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Arm_Yourself_Against_Snoops_With_Spyware_Counterintelligence
| Arm Yourself Against Snoops With Spyware Counterintelligence
Spyware is the cyber-equivalent of a peeping Tom. No one would
think of sitting by while someone hide in the bushes watching
their every move, so why do so many allow spyware snoops to
moniter them online? In some cases the answer is simple. They
may not even know that they are being watched.
Spyware comes in all shapes and sizes. It can simply be annoying
or it can be downright dangerous. The more worrisome varieties
of spyware can:
1. Slow down your system 2. Crash your PC 3. Log your keystrokes
4. Log your email 5. Log your chat sessions 6. Steal credit card
details 7. Capture passwords 8. Screen capture your display 9.
Collect personal data 10. Collect financial information
What is the Purpose of Spyware?
There are many different parties who may want to collect your
personal, financial, or sensitive information and there are
several reasons why they might want to have it. Usually spyware
users are:
1. Marketing Companies - They gather data from your PC about
which sites you visit, which products you purchase, and details
about the email that you send.
2. Family Members - Even your own loved ones may be monitoring
your activity. Parents can use spyware to keep tabs on the sites
that their children frequent and suspicious spouses could easily
use spyware to track their mates activity online.
3. Roommates - Roommates are also possible spyware users. For
example, when students enter college they must cohabitant with
people that they don't even know. One of those people could
easily be an unscrupulous person who is gathering important
information with spyware.
4. Employers - Many employers, concerned about employees wasting
time online, have installed snoopware on company computers. This
software is designed to moniter both online and email activity.
Your employer, therefore, could be monitoring you and judging
you based not on your work performance, but rather on the
content of your email and the sites that you visit while at work.
5. Crime Organizations - Thieves and all sorts of nefarious
sorts use spyware everyday to collect credit card details,
social security numbers, passwords, etc. They then use this
information to steal your identity and, in the process, make a
considerable amount of money while ruining your credit and your
reputation.
6. Identity Thieves - Spyware is a vital tool in an identiy
thefts arsenal. It allows them to gather detailed information
that they can then use to masquerade as you.
Is There More Than One Type of Spyware?
Spyware is just a broad term for a variety of different
programs. A few of the more common forms of spyware include:
1. Adware - Those annoying pop-ups ads that plaster your screen
fall into the category of adware. Adware also refers to any
advertiser supported program. In order to display ads that are
targeted to your interests your activity is monitored and, based
on your habits, you are shown ads that should be of interest to
you. Adware also puts a strain on your system resources because
it must connect to a remote server in order to communicate your
personal information with whomever is monitering you.
2. Keystroke Loggers - This type of spyware logs everything that
you type. Whether that is a personal note, a password, or a
credit card number. Anything and everything that you type is
captured and forwarded to the person watching your activity.
3. Browser Hijackers - This form of spyware will commonly change
your home page to a so-called search page that is filled with
less-than-useful pay-per-click results. This flavor of spyware
also logs the URLs that you visit.
4. Snoopware - This variety of spyware can monitor a PC user's
every action. In addition, these programs were specifically
designed to go undetected by the person being monitored.
Snoopware used to be primarily found only in the workplace, but,
as snoopware became more affordable, its usage grew. Employers,
suspicious spouses, coworkers, parents, and strangers are just a
few of the people that may unleash snoopware on your system.
How Spyware Invades Your System Without Warning
The sad fact is that you have probably installed a very
malicious spyware program on your computer without even
realizing it. Your system may been infected with spyware if you
have ever downloaded:
1. File-sharing programs 2. Freeware 3. Shareware 4. Music 5.
Games 6. Screensavers 7. Video clips 8. Pictures
Even some programs that can be purchased in stores contain
spyware.
Spy(ware Detection) vs. Spy(ware)
It would be virtually impossible to prevent spyware on your own.
Even the most hyper-vigilant defense would most likely let
spyware slip through the cracks. The only way to absolutely
ensure that your system is protected is to monitor your computer
with spyware prevention and removel software.
A firewall is another invaluable resource that should be used in
conjunction with a spyware prevention and removal program. The
firewall monitors your PC's Internet connection and shields it
from unwanted actions by third-parties. In doing this it
prevents spyware from connecting with remote sites without your
permission.
Once spyware infiltrates your system it can be quite a chore to
remove. Uninstalling the program that was bundled with the
spyware won't do it. That will only remove the main application
from your system, while the spyware application remains. After
spyware has entered your computer your best course of action is
to install a spyware prevention and removal program. In addition
to preventing spyware infection these programs will also remove
the spyware that has already infected your system.
About the author:
Heather Wallace is a writer whose work has been published in
national, regional, and online publications. Additionally, she
has written articles as a newspaper correspondent. Visit
http://www.fetchingsites.com/SpywareIntel.html to run a free
spyware detection scan on your computer.
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