Watching the Watchers : Detection and Removal of Spyware
by: Tom Jenson
If spyware were a person and he set himself up in your house, you are likely going to do one of two things. Youกll kick him out yourself or youกll call someone (such as the police) to do it for you.
Employing tools that detect and remove spyware from your PC, whether itกs at home or at the office, should be on the list of top things to do for your complete protection, and the protection of your children. Spyware is a generic term for insidious programs designed to track, store and report back on your actions on the computer, whether you’re logged onto the Internet or not. The most benign forms began as adware, software that tried to make sure the end user didn’t receive any ads they wouldn’t be interested in. The theory is great, but the practice has been warped by abuse.
There are a number of tools available for the detecting and removing of Spyware. AdAware is a very reputable piece of software that detects, isolates and removes spyware from your PC. Available for free download, AdAware was one of the first antispyware programs to be available.
AdAwareกs drawback, however, is that it must be run to detect already installed spyware and it does not prevent spyware from being downloaded as you surf the Internet.
AdAware offers a paid version labeled AdWatch that includes a real time prevention tool. Spysweeper, Spybot, ASquared, Microsoft AntiSpyware and many, many others all offer varying levels of protection from spyware. Ultimately, preventing the installation of such programs in the first place will serve you better.
Yes, it may cost a small investment or donation for licensing the product. However, remember that spyware can tie up your CPU, RAM and Internet connection to the point that you can no longer perform daytoday functions on your machine or connection with any type of speed or normalcy.
Free programs work well for detecting and removing spyware, but itกs advisable to check out the website offering the antispyware for free. Some programs are just more spyware in disguise. Choose reputable software rather than just any ad that pops up in your email box.
Making sure you have antivirus software, working firewall and up to date patches for all of your software will improve the performance across the board.
Even if you install and utilize very reputable antispyware software, the best advice to preventing spyware installation on your machine is avoiding the downloading of unknown products or attachments from your email.
Don’t download programs from people you do not know, nor should you enter every contest and game that may be offered through popup banners or email. Itกs not enough to be able to detect and/or remove spyware. You have to prevent it. And, this starts with some simple action that any computer novice can perform.
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About The Author
Tom Jenson has worked in software development for 20 years. Heกs seen spyware develop from an occasional problem, to a daily, hourly threat to all pcกs. He made it a mission to research these threats, and work out how best to combat them. Now this series of article helps others protect their computers too.
This article was posted on September 11
by Tom Jenson