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The ways of spyware spreading
Though the problem itself is constantly getting more coverage, many users, however, would like to know how exactly do harmful programs get on computers. There already exist a huge number of anti-spyware applications, which can find and remove unwanted programs, but it is far better to use preventive measures in order to secure yourself, your business and family beforehand from the threat of intrusion into private life or business affairs. In this article there will be discussed the ways about how do harmful programs spread and the measures to withstand them.
It is worth mentioning that even up till now the leading producers of anti-spyware and researchers in data protection in spite of multiple attempts haven’t worked out the single notion of spyware. There are several definitions given by qualified experts with the general idea that spyware — are the programs, which are installed and are managed without users’ knowledge. These programs are designed to gather system information — from anonymous data about visiting web pages and programs usage statistics to real espionage with interception of passwords and other confidential information. The difficulty in creating the single notion of spyware consists in the thing that their creators and distributors make their utmost to hamper the technical and juridical aspect of fighting with spyware.
One of the most wide spread ways of spyware distribution is its voluntary installation by user, who refused to waste time on reading the license agreement concerning the installation of another «free program». Though it was clearly written there, that with the installation of set of smiles for mail client or an immediate data exchange program (ICQ, AOL and so on) additional software will be installed with monitoring functions and delivery service of advertising messages.
Of course it doesn’t bring much satisfaction to read such license agreements, especially for users inexperienced in juridical notions. Quite often it is needed to press Page Down up to 100 times to read the whole text. That’s why it seems easier to accept this agreement and to press the «Next» button. PC PitStop company even conducted a peculiar investigation concerning users’ attention while reading a license agreement. They included a paragraph to one of their programs, which said that everyone who sends their agreement by e-mail would receive a check for 1000 dollars. After 4 months of waiting and after 3000 of downloads only one user asked his reward.
Summary: treat all free programs and additions with caution. Many freeware producers do really create high-quality products and on no account will risk their reputation by adding spyware and adware into installation pack. However, some people with shady morals defame both honest freeware programmers and such big companies like Google and Microsoft by masking their espionage modules as program products of these companies. In case of uncertainty study the license agreement thoroughly — such an investment of time in one’s security is quite defensible.
Another way of spyware penetration on a computer can be imitation of installation windows or messages about system errors. They represent common images, but once being clicked on, setup of a harmful program will start. You can see an example of such a «window» below.
It is not difficult to find out that such windows are just tricks of spyware distributors. If you right-click on a suspicious window and see contextual menu, then it means, that this window has something to do with unwanted programs. Also be cautious with pop-ups and banners, especially with dubious contents: an advertising image can bear any attractive visual and textual information, but the reference may lead to spyware installation on your computer.
The so-called «drive-by downloads» are also rather dangerous. To install these harmful programs a user needs nothing more but just to visit a particular web page. And the installation process is concealed from a user. In order to escape this swindle we recommend you to change Internet Explorer to a safer browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Opera. In addition, programs like SpywareBlaster have effective preventive features: they bar spyware installation in advance and on condition that its data base is regularly updated you can be protected from «drive-by downloads» and some other types of spyware.
It is also necessary to watch the general system security because vulnerabilities can be used by a great number of harmful programs including worms and spyware. An unprotected system can be also used for sending electronic junk mail, and this may lead you to being prosecuted.
The most dangerous situation is when an espionage program is deliberately installed on your computer by a violator with the purpose of stealing your confidential information. This can be done by different methods without excepting physical access to computer. The only solution to this problem can be regular scanning of processes, which are running on your PC. IKnowProcess is one of the programs that can do it.
In some reports dedicated to this problem there were cases when users purchased computers with spyware already installed. In order to prevent such a situation, immediately check your system for any suspicious problems, especially when you bought a used computer.
In conclusion it is worth mentioning another difficulty in defining spyware. There is a range of commercial program products, which are initially designed for monitoring user’s actions, including interception from keyboard input, screenshots and so on. Such programs can be compared with observation cameras — shops and other institutions use them for security. But at the same time if you detect such a camera secretly installed in your apartment, then it can be classified as intrusion into private life. Means of program monitoring can be used in companies to prevent use of computer for non-specified purposes. Parents can use them to trace the online activity of their children.
Experts have come to a conclusion that such programs can be used quite legally. At the same time producers of such programs protest against classifying their programs as spyware and including them into data bases of anti-spyware tools. That is why they constantly change program code in order to escape detection. All this brings additional complications into exact determination of spyware and fighting against this threat.
Article Source: http://www.iKnowProcess.com/
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