The 9 warning signs of spyware
First, we fix all of these, complete and total!
It is estimated that over 91% of all computers that have Internet access are infected with Adware and/or Spyware programs. In and article by Dancho Danchev, he reports that 22 million computers were tested by symantec and that 48.35% of the 22,754,847 scanned computers remain infected with malware. This is after a scan! Microsoft and Panda won't give thier numbers. So the chances of your PC being infected is quite high.
Here are 9 warning signs you should be aware of, if any of them pertain to you then your PC is most likely infected:
When you start your browser, the home page has mysteriously changed. You change it back manually, but before long you find that it has changed back again.
You get pop-up advertisements when your browser is not running or when your system is not even connected to the Internet, or you get pop-up ads that address you by name.
Your phone bill includes expensive calls to 900 numbers that you never made-probably at an outrageous per-minute rate.
You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press Enter to start the search. Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar site handles the search.
A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there. No matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later.
Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. If you're a Windows 2000/XP user, launching the Task Manager and clicking the Processes tab reveals that an unfamiliar process is using nearly 100 percent of available CPU cycles.
At a time when you're not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem blink just as wildly as when you're downloading a file or surfing the Web. Or the network/modem icon in your system tray flashes rapidly even when you're not using the connection.
A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't request or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back after removal.
And the final sign is: Everything appears to be normal. The most devious spyware doesn't leave traces you'd notice, so scan your system anyway.
How Can SpyWare and AdWare Hackers/Companies infect your PC?
Your PC may be infected if you have ever downloaded screensavers, music, games, video clips, images, and even those "smiley face" icons that have been going around the past few months. Advertisers/Hackers offer these screensavers, music, games, etc. for free in order to legally "trick" consumers into installing their AdWare and SpyWare programs.
When you start your browser, the home page has mysteriously changed. You change it back manually, but before long you find that it has changed back again.
You get pop-up advertisements when your browser is not running or when your system is not even connected to the Internet, or you get pop-up ads that address you by name.
Your phone bill includes expensive calls to 900 numbers that you never made-probably at an outrageous per-minute rate.
You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press Enter to start the search. Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar site handles the search.
A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there. No matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later.
Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. If you're a Windows 2000/XP user, launching the Task Manager and clicking the Processes tab reveals that an unfamiliar process is using nearly 100 percent of available CPU cycles.
At a time when you're not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem blink just as wildly as when you're downloading a file or surfing the Web. Or the network/modem icon in your system tray flashes rapidly even when you're not using the connection.
A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't request or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back after removal.
And the final sign is: Everything appears to be normal. The most devious spyware doesn't leave traces you'd notice, so scan your system anyway.
How Can SpyWare and AdWare Hackers/Companies infect your PC?
Your PC may be infected if you have ever downloaded screensavers, music, games, video clips, images, and even those "smiley face" icons that have been going around the past few months. Advertisers/Hackers offer these screensavers, music, games, etc. for free in order to legally "trick" consumers into installing their AdWare and SpyWare programs.
