for Feb. 11, 2004

Hi, All;

This week: What is Spy Ware and why do I need it?

In this information greedy world, some Internet companies and some non-legitimate people are putting "SPIES" on your PERSONAL computer to track what you are doing on the Internet. Then, they send the history of your Internet travels back to themselves so they can evaluate how the Internet is being used and how they can market their products better--a fairly common goal for companies. The objectionable aspect of this is that they are using your PC without your knowledge or permission. That is the legitimate side of Spyware.

The other side is a crook's ability to use the same software to get all of your personal data for identity theft and other nefarious purposes. This does not sound like a very nifty idea to me, and after talking to several people that have run Spyware- removing programs, I thought I had better look at my own PC's. So I did a search for "Spyware" and got several pages of results on both spy software and spy removers. I downloaded one removal program and scanned my PC, finding several spy ware items. But when I wanted the program to remove what it found, I discovered I had to buy a copy for $29.95 first. Ok, I understand that, but they did not tell me that up front. So I went back and found a program that I had been told about, "AD-AWARE" from Lavasoft in Sweden. Their product is free and will scan your PC and clean the Spyware. http://www.lavasoft.de/index.html.

What I learned and what got cleaned from my machine I will tell you in next week,s column!

'Til next week, (ComputerFAQ#176)

Robert

 

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Feb. 11, 2004 Spyware

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August 30, 2000 What is the slowest PC for Internet Access

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