Without you even knowing it, your computer might be infected with spyware at this very moment. A recent study done by a large online research company concluded that 89% of computers on the Internet are infected by this malicious type of software. Spyware removal is therefore not something you can leave for another day.
Most of the time spyware is installed on a person’s computer without his knowledge or consent. Many of them are relatively harmless and are therefore called ‘adware’ rather than ’spyware’. Their sole purpose is to collect information about your surfing habits and then display advertisements to you – either by changing your browser’s home page, or by using pop-ups.
If you suddenly experience pop-ups inexplicably appearing all over your computer screen, you should start to suspect a spyware/aware infection. Another tell-tale sign is when your computer becomes slower and slower – when you type something there is a lag before it appears on the screen.
If you regularly visit online gaming websites, adult sites or crack sites you are a prime target. So too if you make use of P2P file download sites. Innocent looking free wallpapers and screen savers might not be so innocent after all.
Something that you might now know, is that many times spyware will be installed on your PC or laptop with you unknowingly giving your consent. Somewhere in the small print you give permission to many online email services to read your emails and then show you advertisements related to the content of those emails.
More serious forms of spyware will actually log every single keystroke you make on your computer. One can easily understand why this is so dangerous. If a person could install such a keystroke monitor on your computer, he could easily capture personal information such as your online banking passwords and use that to empty your bank account! Stealing your personal tax information by using one of these could also have disastrous results for you.
Standard anti-virus packages were not designed to pick up and destroy spyware. Very often you will find spyware is programmed in such a way that it hides itself in your computer’s operating system or poses as a completely innocent program. You will need software that was programmed specifically to locate and eliminate spyware. If you use your favorite search engine you are sure to find numerous free and commercial spyware removal tools. Before using one, first read a couple of reviews – it could actually be installing new spyware on your computer at the same time it is deleting others.
First close your browser and disconnect from the Internet before starting the scan. If the program picks up spyware or adware, it will ask your permission to remove it. Unless you have a very good reason not to do so, say “yes” to allow it to remove the spyware from your computer.
Spyware removal is not something you do once off – scan your computer at least once a week. Simply being connected to the Internet and surfing the web for seven days no doubt exposes you to hundreds of sites trying to download spyware or adware to your computer.
Need to keep your information and identity safe online? Spyware Removal is needed to make sure you’re protected. Get the best Spyware Removal Software today and be safe.
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This post was written by Susan Reynolds on December 24, 2009
