Tips to Avoid Spyware. Don’t Click That!
Spyware is something that is used by the advertising industry to direct you to their websites or fill your screen with pop-ups even though you have enabled your pop-up blocker.
How does Spyware get on your computer and so what?
This software gets installed on your computer when you think you are downloading something else or without your knowledge. There are even types of spyware that can track what keys you are typing and translates them into what you have said and this is how hijackers can get some of your personal information. If you find your computer running slower all of a sudden the culprit may be Spyware. The extra processing you computer has to do due to Spyware is very noticeable. Your most personal information can be breeched in some cases. Now your information is out there, you don’t know who has it, what they have and worse of all how they intend to use it.
How do I know if there is Spyware on my computer or not?
If you are getting countless pop-ups even when you have your pop-up blocker activated, this could indicate you have spyware.
When you type in a location in your browser or click a link to a specific site and get redirected to a different site, this is also a spyware indication.
Also, spyware may be present if you have new and unexpected toolbars in your browser and/or icons in your task tray.
If your homepage has changed on its own and no matter how many times you reset it, it changes back to the unknown one, you may have spyware.
Other signs are that your search engine has been changed or certain keys in your browser don’t work anymore.
You get random Windows errors starting to pop-up.
If you are experience a delay when opening programs and processes are taking to long to load or save, that could be another sign.
These are all tell tale signs of installed spyware on your machine. So how can you keep yourself spyware free? Here are a few tips that will keep spyware from installing on your PC.
Do not click links that are inside a pop-up window.
These pop-up windows are often infested with spyware and will just install themselves on your computer before you can stop them. To close the pop-up, click the X in the title bar and not the one in the window itself. You can also right click the window in your task bar and click on close to avoid touching the window all together. It is always safer to stay far away from the pop-up windows and sites that use them. When unexpected dialogue boxes pop up always select “no” or click cancel. If you get a window asking you to run a program you did not select hit cancel or close the program with the X in the title bar. These types of programs are most likely spyware and not your computer trying to tell you something.
Be extremely cautious of free downloadable software.
There are thousands of websites that offer cool toolbars, amazing cursers, and other tempting stuff for computer users. If you aren’t sure if you can trust the website or have no idea whether it is safe, don’t download things from it. What you are really doing if you go ahead and download this stuff is exposing yourself to spyware and possibly more. You can end up downloading a lot more than just the program you thought you were getting.
If you get e-mails containing links to get rid of spyware programs, ignore and delete them. These links will most likely be the actual spyware itself that it is claiming to get rid of. If you think you may have spyware on your machine, go to a trustworthy site to get spyware removal tools. Take other precautions and make sure you have your browser preferences set to limit cookies and pop-ups. Usually some active content or scripting will activate a pop-up so adjust your browser setting to reduce or prevent scripting or active content from happening in the first place. This can help limit and decrease the number of windows that pop-up unannounced on your system and avoid possible system crashes.
Most browsers and toolbars offer the option to block all pop-ups. Although this option is fine be aware that it will block even regular windows you have clicked on from coming up. All you would have to do is hold the control key while you click on the site you are trying to pull up and this will let the pop-up window open.
There are also some cookies that are considered spyware because they show what web sites you have been on. You can adjust your cookie setting to keep them to a minimum and you can also go into your Internet options and delete them whenever you like. It is probably best to delete all your cookies on a regular basis, even once a day if you can.
What do you do when you have spyware already on your computer?
You have to remove it from your PC. There are some anti-virus programs that have the anti-spyware program built in but some of these will only detect the spyware after it has installed onto your computer when you run a system scan. If this is the type of anti-virus you have then you should do scans regularly if you are on the Internet a lot. The best ant-virus program to have is one that will detect and block spyware as it tries to enter your computer system. No matter where you are on the Internet; your software won’t allow anything to get through. You should also do a weekly virus scan just to be safe though and as a extra precaution run a virus scan after downloading and installing any new software from the internet.
Install a Spyware Removal Program
You will want to download a legitimate spyware removal program because there are ant-virus programs that don’t have a spyware removal system. There are several great programs out there including Ad-Aware, SpySweeper, PestPatrol, and Spybot Search and Destroy and many o these have free personal editions.
So to recap – how do we stop spyware infestation?
1. Do not click links that are inside a pop-up window.
2. Be extremely cautious of free downloadable software.
3. Install a Spyware Removal Program
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