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Spyware: Here, There, and Everywhere... So Beware
by Heather Reimer, (c) 2004  All Rights Reserved
 
For those who haven't yet had an encounter with spyware, lucky 
you. These little demons are worse than viruses in many ways 
and can bring your computer to its knees, get you branded as a 
spammer, or at the very least invade your privacy and waste your 
time.

Spyware programs work behind the scenes, collecting and 
sending information about your browsing habits, delivering 
advertising you didn't ask for, and interfering with the normal 
operation of your machine. They can add toolbars that you didn't 
install, run programs and even alter your system settings. 

Some spyware is clever enough to hide in the nooks and crannies 
of your hard drive if it senses you trying to remove it, making 
it devilishly hard to evict.

How Spyware Gets Into Your Machine

Spyware files are often bundled together with other software 
downloads so many users don't even know they're getting these 
sneaky programs. Or users unwittingly invite them into their 
machines, believing they're getting something else. That's 
what happened to me. 

Some friends had been trying for weeks to convince me to 
download an anti-spyware program but I ignored their advice, 
thinking them overly concerned. 

Soon after their warning, I got hit. Unlike a virus, with 
spyware you may not even know you've been hit. I only found out 
when my ISP shut down my email account. Their technicians told 
me spyware on my machine had been flooding their servers for 
several days, all happening in the background while my PC was 
busy working for me in the foreground. 

Fighting Off The Attack

On their advice, I downloaded a free anti-spyware program from 
the net, cleaned my system, got the ISP to reinstate my service, 
and went back to work. 

Three days later, it happened again. I downloaded yet another 
anti-spyware program and began religiously running both programs, 
every day. This time, it took a lot longer to convince my ISP to 
restore my service. The whole fiasco cost me three days of work 
and a lot of frustration.

How did it happen? I had recently upgraded to Windows XP and was 
still getting acquainted with all its new bells and whistles when 
a little, official-looking pop-up appeared one day (looking for 
all the world like a Microsoft message window) asking if I'd like 
to have all spam filtered from my Outlook Express emails. Would 
I! Figuring it was a Windows XP feature, I clicked. 

And with that one innocent click, I unwittingly downloaded a 
program that I realized later had been launched not from my 
operating system but from a website I had been visiting. It 
gave me a new toolbar I didn't ask for and a hundred or so 
spyware files that quickly went to work getting me into hot 
water with my ISP. 

But that was nothing compared to what happened to my brother.

Beware Fake Anti-Spyware Programs

Recently, he was surfing on his business computer when a message
warned him that spyware had been detected and he urgently needed 
software to remove it. He clicked, unleashing a vicious program 
masquerading as anti-spyware but that was actually a parasite 
program that ran constantly, locking up his entire system. 

This program did everything possible to prevent its removal. It 
blocked the downloading of genuine anti-spyware software; it 
substituted one of its own advertising pop-up pages every time 
the browser was opened; it prevented the download of pop-up 
blocking software; and much more. The PC became so deeply 
infected that its programs no longer ran normally and the unit 
had to be professionally debugged.

So if you think, as I used to, that you're savvy to the ways of 
the web and are invulnerable to spyware... you may not be. 

How To Fend Off Spyware:

1. Be extremely cautious when considering a download of any 
kind. In this game, it's hard to tell the good guys from the bad 
guys. Many legitimate free programs include spyware in their 
downloads... it's how they pay the bills. Read the license 
agreement carefully before proceeding.

2. Get some good anti-spyware software as soon as possible. 
(See my suggestions below). Run it frequently. 

3. Be suspicious if you are offered a free demo version that 
requires you to pay for the full version before it will remove 
any spyware it finds on your system. The best anti-spyware 
software is totally free and you get the full working version. 

4. Only use anti-spyware that has been recommended by your ISP 
or another trusted source. There are many scammers out there 
doing a convincing job of representing themselves as legit. 
Google and the other search engines have no way of separating 
these fakes from the real thing, so don't rely on search engine 
results to guide you. 

5. Don't be hoodwinked by brand name sleight-of-hand, 
eg: Ada-ware instead of the excellent anti-spyware product 
Ad-aware.

Here's where you can get two of the most highly recommended and 
most frequently downloaded anti-spyware programs... they're free 
but accept donations and have advanced versions for sale. I 
personally run Ad-aware every day before opening any other 
programs and it usually finds at least a few spy files lurking 
in my machine: 

Ad-aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Oh and one more thing... listen to your friends. Their advice 
could save you a lot of grief and expense!

================================================================
Heather Reimer is a website content writer, search engine 
copywriter and founder of www.TheWriteContent.com. 

Get a FREE website content analysis with tips to make your 
content more selling, compelling, and search engine friendly. 
Visit: http://www.thewritecontent.com/freereport.html 
================================================================

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