Spyware - The PC Pest

by: Arvind Singh

Spyware is any software that steals information from your PC without your authorization and knowledge. Spyware slows down your pc, using up system resources, CPU time, memory space, disk space and your Internet bandwidth. That is why it is a fast-spreading pest and is also called adware, malware, eulaware, or even crapware.

Spyware and adware attack every PC at one time or other and no PC can do without antispyware software, which removes spyware. Here is a quick look at what spyware is all about and how it affects your computer.

What is spyware? We can define spyware as any software that steals information from your PC without your authorization and knowledge. Spyware is a fast-spreading pest and also called adware, malware, eulaware, or even crapware. Unless detected and killed by antispyware removal tools, Spyware is very sneaky in the way it operates. This is how most of it operates:

How Spyware Operates:

Spyware's most common way of attacking is similar to a virus or a Trojan. You'll see various popup windows that offer to synchronize your pc's clock or help you with form filling. But that's not all – there are a lot of things it does without telling you. These trojans can hijack your home page and add new pages to your favorites folder, quietly siphoning off your browsing information. Spyware and adware stealthily track all the websites you visit and faithfully report them back to the spyware vendor. Sometimes, though you have a popup blocker, you still keep getting pop ups! These are from spyware on your computer.

Another deadly thing that spyware does is substitute its own ads on a website, killing that website's earnings in the process. We often experience broken web sites. Spyware is capable of reworking the content on the site, resulting in broken pages or JavaScript errors.

Spyware Reduces Performance

Not surprisingly, Spyware slows down your pc, using up system resources, CPU time, memory space, disk space and your Internet bandwidth. The natural consequences of this are system instability and security risks. The next thing you know is that your system just crashes, hangs or behaves strangely, messing up your work schedule. Invariably spyware testing and debugging are rudimentary, so you can't even report them or get support. Some kinds of spyware can even download and install codes in your system and you won't know about it.

The Role Of Antivirus As An Antispyware Removal Tool

If you have wondered why antivirus programs won't remove or block spyware, it is simply because spyware is not a virus. Spyware relies on the fact that every time we install new software we click on I Agree to the licenses without reading them. So we voluntarily open the gates to spyware. It looks like we agreed to have the spyware on our system, which makes it tough for antivirus companies to flag these tricky spyware. The only way to remove spyware is with anti spyware removal tools, manually or automatically, through a tested antispyware software program sold by a reputed company.

About The Author

Arvind Singh is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter etc. More information can be found at http://www.pcmantra.com

To know about the Registry Cleaner visit at: http://www.pcmantra.com/registry-cleaner.htm

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