Spyware and adware is advertising supported software that allows its publishers to snoop on a computer user's internet activity.

It is designed to obtain information about computer users and their surfing behavior usually without their knowledge or consent. Spyware is potentially more harmful than Adware because it can record your keystrokes, history, passwords, credit card number and other confidential and private information. Besides spyware and adware, computers can also be infected with my other internet parasites such as Winfixer 2005, viruses, trojans, dialers, etc.

Spyware and adware are installed quite easily on most computers. Many spyware programs often enter computers hidden in programs such as freeware, shareware or demos. Some programs like Winfixer 2005 will often load on boot up, take up your computer memory, cause a computer to display system errors, spawn multiple pop-up windows and even shut down itself.

Why is it important to detect and remove spyware, adware and other internet parasites?

- Loss of privacy

- Reduced and slow PC performance

- Annoying pop-ups that do not go away.

- A computer's homepage can be changed.

- In severe cases, a person's sensitive and confidential information can be recorded and then subsequently misused...exposing that person to identity theft, unauthorized use of their bank account or credit card and many other problems.

How to protect against spyware:

- Download and install a spyware remover. Every week you should check for updates to install for the scanner. This will help protect you against the latest threats.

- Use a firewall and an Anti-virus program. Many people have a direct connection the Internet and do not setup and run a firewall. This can potentially be very dangerous. Firewalls should be running to protect against many potential problems including hackers and spyware.

- Be careful about installing freeware software and downloading music online. Some spyware programs display messages asking for your permission to install the application. Read their agreements carefully as well.

- Be careful as to what sites you visit...sometimes spyware and adware can be installed on a computer simply by visiting a website.

- Use The Mozilla Firefox browser as it is less vulnerable to spyware and adware than Internet Explorer.

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