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 Category :: Spam |
Author :: Fazly Mohamed  |
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| Article Title :: Your Computer May Be Infected. Here's how to check.. |
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A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is
infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users are
not aware of it. (Your computer could be infected by now too.)
The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software
is running, these software can even pass it and take over your
PC.
Have you experienced any of the following? * Awesome popups come
out of nowhere, when browsing the 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 the
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 the
software during the 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 the license
agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of
adware in a given software installation is documented, but it
may appear at the 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 the 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 the Web page that first asked you to
accept the download by hitting the "X" in the corner of the
window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to
begin browsing the 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.
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-- 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 the 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 the clean up. This will
allow you to monitor every single communication that occurs
between your computer and the external world and block the ones
that are harmful. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC
and the external world (Internet / Network).
A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, NoAdware
at http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all the 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 the status of your PC in
great detail - at least you will know whether you have any
spyware on your PC at all! (Most of the 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 the
advantage of giving a try to clean it out, provided that the
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.)
You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems(eg.
Windows XP), there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how
to activate it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com
You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these
spyware? Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut
answer, we can safely state that everything boils down to the
urge of more profits. How? The spyware collects all your
personal information and transfers it to an external computer.
The information is reviewed by a software in the receiving
computer and then delivered targeted popup ads to the infected
PC. There are many things that spyware does in addition to this.
If you have some technical knowledge about your PC, here's a
technical explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause.
1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your
activities. 2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC
and the spyware server. (This is a two-way transfer)
Firstly, the extra process in itself is an undesired process and
it contributes to slow down your PC. Second point is the most
harmful. It transfers logged info on the infected PC to the
external PC (Spyware server) and then the external PC transfers
targeted popups to the infected PC. (Targeted popups are popup
ads that are delivered based on user interests. User interests
are analyzed by special software running on the spyware server,
using information transferred by your PC as input.) Since many
extra processes are running (eg: monitoring processes,
transferring processes etc.), your RAM (memory) will be shared
and as a result, your PC will run slower. This also slows down
your Internet connection speed because a lot of transfer is
taking place and your total available bandwidth is shared.
In short, PC with spyware is like a dumping ground for snakes.
Once its there up and running, it can do almost anything with
your PC.
* NOTE: A useful tip - When you clean up your PC and close the
door for those harmful programs with a firewall, you can block
many popups. But still, there can be some popups. There are
popups integrated to websites you visit, and we must to do
something about them. There are many popup blockers available on
the net, but I highly recommend installing the Google toolbar,
which has a quality pop-up blocker integrated to it. It also has
some other useful features and is highly customizable. Download
it free at http://toolbar.google.com.
The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is
the most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more
attention of many malicious software developers. All of us want
to make our PCs good and clean, right? So advise your friends
about this, or if you had this article by email, just forward it.
Happy surfing...
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