Anti-spyware, anti-virus, anti-ageing! What does it all mean?

What is Spyware?

Spyware are a type of computer program, which are secretly installed on your computer. They gather personal information, such as your web surfing habits or which keys you are pressing. The more nasty ones even interfere with your computer, doing things like re-directing your browser or installing other computer programs. Obviously this is not good!

Another type of spyware is something called "adware" which support un-solicited advertising, like popup adverts etc. And another kind of spyware is a thing called a "tracker" which keeps track of the sites you visit and reports it back to an interested party for their profit.

Is Spyware a Virus?

Technically it is not a virus, because viruses self replicate. They are however just as annoying as viruses because they exploit your computer for commercial gain, can inconvenience you, or even put your personal information, like banking details, at risk.

So How Do I get Rid of Spyware?

There are lots of commercial software out there, which make a healthy profit on your fear of spyware and viruses. Some of them are installed on your computer when you buy it, without you getting any choice and then you get popups all the time saying you must extend your licence or you computer will be taken over by aliens!

Well the good news is that there are also good, free and trustworthy alternatives to what some people call "scareware" (as in companies that scare you into buying their expensive  software).

Ad-Aware Free Downloadable Anti-Spyware software:

Ad-Aware is a freely available anti-spyware program made by a company called Lavasoft. There is a professional version which is reasonably priced, but the free version is really cool, easy to use and ideal for home use.

Here is a link that will open in a new window:

Lavasofts - Free Ad-Aware anti-spyware program

This will work on Windows Vista, XP and 2000 pro.

"With real-time monitoring, threat alerts, and automatic updates you can rest easy knowing that you are protected." - Well that's what it says on their website :)

So How Do I Use This Software?

Well, the key word here is "regularly". There are some settings that will do realtime scanning etc. And there is the option to keep it automatically updated, which we recommend.

How Did I Get Spyware in the First Place?

There are several ways spyware gets onto your computer:

Piggybacking other software

When you install software, like for example Kazaa then the spyware is hidden in the install. Much like a Trojan Horse hid the soldiers. So next time you see a popup to install the latest "web accelerator software" ask yourself is this really safe? A good example is the Bonzi Buddy program.

Insecure Browsers

If you are still using Internet Exploder... sorry I mean Internet Explorer, then there have historically been a number of security holes that have been used to get Spyware onto your computer. We always recommend using Firefox as a browser. It's free and basically much better than Internet Exploder for many reasons... least of all is that is is cool.

Here's a link to the Firefox Website:

The Firefox Web Browser site

Worms and Viruses

Sometimes the spyware was put there by a worm or virus. So if you find you have lots of spyware on your computer then you need to check for worms and viruses. We'll post on these some time soon.

Remember the Golden Rules:

1. If it looks suspicious... leave it alone.
2. If you think you've got a problem with your computer, I'd avoid doing any online purchasing or banking until you're satisfied your computer is OK.
3. If you think something may be a problem, then search for it on google and see if other people have reported it.
4. If it seems too good to be true... it probably is - applicable to life in general ;) lol
5. Be happy and remember the fear-mongers make a lot of money out of people by hyping things up, so keep a practical, level head.