|
|
What is adware and spyware?
How can I tell if I have a virus, adware or spyware on my computer?
How do I get rid of a virus, adware or spyware?
Adware is any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows, through a bar that appears on a computer screen, or as part of the program.
Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the Internet, spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties.
How can I tell if I have a virus, adware or spyware on my computer?
Spyware is harder to detect because it was designed to work invisibly to gather your information. Adware is more obvious as it was designed to produce advertising on your computer for the user to see.
Some of the symptoms of adware/spyware are:
The computer runs slower than usual, even when not connected to the Internet. Adware/spyware usually runs even when the computer is not connected to the Internet, using up the computer's resources and causing other programs on the computer to run slower.
When connected to the Internet, it may take longer for pages to appear, as some adware sets up a "proxy" that checks any web page you click on or enter into the address bar, so it can record your web pages and deliver popup advertising relevant to the site you are attempting to access. For example, if you attempted to access the UPS site, you may see popup ads for another shipping company.
The computer suddenly begins trying to connect to the Internet when the computer is first turned on, or mysteriously connects at odd hours when no one is using it. Many adware/spyware programs are set to run when the computer starts, and may even try to make a connection to the Internet so that it can "report" to the spyware server.
Other programs may have a set time they are to deliver their information, and if your computer is set to "connect automatically" (so you don't have to click the "Connect" button when you open Internet Explorer), it is able to make the connection without any help from the user.
Your home page has suddenly been "hijacked" to another website. Your home page (the page you see when you connect to the Internet) is reset, usually to an advertising page. Changing your home page settings in Internet Explorer may only work temporarily until the next time you connect, or the next time your restart your computer. The setting for your home page may even still show your original setting.
You are inundated with popup ads before or as soon as you connect to the Internet. Some adware programs wait for the user to make a connection to the Internet, then start delivering popup ads with almost every new page you visit.
You Experience sudden problems making a connection to the Internet or staying connected. Since some adware/spyware makes changes to the winsock files in Windows, it may keep the computer from negotiating a connection, or in keeping that connection.
You have mysterious connections set up in Dial-up Networking/Network Connections. Some websites (usually adult-oriented) will invite the visitor to install a "viewer" in order to view the site. This "viewer" is actually a dialer program that hangs up your Internet connection and dials a 900 number to connect directly to their server. The dialer may do so silently and invisibly, so that the user isn't aware that the computer is re-dialing a connection until the charges appear on their phone bill.
How did I get them?
The most common way of getting adware/spyware programs installed on your computer is in downloading and installing so-called "free" software. Some well-known "free" programs that also include adware and/or spyware are Kaaza (a program for file sharing, often used to exchange music files), Gator (helps save username and password information from various websites), and Comet Cursor (displays customized cursors on your computer).
Another method is to have an ActiveX component pop up when you visit a page on a website. These components usually describe themselves as "viewers" or "helpers" or may even appear to be a program ("Time Controller" is a popular ActiveX component that purports to be a program that keeps your time up to date on your computer, but is also spyware). There are legitimate ActiveX installers, such as Macromedia's Flash and LiquidAudio that allow you to display special content on websites, but you should be very cautious when you see any type of window offering to install a component.
Another way of receiving adware/spyware is installing one of many different toolbars available for your web browser. My Search Bar is a toolbar that allows you to perform a simultaneous search of several search engines at several times. My Search Bar is installed when you install Weatherbug, but note that the installation does give you the option not to install the toolbar. While many search engines offer legitimate search toolbars (Yahoo and Google, for example), there are other toolbars (HotBar and MySearchBar) that give you more than you asked.
Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as the result of installing a new program. Data collecting programs that are installed with the user's knowledge are not, properly speaking, spyware, if the user fully understands what data is being collected and with whom it is being shared. But this information is usually buried among other legal jargon in license agreements to which the user must agree before the host program will install.
The justification that providers use for adware is that it helps recover programming development cost and helps to hold down the cost for the user so that the programs can be offered for a low cost or as "freeware". This is the same reasoning that subscription and "free" magazine publishers use to explain the number of advertisements in their publications. And most users would probably not object to a few advertisements in the software itself. But the sheer intrusiveness of the popup ads, the number of ads, and the detrimental effect on your computer may not be worth the value users receive from these programs.
How do I get rid of a virus, adware or spyware?
First of all, understand that many of the programs include in their license agreements some statement to the effect that you agree to run the adware/spyware programs on your computer in exchange for using their free software, and that you must also remove their software if you remove the additional adware/spyware programs.
In most cases, removing the downloaded program will NOT remove the adware/spyware programs that were installed along with it. These programs will need to be uninstalled separately, or may require extensive work to remove, such as removing program entries from the Windows Registry and/or deleting files from your hard drive.
In some cases, you can find these programs listed in the Add or Remove Programs in your Control Panel. They will often have names like "bargain buddy", "CashNow" or "AdAgent". Unfortunately not all adware/spyware programs thoughtfully include the ability to uninstall.
The best method is to download an adware/spyware cleaner program. One of the best available is called "Spybot: Search & Destroy" (http://www.safer-networking.org). The program is very simple to use (the first time you are lead through a "wizard") by clicking on a "find problems" button that searches your computer for known adware/spyware programs, then clicking on a "fix problem" button to remove the found programs. Spybot lists any problems it finds and provides a description of the problem, so the user knows what they are removing. Like your virus scan software, Spybot works from a list of known adware/spyware programs that is easily updated with a couple of clicks.
For advanced users, Spybot is very flexible; you can make exceptions for any of the programs it finds and change the way it deals with installed programs.
Spybot is "freeware" - there is no cost in downloading or using the program. But the programmer does ask for donations to help support this more than worthy program. On the Spybot toolbar, click on Help, then Donations for more information on how you can show your appreciation for this fine product.
How do I keep from getting them again?