Software Information |
Your Computer May Be Infected, Heres How To Check (NOT about virus)
NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC's security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out for later reference. A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users not aware of it. (Your computer could fall into this lot too.) The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software is running, these software can even inactivate them and take over your PC. Have you experienced any of the following?
How can this happen? - The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up and running as soon as it's finished installing (or after the page is completely loaded) and with every windows startup since then. Their job is to collect information and report (or transfer) it to an external computer. What is deceptive software? (Reference: www.microsoft.com) Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of "deceptive" software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your home page or search page without first getting your permission. There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your system. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program. Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of adware in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement. Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at the medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being installed on your computer. Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to accept a download even after you said "no"? Creators of deceptive software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If this happens to you, do not click "yes". Instead, try to close the Web page that first asked you to accept the download by hitting the "X" in the corner of the window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to begin browsing the Internet again. If you visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust. Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know the status of your computer. You must clean infections once you find it and the game is not over yet. The spyware might reinfect your PC. So it's highly recommended that you run a firewall on your system after the clean up. This will allow you to monitor every single communication occurs with your computer and block the ones which you feel unnecessary. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the external world (Internet / Network). A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all the infections and potential dangers in great detail. It's free to scan but not to clean. It's a good idea to have a scan even you have no idea of cleaning, since you know the status of your PC in great detail. This gives two advantages. Firstly, if there are minor infections and if you have a fair knowledge on registry settings and how to edit them, you may have a try to clean them up. Secondly, if it shows that there are major infections, you can avoid using credit cards and doing other confidential stuff, until you clean it up later. You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems (eg. Windows XP), there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how to activate it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com. You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these spyware? Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut answer, we can safely state that every thing boils down to the urge of more profits. How? The spyware collects all your personal information and transfer it to an external computer. The information is reviewed by a software in the receiving computer and then deleivered targeted popup ads to your PC. There are many things that spyware does in addition to this. The most dangerous of those is that collecting the credit card numbers. If you have some technical knowledge on your PC, here's a technical explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause. 1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your activities in your PC. 2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC and the spyware writer's computer. The first process in it self is an unneeded process and it contributes to slow down your PC. Second is the most harmful. It transfers logged info to the external PC (spyware writer's PC). Then the external PC transfers targeted popups to the infected PC. This, in addition to slowing down your PC because of these extra processes, it also slows down the internet connection, as the bandwidth is shared. In short, PC with a spyware is like a dumping ground for snakes. Once its there and up and running, it can do almost anything with your PC. Please pass this on to all you know. The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is the most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more attention of many malicious software developers. About The Author Fazly Mohamed - fazlymohamed@yahoo.com
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Resume Software - Advantages Revealed The various resume software offered, particularly on the internet, can seem very attractive to job seekers; especially to those not comfortable writing resumes. At first glance resume writing software can provide a number of perks and can appear to be the perfect solution to many job seekers. MySQL for Beginners - How to Create a MySQL Database Whether you are an experienced web programmer or a complete novice attempting to provide data interactivity with your web site, MyQSL is an easy to use and free database solution that can allow you to store and configure data to be displayed on your web site.The best way to create and manage a MySQL database is to download an open source (free) program called PhpMyAdmin. IT Department Skills to Support Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as Client Relation Management system is very robust combination and could serve midsize to large corporation as Business System. Being VP IT or IT Director you need to foresee the positions to have in your IT department to do internal MS Great Plains and MS CRM support. Oracle Development: JDeveloper 10G - Java, J2EE, EJB, MVC, XML - Overview For Programmer In 2004 Oracle, Inc. made its new step toward J2EE application development simplification, releasing new RAD Oracle JDeveloper 10G. Software Tools To Help Your Business Sell More Sales are all about leverage, because there is only so much you can do on your own. But, with the help of these simple tools, you can easily double, triple and quadruple your productiviting and make more sales. Beware of Spyware One day, you suddenly realize that your computer started to worknoticeably slower than it used to. You decide to run de-fragmentation of your hard drive and add more virtual memory to the system. Artificial Intelligence And Intuition The intuitive algorithm.Roger Penrose considered it impossible. Why do Manufacturers Invest in Business Management Software? With many manufacturing shops heading over seas in favor of lower cost, it is tough to compete in today's marketplace. As a result, the goal for manufactures who want to compete going forward is to run leaner, faster and more accurately. Great Plains Dexterity Development: FAQ Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is Dexterity-written application and currently we see increased interest for Great Plains customers to do in-house Dexterity development and customization. Dexterity itself is written on C programming language and its initial architecture was based on the Graphical and Database platform independence, which C programming language was believed to provide. Five Steps to Rapid Development with TierDeveloper 4.0 Follow the steps below to quickly design, generate, and deploy a great portion of your real-life N-Tier application.STEP 1: HAVE YOUR DATABASE READY1. Spyware Statistics -- Whats New in May 2005? Although statistics often is blamed for various deadly sins -- from being biased to being inaccurate -- there is nothing left to those who are anyhow connected with IT but to keep up with fresh data. Since spyware is literally ubiquitous, nobody who owns or uses a PC can say that it is none of his business. Dreamweaver vs FrontPage There are two major WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You Get) editors available for beginners. These are: Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver. FreeDOS Before September 1995, Microsoft Windows was an MS-DOS program. DOS was an easy to use command line operating system that provided you with complete ability to control and troubleshoot your computer. Microsoft Great Plains in Construction & Building - Implementation & Customization Highlights Microsoft Great Plains could be tuned and setup to fit most of horizontal markets. You can deploy third party modules or build your own custom logic in Great Plains Dexterity. Know-how in Microsoft Publisher For those who still don't know, Microsoft Publisher helps computer users to easily create, customize and publish materials such as flyers, brochures, catalogs, newsletters and websites. It provides tools to create professional and compelling marketing materials that will help you take your business further. Interactive Mapping Brings Information to Life What is Interactive Mapping?Interactive mapping is a visual display medium which allows graphing, mapping, and even conversion to PDF of any type of information. This technology is used by national government agencies, airlines, chambers of commerce, ski resorts, and countless corporations to make information accessible and interactive to whomever they present the information. Microsoft Great Plains Payroll Module Customization Scenarios It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market ERP or so-called standard functionality MRP solution as its corporate accounting system. Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good candidate. Microsoft Great Plains: carpet, textile, fabric, felt distributor - implementation overview In this small article we will show you the possible way of deploying Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains for the market niche of large, mid-size and small reselling and distribution business in carpeting and floor covering, textile & fabric. We will not be talking about fabric production, but rather cutting for the end-user or small retailer. Document Templates Give You The Perfect Framework For Your Documents When it comes to running an office, the SOHO entrepreneur has enough on his or her plate as it is. So if you find yourself in the unenviable position of regularly having to set aside your core competencies to handle tedious, repetitive administrative duties such as creating your business documents from scratch, then you need to consider the potential benefits offered by document templates. Microsoft and Webmasters Does Microsoft care for WebmastersIt's always been a problem with websites appearing exactly the same on different platforms. As a web developer / webmaster it is extremely difficult to make user experiences rich by having the site look the same in any OS / Browser. |
home | site map | contact us |