Spyware and Viruses

Some of you folks recognize me from my posts on various newsgroups. I am a
technician with "Geeks On Call". I have been performing IT support for about
10 years now. Nearly two-thirds of my service calls deal with spyware and
viruses. Although there are numerous articles concerning this issue, many
users do not care to read them. They are like me when it comes to my car: If
it starts in the morning, I do not care how it runs. But what you do not
know will hurt you in the end.

Jerry Honeycutt, MS Expert Zone Columnist states,
"As if spam, viruses, and worms aren't bad enough. Adware and spyware are
here to sap the remaining life out of your productivity and privacy. Cookies
are harmless in comparison!

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer. These are
ads that inexplicably pop up on your display screen, even if you're not
browsing the Internet. Some companies provide "free" software in exchange
for advertising on your display. It's how they make their money.

Spyware is software that sends your personal information to a third party
without your permission or knowledge. This can include information about Web
sites you visit or something more sensitive like your user name and
password. Unscrupulous companies often use this data to send you unsolicited
targeted advertisements."

Now I am sure all of you have heard about spyware removal tools such as
SpyBot, Ad-Aware, Pest Patrol, and spyware blocking programs like SpyWare
Blaster. I ran all four programs on my PC and have had zero instances of
spyware in over a year. The problem occurs when the users of these programs
forget to update the spyware definitions for these programs. Spyware is very
similair to viruses in that new spyware is being developed and redesigned
everyday. If you do not up-to-date definitions, you cannot counter them.

When running any of these programs (with the exception of SpyWare Blaster)
it is a good idea to do this in Safe Mode. Spyware loves to load itself into
memory.

A majority of the spyware / viruses cases I see deal with file sharing
programs like Kazaa. This program in particuliar has cost my clients a lot
of money. I have removed as many as 4,000 articles of spyware and 39 viruses
off one PC.

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out. If you have any questions or
comments, please fill free to post them and I will help out in any way I
can.


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Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI