Spyware,Adware,Malware,Backdoors,and Trojans
They Will Get You
If
you use the internet , sooner or later you will meet one or more of
these guys !
Spyware
is a general class of programs that have a variety of purposes and
traits. It can be broken down into several subgroups: Adware,
Malware, Backdoors, and Trojans. All of these can be installed on
your computer remotely, usually without your knowledge, just by
visiting internet sites.
Adware
is generally any program that is designed strictly to advertise to the
targeted user. This is the main source of the classic .pop-ups , that
we have all come to hate so dearly. They are generally not dangerous
in any way, although anyone who has been 'flooded' with pop-ups knows
that eventually the machine may not be able to handle all of the
activity, and simply lock up.
Malware
is a more vicious program that can actually have devastating
consequences to the user under the wrong circumstances. Some of the
activities that these programs perform include things such as key
logging, password stealers even credit card numbers, social security,
and the like. More often than not, there is no sign that malware is
present, and the user will therefore never realize what has happened
until something like a credit card bill comes in the mail.
Backdoors
are probably the worst type of program to have running on one's
computer, because they are somewhat like a 'smart' virus. This is due
to the fact that they don’t do anything by themselves, but they allow
the
author access to your machine
through the program. This can result in anything from lockups to data
corruption and or loss. Backdoors basically allow the creator to do
whatever they want to your machine, whenever they feel like it,
without your permission.
Trojans
are programs that look like they do one thing, but actually do
another. The name comes from the giant Roman Trojan horse, where an
army of men hid inside. The enemy perceived the horse as a gift and
opened the
gates later that night, only to
be attacked by the men hidden inside. Computer Trojans work the same
way. You might see a link that says 'Cool Game'. When you download and
install it, you suddenly find that it wasn’t what it said it was at
all, and in fact has actually done something like erased the data on
your hard drive.
Depending on who you ask,
Backdoors and Trojans may or may not be considered spyware, but
because they can both be used functionally as such, and some variants
of both are picked up by Spyware scanners, they are included here.
Avoiding Spyware
To
effectively avoid Spyware, you must first follow a few simple rules
while surfing the web.
Rule
1:
NEVER Click on a
popup!
Clicking on pop-ups only invites
more in for later. Instead, find the popup on the taskbar, and right
click on it, and click CLOSE if at all possible. In cases where you
cannot do this, look for the upper-right most X on the pop-up and click
that instead.
Rule 2: Don’t
believe everything you read!
Don’t
just click the first thing you see come up on a search engine.
Sometimes, depending on what you searched for, you can get taken to a
site that is load with spyware that fund it. Read the caption line to
see if what you are looking for makes since, if not skip it.
Rule 3: Avoid the
known bad guys !
There are known site types that
will undoubtedly get you into trouble. Some are worse than others. These
include (yes I’m saying it) Porn, Sports, Game Cheat/Crack sites, and
anything that would be considered contraband. These sites have trouble
finding legitimate funding to keep their site up, so they resort to such
things as Adware (and worse) to keep the money flowing. Rule of thumb
is, 'Would Mom condone it?' If the answer is no, don’t surf there!
Rule 4: Don’t
click on the ads, even on a legitimate site!
Even if the site you are on
isn’t flooding you with Spyware, the ads
that sit on that page are from a
different server, and the webmaster of the 'good' site has no control
over what the ad server is doing. Clicking on the ads is almost always
an invitation to pop-ups. One can find what they are looking for without
risking what clicking on an ad can bring.
Rule 5: Don’t use
file-sharing utilities!
Ah, yes. File sharing. It sounds
so great. Free music, movies, games. The main problem here? Everything.
Not only are there legal aspects involved in this (I wont go into that),
but there are several dangers you expose your precious data to with this
type of program. As of this writing, Kazaa is the predominant offender
here. With these types of programs, you not only risk contracting every
conceivable type of Spyware, but also some really nasty viruses that
have devastating consequences. If that doesn’t scare you away from it, a
few years in the local state prison might, if they catch you. Long and
short of it, DONT DO IT.
Rule 6: Install a
reputable Spyware scanner!
There isn't much the average user
can do about the exposure that comes just from being connected to the
web. Even the most responsible surfer is subject to some spyware. The
only real defense here is to scan for it on a regular basis and remove
them. There are plenty of scanning utilities out there, some better than
others. Keep them up to date, and scan at least once a week (more often
if you have 'risky' surfing habits) and you should remain fairly safe
from Spyware.
Rule 7: Delete
Cookies!
Cookies are small files stored on
your hard drive by your web browser that contain simple information for
specific sites on the internet. They can store anything from your zip
code for weather sites, to passwords and user names for online email
services. This can be handy, because you don’t have to input your
information every time you visit that site. However, they are common
targets for spyware, because of the information that they can contain.
Ah, once again, good used for evil.
Fortunately, most web browsers
have several security options and settings for controlling how cookies
are stored on your computer. One of the most basic anti-spyware tactics
is to either disable cookies completely (the safest) or restrict the
type of cookie that can be stored. If you have gone to a site that you
have never entered critical information for (such as only a zip code),
you can safely allow the storage of the cookie that holds this
information. On the other hand, if you are at your email home page, and
you have entered your username and password, you would want to keep that
info from being stored, because its an easy target for a hacker. Next
thing you know, you might not even have access to your email anymore,
because someone has acquired your info and changed the password on you.
Not good.
Consult your browser's help
section for more details (I can't go into great detail here, because
different browsers and even different versions of the same browser
handle cookies differently).
Rule 8: Don’t
re-install offending programs!
Last but not least, you may
notice when your machine has been scanned and cleaned, it runs a lot
smoother than before. This is because some types of Spyware can build up
and bog the system down with multiple instances of nuisance software
running in the background. All of this has been removed during the
cleaning. You may also notice that certain programs will not run
properly, if at all, after the cleanup. This is because some programs
are coded in such a way if the spyware that funds it is removed, the
program will cease to function. The main one that comes to mind here, is
once again, Kazaa. This program will complain if you try to run it, that
a portion of it has been removed, and that it will then close. If you
reinstall the program again at that point, you are also reinstalling the
Spyware that keeps it alive. It doesn’t take long for the spyware to
build back up and cause the system to once again become unstable or
worse.
As a general
rule (greater than 99% of the time), store purchased software does not employ any form of
Spyware, and therefore will not be affected by the removal of any
Spyware items.
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