Your Computer May Be Infected. Here's how to check..
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NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC's
security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out
for later reference.

A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is
infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users are not
aware of it. (Your computer could be infected by now too.) The most
dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software is running,
these software can even pass it and take over your PC.

Have you experienced any of the following?
* Awesome popups come out of nowhere, when browsing the web
* Home page reset to some other site

How can this happen?

- The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up
and running as soon as it's finished installing (or after the page
is completely loaded) and with every windows startup since then.
Their job is to collect information and report (or transfer) it to
an external computer.

What is deceptive software? (Reference: www.microsoft.com)
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Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of "deceptive"
software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your
home page or search page without first getting your permission.
There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your
system. A common trick is to covertly install the software during
the installation of other software you want such as a music or video
file sharing program.

Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure
you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement
and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of adware in a given
software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of
a license agreement or privacy statement.

Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system
without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web
browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting
is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at the
medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being
installed on your computer.

Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to
accept a download even after you said "no"? Creators of deceptive
software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If
this happens to you, do not click "yes". Instead, try to close the
Web page that first asked you to accept the download by hitting
the "X" in the corner of the window. Alternatively, quit Internet
Explorer and restart it to begin browsing the Internet again. If you
visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up
windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust.

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Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just
have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know
the current status of your computer. You must clean infections once
you find it but the game is not over yet. The spyware might reinfect
your PC. So it's highly recommended that you run a firewall on your
system after the clean up. This will allow you to monitor every
single communication occurs with your computer and block the ones
which you feel unnecessary. The firewall acts as a barrier between
your PC and the external world (Internet / Network).

A good spyware detector recommended by most people is,
http://adwarechecker.cjb.net and it shows you all the infections and
potential dangers in great detail. It's free to scan but not to
clean. It's a good idea to have a scan even if you have no idea of
cleaning, since you know the status of your PC in great detail. It
also gives the advantage of giving a try to clean it out, provided
that the infections are minor and you (or a friend) have a fair
knowledge on registry settings, cookies etc. and how to modify them.

You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems(eg. Windows
XP), there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how to activate
it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com

You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these
spyware? Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut
answer, we can safely state that every thing boils down to the urge
of more profits. How? The spyware collects all your personal
information and transfer it to an external computer. The information
is reviewed by a software in the receiving computer and then
delivered targeted popup ads to the infected PC. There are many
things that spyware does in addition to this.

If you have some technical knowledge on your PC, here's a technical
explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause.

1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your activities in
your PC.
2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC and the spyware
server. (This is a two-way transfer)

Firstly, the extra process in itself is an unneeded process and it
contributes to slow down your PC. Second point is the most harmful.
It transfers logged info to the external PC (spyware writer's PC).
Then the external PC transfers targeted popups to the infected PC.
This, in addition to slowing down your PC because of these extra
processes, it also slows down the internet connection, as the
bandwidth is shared. In short, PC with a spyware is like a dumping
ground for snakes. Once its there up and running, it can do almost
anything with your PC.

* NOTE: A useful tip - When you clean up your PC and close the door
for those harmful programs with a firewall, you can block many
popups. But still, there can be some popups. There are popups
integrated to websites you visit, and we need to do something about
them. There are many popup blockers available on the net, but I
highly recommend installing the Google toolbar, which has a quality
pop-up blocker with some other great features, and has many
customization options. Get it from http://toolbar.google.com

The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is the
most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more attention
of many malicious software developers. You and I, and many people
reading this article want to make our PCs good and clean. So please
spread the instructions found in this message. Please advise about
this to your friends. Or more simply, just pass this message on via
email, 'as is'.

Happy surfing...

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By: Fahad Hassen - hfahadh @ yahoo.co.uk
(Undergraduate at Staff. University UK, Computing & IT)