Ever installed software you downloaded from the Internet? Ever clicked on “Yes” when a pop-up appeared during browsing asking if you want to install something “for free”? Is your computer slower than usual? If you can answer any of these questions (and many others) with “Yes”, you need to check your computer for Spyware. If your answers are “No”, you still need to check your PC for spyware.
Signals that you are infected
There are several things that could indicate infec tion. But I must warn you, it’s not always visible! Signals can be:
- + Your computer runs slower than usual
- + Huge telephone bills
- + Unexpected network traffic
- + Ads suddenly popping up (or under) Strange processes & services in your task manager
- + Your browser starts up with a different page that you did not set as start page
- + Etc.
What to do
One of the most important things to run on your PC is a reliable & up-to-date virus scanner and firewall. I personally have a good experience with Norton Internet Security 2005. It’s also very important you keep the software up-to-date. Additionally, a hardware firewall is useful too, but remember you’ll still need a software firewall on your PC too. Yet we are not finished, you need more. Spyware protection. There are many spyware scanners out there, and unfortunately you need more than one or two, because the experience is one scanner detects things the other doesn’t and vice versa. I recommend installing & configuring the following:
Preventing is better than removing
A few hints to avoid getting your PC infected, although there is no way to do this 100%:
1. Simply common sense: If it looks suspicious, don’t open it!
2. Avoid installing on-demand software (e.g. ActiveX objects) from the World Wide Web. For example: If you visit a website and it asks you “Do you want to install a 100% absolutely free clock for your desktop so you can see the time all the time, really it’s free, free, free” etc.etc. it’s almost certainly spyware. It’s also likely spyware when it says “This software is not spyware, really, trust us…” etc.
3. Never trust files, also from people you know, so always scan them with the latest scanner version before using them. It’s not fun, but necessary.
4. Install real-time protection on your system, for example: Microsoft AntiSpyware
Last but not least
Installing the protection mentioned in this article does not guarantee your PC is spyware/virus free, and it’s still possible that it gets infected. Besides that, protection can cause problems, for example because it blocks something it shouldn’t and because it uses resources, so it may have some disadvantages. But it’s still necessary to use it. Prevention does not just help yourself, but also the poor guy you are going to ask to help fix your PC! ;-)
(I wrote this article for the NIOO-KNAW employee magazine NIOOSCOOP #48, 2005)
