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Is "Spyware" Watching You?

by: Jim Edwards

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
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Imagine my surprise when I received a phone call from a
friend who told me he'd been the victim of a "spyware"
attack that left him shaking at his loss of privacy.

I listened to his horror story with a sympathetic ear, but
I felt secure since I carry anti-virus software and a
firewall (both by Norton).

At his suggestion - and to my surprise - I ran a program
called "Spy Sweeper" and found a veritable minefield of
dangerous and harmful programs lurking on my computer.

"Spyware" is software that gets onto your computer and
literally "spies" on your activities.

The spying can range from relatively harmless use of
cookies tracking you across multiple websites... to
extremely dangerous "keystroke loggers" which record
passwords, credit cards, and other personal data. That data
then gets relayed to the person who put the software on
your computer.

Three primary types of spyware exist to complicate your
online life, including:

1. "cookies"
2. "adware"
3. malicious programs like "keystroke loggers"

Cookies represent mostly a danger of lost privacy.

In theory, someone could use a "cookie" to track you across
multiple sites, combine that data with several databases,
and figure out a lot more information about you than would
make you comfortable.

"Adware" tracks more than just your movement across sites,
it spies on your installed software and computer habits to
then serve up advertising, modify websites before you see
them, and generally do things without your knowledge with
the intention of trying to get you to buy things.

"Keystroke loggers" and other malicious programs exist for
one purpose: to cause personal mayhem and financial damage.

Spyware gets on your computer in one of several different
ways.

First, it rides along with software you download from the
'Net and install on your system.

Second, they come as email attachments (much like viruses)
and automatically install themselves on your computer when
you open the email message.

Third, hackers find an open port on your computer and use
the "back door" to install basically anything they want.

And fourth, the more malicious types, like keystroke
loggers, can even get installed by someone with direct
physical access to your computer such as an employer,
suspicious spouse, business competitor, or someone who
wants to know exactly what you're doing.

Now, suppose you carry an up-to-date anti-virus program and
a firewall - shouldn't that represent potent protection?

In a word: NO!

I can personally attest that even the most up-to-date anti-
virus programs and firewalls will not (repeat, WILL NOT)
catch all the spyware that can infest your computer.

You need a program that specifically scans your system for
the tens-of-thousands of existing spyware programs along
with the new ones appearing daily.

Check out "Spy Sweeper" from webroot.com - this is the
program I used to discover the spyware on my computer.

One thing I noticed, however, is that this program is a
memory hog, so once I scanned, I turned it off and then
use it 2-3 times a week... not the best strategy, but
I want to give you the "whole" picture.

I also got the following recommendations from numerous
subscribers about 2 programs to specifically help identify
and remove spyware from your system (PC):

1. "Ad Aware" from lavasoft.de
2. "Spybot Search & Destroy" from safer-networking.org

The overwhelmingly recommended firewall suggested by readers
was Zone Alarm Pro from Zone Labs
=> http://www.ebookfire.com/zonealarm.html

The bottom line seems pretty simple (but lengthy) if you
want to protect yourself against this growing threat.

~ Keep your anti-virus program current
~ Install a firewall
~ Carefully screen software before installing it
~ Scan for specifically for spyware weekly
~ Stay current on this growing threat.

About the author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist
(http://www.TheNetReporter.com) and is the author of
several best-selling ebooks, information products and
software programs.

Simple "Traffic Machine" brings Thousands of NEW visitors to
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Top 10 Ways To Protect Yourself From Computer Viruses
by: Jim Faller

As more and more people are becoming comfortable using their computers at school, home or in the office it�s only a matter of time before they encounter a computer virus. Here are our top 10 steps to protect you from computer viruses.

Use a high quality anti-virus program. There are many different anti-virus computers programs on the market some of them are better than others. Look to reputable computer magazines or websites for ratings to help you find the one that matches your needs.

Always use your anti-virus software. Make sure your anti-virus software is always turned on and scanning, incoming and outgoing email messages, and any software programs you run.

Keep your antivirus programs up to date. Most programs come with a yearly subscription make sure you take advantage of the updates. More advanced programs allow you to schedule updates or full system scans for �off hours� like 2AM when you aren�t likely to be using your computer.

Keep your computer up to date. From time to time operating systems fall victim to security holes or issue updates. Make sure you check periodically to make sure you are running stable up to date versions of your software.

Backup your data regularly. Most windows computer users keep their documents in the �My documents� folder. This makes it easy to back up all of your important documents. Make weekly or monthly copies to CD or USB drives.

If you use floppy disks or USB drives on public computers like your school computer lab, Kinko�s, or even digital photo printing store make sure you scan them for viruses. Public computers are notorious for not being up to date and properly protected.

Be wary of email attachments. Treat any email attachment as potentially dangerous. Never open attachments from people you weren�t expecting. Also be careful of attachments from people you know but weren�t expecting. Many computer viruses replicate themselves by reading the contacts from an infected computer.

Use text email if possible. While HTML email is prettier and allows you more control over formatting it also can carry computer viruses. If you use text based email the only way to get a virus is by opening an attachment.

Use downloaded freeware and shareware files or software with caution. Try to download them from popular reputable sources that scan the programs before they are uploaded. To make sure you are safe scan the program before you install it on your computer.

Be wary of links in IM or instant messaging software. Don�t accept invitations from people you don�t know and never click a link from someone you don�t trust, they can easily redirect you to another website that will try to install a virus on your computer system.

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