About Spyware & Adware

You're Being Watched! Spyware, Adware, and You

Spyware is an even more insidious threat than any of those random computer viruses that have been so pervasive in recent years. The reason? While a virus can potentially destroy your system, spyware can infiltrate and potentially damage your life. For example, spyware is a major contributor to identity theft.

The National Cybe Security Alliance reports that over 90% of all internet users have some sort of spyware installed on their computers (that's 9 out of 10 PCs). Without appropriate precautionary measures in place, if you surf the web, if you use email, if you've ever downloaded screensavers, wallpaper, music, pictures, movies, games, etc., the likelihood is strong that you already have spyware and adware running rampant on your computer.

Any information you plug into the internet via your browser - from the URLs of the sites you visit to the personal data you input into an online form for such things as online banking, shopping, or subscribing to an online membership service - can be intercepted, read, shared/sold, and used without your knowledge or approval by hackers, thieves, and the like.

Unauthorized websites can add icons to your desktop and/or your Favorites/Bookmarks, linking you directly to sites and services you never requested and, most likely, do not want. Additionally, other sites can add searchbars, toolbars, and other "convenience" tools related to their products and services onto your browser.

With spyware and adware, others can closely monitor your web-surfing habits, "harvest" your keystrokes - credit card numbers, address and phone numbers, social security number, internet passwords, and other sensitive data - and provide that information to other people and organizations.

Spyware and adware open the door for objectionable material to pop up on your monitor, meaning your children could, unbeknownst to you, be exposed to things you do not want them to see and your coworkers or employer could find embarrassing, suspicious, and seemingly incriminating material on your station.

Thanks to spyware and adware you can find yourself locked out from altering default settings on your own machine. Your startup menu and browser homepage could be unalterably altered. Critical system files can be corrupted. You can find yourself locked out of programs and files on your own hard drive.

And don't forget - spyware and adware are computer programs and, as such, take up space on your hard drive. That invariably slows everything down, and can even freeze or crash your computer.

The term "Malware" has recently been coined to refer to the gamut of harmful computer programs used to snoop on you, study your habits, and collect your personal information.

Spyware and adware are the most common forms of malware. You will, however, come across many other names for malware programs just as insidious and just as detrimental as the most common forms including Trojans, web-bugs, spybots, parasites, to name a few.

Are you being affected?
There is a good chance your computer has been infected if:

Your computer is running significantly slower than usual
You find yourself constantly bombarded by pop-up ads
Your homepage has suddenly changed through no fault of your own
The amount of spam in your email box has drastically increased
Icons you've never seen before suddenly appear on your desktop

Virus protection software and Firewalls WILL NOT PROTECT YOU from the barrage of malware assailing your computer every day.

Read that line again.

Luckily, you can find numerous inexpensive and effective spyware and adware removal tools all over the net. In fact, protection from these detriments has become a profitable and therefore quite competitive business, which is great for you, the consumer. It means these companies are tripping over themselves to offer you the latest and greatest in protection.

Although sorting through all the spyware and adware removers can be an overwhelming task, no doubt, our website aims to make the process fun and easy.

What to Look For
The best malware blockers and removers on the market will at least do the following:

Scan your system for these threats
Enable you to set up regular, automatic re-scans
Quarantine infected files immediately - this protects your computer right awaywhile still allowing you to access, review, and re-enable those particular files that may be essential to the proper performance of other necessary programs
Permanently remove all unwanted quarantined items from your system
Detect attempts to install malware on your system as it happens and thwart the process from being completed

Do not, do not, do not let these harmful programs wreak havoc on your system and your life, especially when it's so easy to protect yourself from them.

Read our Spyware / Adware Removal Product Reviews