A recent research revealed that 80% of
computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of users are not aware of it. (Your computer could be infected by now too.) The most dangerous fact is, even though anti-virus software is running, these software can even pass it and take over your PC. Have you experienced any of following? * Awesome popups come out of nowhere, when browsing web * Home page reset to some other site
How can this happen?
- The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up and running as soon as it's finished installing (or after page is completely loaded) and with every windows startup since then. Their job is to collect information and report (or transfer) it to an external computer.
What is deceptive software? (Reference: www.microsoft.com) ----------------------------------------------
Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of "deceptive" software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your home page or search page without first getting your permission. There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your system. A common trick is to covertly install software during installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program.
Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes inclusion of adware in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at end of a license agreement or privacy statement.
Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being installed on your computer.
Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to accept a download even after you said "no"? Creators of deceptive software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If this happens to you, do not click "yes". Instead, try to close Web page that first asked you to accept download by hitting "X" in corner of window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to begin browsing Internet again. If you visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know current status of your computer. You must clean infections once you find it but you can't top it at that. The spyware might reinfect your PC. So it's highly recommended that you run a firewall on your system after clean up. This will allow you to monitor every single communication that occurs between your computer and external world and block ones that are harmful. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and external world (Internet / Network).
A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, NoAdware at http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all infections and potential dangers in great detail. It's free to scan but not to clean. It's a good idea to have a scan even if you have no idea of cleaning, since you will know status of your PC in great detail - at least you will know whether you have any spyware on your PC at all! (Most of time it's there, but you don't know! So, don't be surprised to get a list of over 30 suspicious components detected!) Scanning will also give advantage of giving a try to clean it out, provided that infections are minor and you (or a friend) have a fair knowledge on windows file system. (Registry settings, Cookies etc. and how to modify them.)
