Spyware Info

If you don't know what spyware, adware and Trojans are, here is a quick breakdown for you.

Spyware:

Spyware is a script (software) that runs without the user's knowledge. Its aim is to share your private files over the internet with its creator.

Adware:

Adware is a script or series of scripts installed on your computer (most often without your knowledge) that will trigger irritating pop up adverts on your computer.

Trojans:

Trojans are scripts that are installed on your computer (most often without your knowledge) that are aimed at downloading your private files over the internet.


The Problem:

Besides the obvious threat of your private content landing up in someone else's hands and the intrusion of your privacy with pop up advertising all over your computer, these scripts can seriously damage your machine. Because these malicious scripts use a lot of system resources, your machine often lands up running at maximum capacity, which could result in burnt out processors and crashed hard drives. If you have noticed that your machine is running slower than normal, you are more than likely infected.

There are free utilities that will enable you to scan your machine to find out if you are vulnerable. Even if your antivirus application says it blocks these harmful scripts, I strongly recommend you use the free tools since most antivirus applications do not adequately protect you against spyware.

There are links on our anti spyware page to free spyware removal programs. We recommend using A-Squared or Spybot Search and Destroy as effective all rounders, although there are a few other good ones which are much smaller. SpyBot is quite large at 4.15MB, but is well worth the download (takes about 30 mins using a standard 56K modem, so for our SA customers please try and do it after 7pm if possible when the phone rates are reduced).

The program runs a full system check and takes about 15 minutes to complete, depending on processor speed. Using other programs while it is busy will be slow, so just let it do its thing before you continue using your PC. It will generate a status report of how many spyware programs were found and removed.

If you have experienced any Spyware problems, please free to contact us! Spyware support is free to all UNIWEBSERVE clients.