My Spyware Nightmare, Your Lesson

Have you asked yourself any of these questions lately?

1. Why is my brand new computer slowing down to a crawl?
2. Why is it taking so long to load a basic word processor?
3. Why do I have so many popups? Where are they coming from?
4. Why do I keep being sent to places I did not ask to go?
5. Where are these embarassing popups coming from?  I never visit sites like that!

I did. I was ignorant. I was slow and it cost me a brand new computer. Here is my story.

A couple of years ago, we bought a new eMachine for my wife. She had just enrolled in school and needed something better for her school work. Prior to that, we had an older HP machine. I believe it was a pentium II. It worked pretty well, though a little slow. I wanted us to get another HP, but she wanted an eMachine. Her cousin had one and she thought it was good. I did not like eMachines a lot and did not think highly of them. She was bent on having one so we bought one. 

With the arrival of the new computer, the HP was quickly abandoned. I was pretty much the only one that used it. Not because of my disdain for eMachine, but becasue the HP was more in a central location. Our three boys loved the new machine and spent quite some time on it. I was eventually won over to the eMachine and I must confess, it turned out to perform excellently well. It was good on speed and the resolution was great.

Several months down the road, I noticed how the new computer was slowing down. I knew in my mind it was the eMachine. They were no good. And then I thought it was the dial up connection. But I soon realized that it was also slow when I was offline. It was taking long to open up applications and even longer to load webpages.  I also noticed there were strange windows openning up at the most awkward  times. Some of the pages were to sites I would not ordinarily visit. May be the boys are going to places that we don't know about.  As a concerned parent, I asked them and they promptly denied. I was still not sure they did'nt. They were teenagers.

As time passed, it became more difficult to do anything on the eMachine. We gradually migrated back to the HP and there was no immediate need to find out what was wrong with it.

Finally, it was time to act. I was ready to find out what the problem was. I started asking questions and doing querries on google. I was encouraged to get a good popup blockers. I did and it did not do much. That computer was far gone and corrupted. I had waited too long. I was not sure what was going on and did not know where to ask. The warrantee on the computer had also expired.

One afternoon, I turned the computer on to take another look and was greeted by a blank screen. The monitor had also quit I said to myself. Now I knew almost for sure it was the eMachine. They were really no good. My wife disagreed. But to be sure, I hooked the monitor up to the HP and it came alive. So it was'nt eMachine after all. I was a little embarrassed.

I reconnected the monitor and rebooted and was again faced by a blank screen. The following week, I took the cpu to a repair and they told me the computer was dameged beyond repair. I retrived it and took it to a sencond repairman and it never came back.

You know, lightening they say does not strike the same spot twice.  But spyware is different. It can strike the same spot many times. Early 2005, I bought another computer, having out grown the HP. Months latter, I noticed the same exact symptons that ruined the eMachine. The slow down, the multiple popups, redirects to undesirable websites, they were all there. This time I did not wait. That afternoon I was frantic. I began searching for a quick answer. It was not until late that night that I found a product that worked for me. And once I found the right solution, spyware was no longer an issue to me.

Spyware can make your online experience a nightmare if you are not forward thinking about internet security. The good news is that there are plenty of products out there that can cure that effectively.




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Summary:
Spyware is a nuisance by any standard and by my standared, destructive. Not too long ago, I found myself asking,

1. Why is my brand new computer slowing down to a crawl?
2. Why is it taking so long to load a basic word processor?
3. Why do I have so many popups? Where are they coming from?
4. Why do I keep being sent to places I did not ask to go?
5. Where are these embarassing popups coming from?  I never visit sites like that!

You may be asking the same questions now or know someone who is asking the same questions. Read my story.

Is Your Computer Really Safe?

The majority of business transactions today are conducted online, which in turn has caused computers to become household necessities.  But as the internet continues to flourish, the rise of internet crimes seems endless.  With the emergence of computer malware such as viruses, worms, spyware/adware we are constantly placing ourselves at risk by simply turning our computers on.  The problem has become so widespread that Congress prepared changes in amendments specifically related to internet crimes.  In 2003 the National Cyber Security Alliance reported that 90% of all broadband users have spyware installed on their computers!  Corporations and small business owners worldwide are hiring software engineers or utilizing their own IT specialists in order to maintain appropriate internet security for their business. 

        Spyware/Adware is the latest form of internet intrusion, being any software installed on your computer without your knowledge or consent which allows information about you and/or your computer to be seen and used by others in an unwelcome manner.  Being very difficult to remove on your own it usually requires installation of anti-spyware software to erase it completely from your hard drive.  A lot of people think that their anti-virus software will protect against spyware as well, this is not the case since this software is not designed to specifically remove spyware, it goes undetected when your hard drive is scanned.  Whether you’re a small business owner or even if you just use your computer on a regular basis, if don’t have some type of antivirus and anti-spyware protection installed on your computer you are extremely visible on the web (you want to be “invisible” when browsing the web) and are placing yourself at risk to intrusion and/or theft by internet predators.  I would know since I had to pay $225 just to have viruses removed from my computer’s hard drive-which is never any fun by the way.  So as a word of caution, make sure your information will be safe before placing it on your PC.  You can visit Trend Micro to learn more about what to look for and how to protect yourself from malware, phishing sites, and, joke programs.




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Summary:
Discusses computer safety

Internet Security: The Secure Free Option

This high speed revolution has increased the swiftness of accessibility for unscrupulous hackers to upload private information quickly and easily, through your home internet connection.

With the threat of viruses, identity fraud, phishing, spyware and keyloggers, never has it been more important to protect the valuable contents of your home computer.

There are many types of internet security software out there, which offer varying ranges of performance when it comes to security. The most popular software requires the computer owner to purchase a license and download the software over the internet or buy the software from a reputable computer outlet for a set fee which includes 12 months of free updates, with a view to paying a further fee every 12 months to keep this update service going, this for some computer owners can be a slightly expensive encounter and can put owners off placing that all important security software on their home computer.

Is there a FREE and secure alternative? The answer I’m happy to say is yes.

Home internet security comes in four main categories of protection, Spyware Protection, Anti-Virus Protection, Firewall Protection and Windows Updates.

Spyware Protection

Spybot found at www.spybot.info is an excellent free spyware removal tool which helps clear your system of any threats from Adware, Keyloggers, Malware etc, the program is very easy to use and updates can be downloaded for free and are updated on a regular basis to help make sure you are protected.

Anti-virus Protection

Avast! Anti-virus found at www.avast.com is a more than adequate anti-virus protection, registration is absolutely free for home and small business users and just requires the user to register once every twelve months, which is a very small burden especially when you can download virus definitions and program updates totally free.

Firewall Protection

Sygate Personal Firewall found at www.sygate.com is again a totally free for home and small business users personal firewall, the setup of the program is very user friendly and can easily be setup by someone with little computer knowledge. The protection is highly suitable and very secure.

Windows Update

All computer users should make it their fortnightly chore to visit the Windows update service and download the latest security patches, these are most important to cover any floors which have been discovered in Microsoft applications. You can also switch the update to automatic, so when important downloads are available windows will download them using low bandwidth, so not to disturb your internet browsing.

CONCLUSION

Internet security is a high priority for all computer users, and whether this service is paid for or users wish to take advantage of the three excellent and secure software programs above for free, that is completely up to the individual. Some sort of internet security is better than none at all.




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Summary:
With the ever growing popularity of internet browsing and the burst of high speed connections via Broadband or Cable, the security and protection of your personal data contained on your home computer has entered a new phase.