Spyware Removal 
Online Privacy What is Spyware
Online Privacy What is Spyware | What Is Spyware? |
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As its name suggests, Spyware is a software that stealthily collects an Internet user’s personal information without his permission. The “personal information” used in the paragraph above has wide connotations and the term includes: i) grabbing Internet browsing habits, ii) spying on the user’s documents that are stored in his hard disk and iii) stealing the user’s passwords.
The Spyware issue is so important to online security that it has led to the development and growth of an anti-Spyware lobby and industry. What is Spyware to you is butter and jam to them. In some cases there is a thin line that divides Spyware and adware: For example a company may distribute a free product, which uses a Spyware component to track the user’s web activity and then serve him advertisements that are most relevant for him. Though this may seem harmless, in most cases the user is unaware that his web activity is being tracked and this raises privacy concerns. The last word is still not out on this issue. Like adware, no Internet user in his right mind will install Spyware out of his own choice. So, Spyware is stealthily installed, either as a software bundle, or it is inbuilt into a freeware/shareware software, or it exploits the security holes in a user’s computer/browser. Sometimes, a Spyware manufacturer may trick the users into thinking that the Spyware is a useful product that can actually make their Internet life easier. Spyware is not a virus. A virus damages the computer’s functioning and proliferates, while Spyware gathers information. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is an all time Spyware-favorite as Spyware makers keep exploiting Internet Explorer’s security holes and keep installing software on user’s of Internet explorer without the user being aware of such installation/s. Microsoft keeps coming out with new patches all the time and it is advisable to patch up your Internet Explorer (if you are using it). If you have Spyware installed on your computer you will most probably come across increased CPU activity and extra hard disk usage, which will make your computer operate at sub-optimal levels. There are many programs that can detect and get rid of Spyware: Spysweeper Ad-Aware, CounterSpy, Windows Defender and Spybot Search and Destroy are some of the prominent Spyware-killing applications. Anti-Spyware programs combat Spyware by preventing the stealth installation of Spyware when you are online. Plus, they can detect and remove existing Spyware already installed on your system. Nowadays, if you’re working somewhere and you’re not online, you’re probably not alive and you don’t know what is Spyware. However, if you are in the know, it will do you a world wide web of good to keep your computer free of any Spyware programs. |
