by Robert Pearce

Spyware is one of those programs that can cause havoc on your computer and your personal life. It has never been easier for potential thieves to gain access to personal bank accounts, passwords and credit card information from the comfort there home. But that’s not all; syware can completely destroy your computer in the process and has now happened to me on three occasions. This article will out line the types of software you will need to combat spyware and protect your computer and your personal information while surfing online.

But first what exactly is spyware?

Well to put it simply it is basically a software program that has been specifically designed to gather and collect all sorts of information from anyone that has been unlucky enough to have it installed on their PC. Some times you may not even realize you have it on your computer until the owner of the program activates it. Once they have done this then you should start to see the tell tale signs of an infected computer. Things like ads popping up when you’re not online, your computer freezing for no apparent reason, not being able to get to your home page and your computer just being plain slow. If any of this is happening to you, well there’s a pretty good chance you are infected.

What can I do?

Well the very first thing you should do is get yourself some spyware removal software to detect any spyware present on your computer. Now if you don’t have the cash to spend at present then there are a number of free programs available. Two that come to mind are Ad aware and Spy bot search and destroy. Just remember these are free programs and tend to leave some spyware behind. So please get yourself a paid software tool once you have some money as I have found they do a far better scan. But just use the two mentioned above for now and clean out your system.

Right now you have a clean computer lets take a look at some other software programs you will need to protect yourself and your computer.

Pop Up Blockers

Pop up blockers are a vital piece of software in preventing spware from entering your computer. Why is that? Let me explain. I’m sure you have come across pop ups while surfing the net, but one of the things I think people don’t understand is they can be used as another tool to gain entry to your computer and plant spyware. You see once it appears on the web page your are surfing generally people think that pushing the X button closes the pop up and that’s the end of it. But trust me that is not all ways the case. The X button can be changed to OK or Download with out you even knowing about it. While it stills looks like the close button you are actually giving the program permission to download. It will then proceed to plant spyware on your PC. In the event of this happening the best course of action to take is to log of the net immediately before the download completes. So you can see why blocking the pop up in the first place will prevent spyware from entering you computer. There are free pop up blockers available so get one installed immediately.

Anti-virus

This is one of the best software programs you can have installed on your computer. Anti-virus software will detect and isolate any Trojans, key loggers and worms trying to gain access to your computer, usually when you are downloading a file or product off the net. This also gives you the ability to scan any emails you receive in your inbox. But please if you don’t know who its from just delete it, opening emails from unknown senders is one of the more common causes of spyware infection.

P.S. *It’s strongly recommend that you secure your copy of Symantec’s (Norton) all in one security suite that provides you with optimum security against every safety threat mentioned in this article - I cannot stress enough, how important this is, really.

Register Cleaner

This a great little piece of software for cleaning up any un-used files that may be left behind from any spyware and software programs you may have recently removed. I love it and you would be surprised what gets left behind. This will clean out your cache, temporary Internet files and browser history also so it makes sense to get one installed. This will speed up your computer considerably and make surfing the net very fast.

Suggested software to use: Uniblue’s Registry Booster™. Why? the software is fantastic and they offer excellent support. Plus you get a 20% discount if you order today using this link. Coupon code is: GETRB20%

Install a Firewall

This is absolutely essential!! Afirewall will protect you against hackers trying to enter your system. If you have what is called a “port” left open on your computer well hackers will find it and enter your system and can find and do basically anything they like. If you you’re thinking “OK” I don’t store any passwords or credit card details on my computer. Well let me tell you hackers are very good at what they do they can simply plant some spyware on your computer. Once you connect to a certain website that the owner of the program has chosen like bank websites or any website you are planning on using your credit card then the spyware will activate itself and begin sending your bank account, date of birth, user name, password and your home address back to them. This will result in Identity theft and is the worst-case scenario. Get one installed immediately.

Now take some time to install all the software mentioned in this article and you and your computer will be safe from spyware. There are plenty of free software programs available just remember to up date them once a week.

About the Author:

If you want to Remove spyware. Make sure you check out Robert pearce’s spyware program reviews and get yourself the best protection around.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 5:59 am and is filed under Computer Security, Firewall Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.