On Spyware and Anti-Spyware
The movie Sneakers was shown as early as 1992 but it sure predicted, rather put into open the glaring reality of computer hacking and espionage, using computer and other gadgets. Little did we know that we could have learned a thing or two, from Sneakers and other similar movies, about protecting our computer system.
First there were viruses that crawled their way into computer programs and caused computers to malfunction and even crash. Then came the spywares and the adwares, both irritating and annoying, and both damaging to computer systems in the long run.
So what's this hullabaloo about spyware programs, are these some kind of espionage attack against our computers? Spyware programs are not easily detected by computer users because they appear as harmless programs that keep on popping up when you download other programs or files. Sometimes, it takes years before these spyware programs are detected by computer users.
Spyware programs are programs that get important information about the user, some personal and financial, and usually the user's computer habits, and then send these information to a third person who created or is the source of the spyware program.
In simple terms, it is really is basically a form of espionage because personal and sometimes, confidential data are taken from a computer and are relayed to another without the consent, and oftentimes even without the knowledge of the user or the owner. In layman's terms, spyware programs are used by thieves in discreetly getting information and using the information with the intention of gaining from it.
Computer connected to the internet have a ninety-eight percent chance of being infested by spyware programs. Spyware programs have been originally blocked by users for being a nuisance. Today, spyware programs are considered a security threat, causing computers to slow down, become inefficient, and even crash.
Spyware programs are often used by marketing companies to monitor the buying and surfing habits of their target markets. A user whose computer has been infected by a spyware program will suddenly find various advertisements popping up the screen. Some prove to be a pest and would not disappear even if you keep deleting them.
Computer users who are ignorant or have little knowledge about spyware programs should watch when downloading files of programs because they may already be downloading the following spyware programs, albeit unknowingly.
The top spyware program which has the highest reporting rate is one known as Spyware Gator. It can also be downloaded as Adware Gator. Another spyware that landed in the second spot is Adware Slagent alias Magic Control.
If you are fond of downloading messenger skins then you might have accidentally downloaded Adware Hotbar, a spyware that pesters users by incorporating itself into the user's Microsoft Outlook program. A computer affected by this spyware will usually carry a link which is located below an email sent through Outlook, and which directs the receiver to a hotbar site.
There is also the spyware Csnoop, a program that can log conversations made using instant messengers like AIM, MSN and Yahoo.
So the next time you share or download a file, think twice if it is from a safe source. You never know, you may already be inviting a spyware program into your computer system.
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