The new world of Spyware

I read an article
on Live Science recently that suggested 1 in 62 of the sites visited out
there today attempt to install some type of spy or malicious software on our
computers through our browsers.

From the
article :

The study examined popular categories of Web sites including games, news
and celebrity sites. Among the findings:

• More 5 percent of executable files contain piggybacked spyware.

• One in 62 Internet domains performs "drive-by download attacks"
to force spyware on users who simply visit the site.

• Game and celebrity Web sites appeared to pose the greatest risk for
piggybacked spyware, while sites that offer pirated software topped the list
for drive-by attacks.

Spyware and Malware are a reality, no matter where we are surfing. Some of the
bigger websites and companies are the largest offenders in this area. The larger
corporations call the installed programs other names of course, but only if
you bring them to their attention. Many User Agreements and Usage Agreements
have clauses in them which say you allow the companies to serupticiously install
monitoring software on your system by visiting the website. Whether or not these
agreements would stand up in court is another issue entirly. What we want to
focus on here is that websites are doing this as a regular practice and we don't
want them too.

Why?

Good question really and a great place to start. Most spyware programs are
installed on our system through our browser, or through some game we downloaded
and installed ourselves. Most of these are well written packages that report
our web browsing habits and put pop-up ads on our screen. While this is an annoyance,
what is worse is the spy-ware program that is not well written. These slow our
machines down to a crawl and suck up bandwidth.

There are issues of invasion of privacy and I personally dislike the idea of
doing business with a company who feels my privacy is unimportant.

What can we do about it?

Most of the virus protection programs won't help you with these, because they
aren't viruses. They are programs that are installed with your permission. It
may not be your "conscience" permission, but they are programs just
like games, and word processors and spreadsheets. Virus protection programs
can't tell the difference.

There are a few software tools out there on the web which deal with the Spyware
and Malware programs.

The first of these is
Ad Aware by Lavasoft.

" Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition boasts a number of improvements. Extended
memory scanning now scans all modules loaded by a process. Scanning uses the
all- new CSI (Code Sequence Identification) technology to identify new and unknown
variants of known targets. Extended Registry scanning now scans Registry branches
of multiple-user accounts and performs additional smart checks to detect dynamically
created references. Scanning speed is noticeably faster, and this version offers
an Extended Scanning mode for known and unknown/possible browser hijackers."

I've been using this package for a while. The Personal Edition is free to download
and use. They have other versions of the software which have some advanced features
as well. The Ad Aware program searches through your files system, the registry
and your cookie areas looking for spy-ware programs. Just running it could remove
many of the pop-up windows you see while traveling on the Internet.

A sure sign that you have spy-ware infestations is going to Google or Yahoo's
front page and seeing pop-ups. Both of these companies never use pop-up advertising,
so if you are seeing them there, then you have a spy-ware program showing them
to you.

Another good program to use is
Microsoft's Anti-Spyware. Yes it is from Microsoft and yes it is still in
Beta, but it is still a very good program to have on your Windows system. Just
download and install, and let it check the system. It also installs a shield
to protect you while you are surfing.

Spyware and Malware are security threats and threats to the health of your
computer system. The usage of these types of programs is down, but still something
to worry about as you surf the web. The protection programs I've introduced
here are both free, and easy to install. Use them, and enjoy your Internet explorations
which much more confidence.