1216 0 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 (edited) Spyware is software or hardware installed on a computerwithout the user's knowledge which gathers information aboutthat user for later retrieval by whomever controls thespyware.Spyware can be broken down into two different categories,surveillance spyware and advertising spyware.Surveillance software includes key loggers, screen capturedevices, and trojans. These would be used by corporations,private detectives, law enforcement, intelligence agencies,suspicious spouses, etc.Advertising spyware is software that is installed alongsideother software or via activex controls on the internet,often without the user's knowledge, or without fulldisclosure that it will be used for gathering personalinformation and/or showing the user ads. Advertisingspyware logs information about the user, possibly includingpasswords, email addresses, web browsing history, onlinebuying habits, the computer's hardware and softwareconfiguration, the name, age, sex, etc of the user.As with spam, advertising spyware uses the CPU, RAM, andresources of the user's computer, making the user pay forthe costs associated with operating it. It then makes use ofthe user's bandwidth to connect to the internet and uploadwhatever personal information it has gathered, and todownload advertisements which it will present to the user,either by way of pop up windows, or with the ad banners ofad-supported software. All of this can be considered theftin the cases of advertising spyware that installs withoutdisclosure.And while anti-virus software like Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus or McAfee's ViruScan can offer some protection, one ofthe best ways to combat spyware is with anti-spy software.Two of the best are Lavasoft's Ad-aware and Spybot's Search& Destroy, which are available as free downloads.http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/https://www.safer-networking.org/The free version of Ad-aware does not proactively protectagainst spyware infestation. You have to start the Ad-awareapplication and initiate a scan to detect spyware. But thepaid version, Ad-aware Plus does remain alert in thebackground, like Spybot, to deflect any attempts atinfestation. In recent tests, Ad-aware Plus and Spybot bothprotected systems extremely well.If you haven't already done so, I highly recommendinstalling Microsoft's Service Pack 2. SP2 tightens yourPC's security with a new Windows Firewall, an improvedAutomatic Updates feature, and a pop-up ad blocker forInternet Explorer. Plus, the newly minted Security Centergives you one easy-to-use interface for keeping tabs on yourPC's security apps.There are also other steps you can take to protect againstspyware. One simple step is to switch from Microsoft'sbrowsers, which have security holes for spyware programs toexploit. A good alternative is Mozilla Firefox. Another not-so-simple step is switching to the Mac or Linux operatingsystems, which don't have spyware problems. Notice from BuffaloHELP: Spam http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/. Warning issued. Edited January 31, 2006 by BuffaloHELP (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuffaloHelp 24 Report post Posted March 15, 2006 Please continue your discussion here http://forums.xisto.com/topic/34630-tips-on-defeating-spyware-a-very-concise-guide/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites