Spy, Counter-Spy
Is your computer running slower than usual? Has your browser's start page been hijacked? Having trouble reaching your favorite search engine? Popups driving you crazy? Most likely your computer is infested with spyware, the cockroaches of the digital age. |
A recent audit of 4000 UK firms found the average office PC contains 20 pieces of spyware, including system monitors and trojan horses, that could put confidential data at risk. And according to Webroot, the company that performed the testing, consumers are even worse off, with an average of 26 potentially malicious pieces of malware.
Chances are, you ARE affected. So what can you do?
Start with a good anti-virus package such as Norton, McAfee, AVG or EZ-Armor. But before you *buy* anything, check with your service provider -- some of them are offering anti-virus software for free. McAfee virus protection is now included with AOL membership, and Road Runner offers their users the EZ-Armor package at no charge. If your ISP isn't offering any freebies, check out the free AVG package from Grisoft at http://free.grisoft.com .
Next, make sure your operating system is regularly receiving security fixes and updates. If you use Windows, click on Start->WindowsUpdate to scan your system for critical fixes. Mac users can stay up to date by clicking on Apple->Software Update.
Zzzzap!
Even with good anti-virus protection, system updates and careful attention to those annoying "Do you want to run and install such-and-such" popups, you can still get hit with spyware. Some programs (most notably peer-to-peer file/music sharing) install others surreptitiously. Toolbars, download helpers, screen savers and email icon packages are often bearers of these nasty pests. And if you have kids, just resign yourself to the onslaught.
My favorite spyware zapper is a free tool called X-RAYPC, which examines all the processes running on your system and rates them as Good, Bad or Unknown. (X-RAYPC was designed as a more functional replacement for the popular HijackThis! system analyzer.) You can kill the nasties and delete them with just a few clicks. I recommend X-RAYPC only for more savvy PC users because it's a very powerful tool and you could delete something important if you're not careful. Check it out at http://www.x-raypc.com .
For everyday users, the smartest people I know claim that there is no single spyware detection and removal program that does the job. But if you use a combination of these tools, you should catch most or all of them:
Microsoft Anti-Spyware - http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Spybot Search & Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org
AdAware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com
RELATED LINKS: http://www.tourbus.com/best_privacy.html
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Posted by Bob Rankin on 10 Jun 2005
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Spy, Counter-Spy (Posted: 10 Jun 2005)
Source: http://askbobrankin.com/spy_counterspy.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
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Most recent comments on "Spy, Counter-Spy"
Posted by:
Colin Davies
03 Aug 2005
Bob: I use AdAware and Spybot. In addition, I find Ewido particularly good. It's free, as long as you are willing to update manually (quick and easy)and catches a lot of spyware missed by the other two.
Thought your readers might be interested. --Colin D.
Posted by:
Alex
12 Dec 2005
Definitly....X-RAY PC (see above).
Catched a "dialer", another "spy"....which neither spybot, adaware nor EWido.
Better use this ALSO.
Ufff...internet is going slippery...
Posted by:
Angie Reeks
26 Dec 2005
Thanks so much for this helpful article. It not only gave me much needed information and links, but let me know what NOT to do. Thanks again.
Angie Reeks
Posted by:
nicky
06 Mar 2007
i got a problen resenli i got a spyware in my pc but i install son programs ,that program help because the "troyan back door" disapear from my pc and the spyware cant get in my pc agin but some files are damage ........ waht i do?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sounds like you should back up your important files and re-install Windows from scratch.
Posted by:
Farzana
05 Sep 2007
hii i am not able to download Spybot S&D from any site . Infact these days my net speed is getting too slow .I cant figure out the proble I've got Broadband connection. And i scan my pc with Adaware everyday. Please Help !
EDITOR'S NOTE: See http://askbobrankin.com/make_windows_xp_run_faster.html
Posted by:
Geoff
10 Dec 2007
I have a 2 year old DELL that sudenly developed the BSOD, the Staples Tech determined that there was faulty ram ($100 later), it crashed again, he cleaneed off the computer, backed everything up to my new $200 remore hard-drive, and, another $250 worth of repairs, I tried again. Uploaded some documents from the back-up and then the pc went into a cycling of trying to open XP then to the DELL start-up and just looping. Back to staples with the comment that it was probably a faulty motherboard?
So, off to Superstore and I bought a new HP 360gb/3gb RAM - looked really good (other than it came with VISTA, but the plan was to replace with XP.)
Created a recovery disk, saved the files on the new PC to my remote hard drive, set up weekly back-up to the remote drive - everything looked great.
Downloaded one program (True Poker) and sat down for a night of PC entertainment. 2 hours into the new machine and up popped the BSOD with an errod code 000000014? (plus numerous other numbers).
The questions are:
1) can a virus upload from a remote hard-drive even if one doesn't down-load any of the saved data from the other PC?
2) Could it be a common virus from the True Poker donwload site?
3) what am I missing -
Frustrated on the West Coast