'The World'

By Andrew Wroblewski

How many times per week do you run your antivirus protection or anti-spyware or adware programs to ensure that your paranoia about having an infected machine is just that, paranoia? With so many problems in the computer infection world, one cannot really blame themselves for checking up on their system on a routine basis. However, do you ever really think about where all these programs come from because someone out there must be sending them out, they don't just appear through spontaneous generation. This makes one ponder the question as to who is sending these things?


There are thousands of spyware, adware, and Trojan horse programs that are running rampant throughout cyber space as you read this article. But if you really think about it, just as war might be considered good for the economy, these computer infestation programs are good for the economy. If you are not sure what I mean, just think about Spybot, Spyware Nuker, Adaware, and countless other detection and removal programs. This is a new sector of the economy that has only sprung up as a result of those programs that can take control of your computer.

Just as with the medical industry making billions of dollars per year on not finding cures for AIDS and cancer, because financially these cures would allow them to make less profits each. It seems like information technology companies do not want to rid the
world of all the infectious programs that can endanger your PC. The reason for this is
that they find profit in the misfortunes of others. The continual emergence of new Trojan or adware makes it necessary for people to spend money for protection. If this sounds familiar that is because it is the same philosophy employed by organized crime. You pay them for protection but they are not going to do anything to ultimately cure each case but just get more money from you after something happens and tell you that it is not going to happen.

In short, Spyware is good for the economy because it allows for more money to be reinvested into the market through purchasing new and updated protection programs to keep you computer clean. It makes you put more money back into the economy and allow the software creators of these protection programs to prosper. Who knows, it could be these companies that created some of these programs that you need their software to cure. Just think about it, spyware IS good.

Now that you have read that, please read this. If you believe any of that, I have an oceanfront house in Oklahoma that I can sell you at a great price. Spyware, Trojan programs, and adware are nothing but a group of programs put on this planet to annoy us at all times. Most spyware and adware programs offer you free versions of their software that is sufficient enough to monitor your system on a regular basis. Although, there are those that offer a more detailed version at a higher price, most free versions are sufficient. Spyware is not good and these programs help keep it that way. Don't believe the hype!

By Andrew Wroblewski

FACT: Chances are your machine is hosting spyware. There are currently over 78,000 Spyware and Adware programs on the Internet that can affect your PC.

Here are 9 warning signs you should be aware of, if any of them pertain to you then your PC is most likely infected:

If you start you Internet browser and the homepage that pops up is not the one that has been set by you. You then change it back to what you want and then it goes back to something you didn't set again. This is one of the more common features and ways to tell that you have been taken over by some sort of spyware and that you should rid your system of it immediately.

If you get pop-ups that have been personalized with your name on them or you begin to receive pop up ads while you are not even connected to the Internet or don't have a browser open. This is one of the more annoying ways that your system will let you know that you have something other than normal operating in your system.

You start receiving very expensive phone bills that have you placing many calls to 900 numbers that you never heard and ones that have hefty per-minute rates. Spyware takes over your phone line due to the connection that you have in conjunction with that phone service, whether dial-up or broadband.

You enter a searchable item into your required Internet toolbar or address bar and then all of sudden an unapproved searching system handles your search. More infamous items are infected with stuff such as Mysearch Bar and other spyware type search engines that only take you to their approved sites.


Another sure fire way to know that you have spyware operating on your system is that
you have view your favorites list and you have favorite sites in their that you did not put in yourself and have found that other sites you put there are no longer found. You delete these items but they always show up again in your favorites.

Your system begins to run slower than normal. If you are a updated Windows OS user you pull up your task manager system information screen and see that your system is running at 100%, then you are infected with spyware because your system always needs a little free space in order to process information, which is why your system slows down when you have spyware on it.

At a time when you are not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem blink just as wildly and lively as when you are online downloading a file or surfing the Internet. Also, your network icon on your screen will be flashing rapidly showing you that you are working on receiving and sending information from your system at a very rapid rate. This is the job of spyware here to send and receive information to your system without telling you.

A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't request it or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back after removal. Parts of spyware registry files hide themselves in your system under aliases and unless you find all of them and remove them, then they will never leave your system, causing them to show up over and over again.

And the final sign is: Everything appears to be running normal but the most deceptive and devious spyware leaves no tracking information for you to find it anyway. This is the sure way to get you to check your system on a routine and regular basis so that you are sure you have no signs of an infection.

By Mitch Johnson

During 2004 there were significant strides in the battle against spyware which will change the future of the invasive threats. The Federal Trade Commission and the United States Congress addressed several issues involving spyware in an effort to minimize the threats coming from the quickly growing industry. Before these spyware issues were brought to government attention spyware was known to be nearly anything that was an internet related threat.

There is now a formal definition telling that spyware is "software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge and which may send such information to another entity without the consumer's consent, or asserts control over a computer without the consumer's knowledge." Also working against spyware, the congress passed several bills to stop spyware from installing and running itself on someone's computer without their knowledge.

Most spyware distributors were able to sneak around the news laws set into place by the legislation passed by making their spy software more difficult to remove. Spyware will install unwanted toolbars, show pop ups, alter security settings, change your browser home page and change or delete system files. Other forms of spyware can log each key stroke you make and then send or sell it to unknown parties.

Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft's AdAware programs are available to personal computer users for free to combat spyware threats. On the other side, spyware
companies approached their invasive methods in a different way by coaxing users into
buying their products which would then install spyware. To stop these efforts by spyware the FTC filed suits against Seismic Entertainment Productions and SmartBot.net who were selling their spyware to be installed as an anti-spyware product.

These companies' programs, Spy Wiper and Spy Deleter, would send warning messages to users that their system had spyware and by purchasing and installing on of these programs the threats could be detected and removed. On the contrary, the programs would bombard a user's computer with pop ups and install additional spyware, causing computer malfunctions.

PestPatrol is another example of spyware companies' stealth like methods. This popular anti-spyware product will actually detect spyware applications on a fresh computer with Windows XP that has not been connected to the internet yet. This is usually a definite sign of rogue spyware. These false claims by anti-spyware products are partially the reason why it is estimated nine out of ten computers are infected with spyware.

Studies done by industry experts at IDC have predicted the spyware market will grow up to $400 million dollars by 2008. Major security companies such as McAfee and Symantec are already beginning to include anti-spyware software in their product packages. Yahoo, Earthlink and Microsoft have also joined the anti-spyware world, releasing their versions of spyware removal tools.

By Microsoft breaking into the anti-spyware world several smaller spyware tool companies may be smashed because users will most likely prefer the trusted company's software over an unknown.