Feature:
Don’t Let Spyware Slow You Down

Spyware is gaining increasing attention lately from the millions of computers users finding their productivity impacted by software that is operating in the background to gather personal information without their knowledge. Once collected, spyware basically sends information from your computer to a third party. Other terms associated with Spyware are adware, malware, key loggers, phishing attacks and snoopware. All terms have a slightly different meaning but each of them fall in the annoying category of Spyware. They all want to know your Internet surfing habits so they can target you with pop-up advertisements that cater to your hobbies and preferences.

How do you know when and if your computer is infected?

Any computer that is connected or has been connected to the Internet (High Speed and Dial-up alike) could potentially be targeted with Spyware. Some symptoms that indicate an infected computer include:

• Strange Browser Behavior: Your Internet browser might be hijacked. Your default page has been changed without your knowledge. Your Tool-Bar might be completely different.
• Poor Performance: Your computer might be very slow, freezing up or crashing.
• Pop-ups: You are getting ‘bombarded” with pop-ups and unwanted advertising, even when you are not connected to the Internet.
• Invasion of Secure Websites: Denied access to secure websites (https-sites) can be caused by Spyware.

What can I do to protect myself?

• Avoid opening suspicious pop-up advertisements and e-mails. Those messages could be spam intended to install Spyware on your computer.
• Keep your computer clean by installing pop-up blockers.
• Clean your “cookies” and defrag your computer periodically
• Keep your Operating System healthy and up to date by downloading the latest security patches.
• If you are using Microsoft Windows, enable automatic updates to receive the latest patches necessary to keep your system healthy. Please understand that Microsoft will NEVER send you an e-mail with this type of information.
• Keep computer updated with the latest anti-virus software available. Your preferred anti-virus software might have pop-up blocker and Spyware removal tools built in. However, do not rely on your anti-virus software to do the complete job for you.
• Scan your system with the latest anti-Spyware scanner. When configured properly, it will find and remove any Spyware it finds. Make sure to reboot and repeat the scan before connecting to the internet again.

This technology column was provided by Marcellus Whirl of Fast Teks, this month’s client of the month.

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