begin.

Trojans typically introduce some program that appears acceptable but carry a hidden spyware component which will go to work surreptitiously. Users install software having bought into the idea of some system improvement not realizing the spyware hidden in the application. An example is a computer program aimed at children purporting to be an internet friend who will guide you and be your buddy. Meanwhile the buddy is busy installing spyware at various points in your system which will erupt at some point in the future.

Establish some rules of behavior for yourself and your other users to avoid unknown source downloads, stay away from free, avoid porn and gambling sites. Only download music from legitimate sites and pay for it! The desire to pinch pennies can get you in to serious trouble which will cause you grief and cost you dearly. Don't do it!


Related Tags: identity theft, spyware, trojans, keyloggers, spyware removal software

John Garvey specializes in the world of computer and internet security. His analyses and recommendations on spyware and other threats to internet security are widely known in the field and appear frequently at the website http://www.spyware-gone.com

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