The Top Five Ways to Protect Yourself From Spyware

Spyware is a generic term for a particular type of software that can display unwanted ads or track your personal information, all without your consent. One of the serious dangers of spyware that can collect information about you, including your web surfing habits and even worse, your user name and password. Obviously, the spyware is not good for your computer or yourself, but there are ways you can protect yourself from it.

Some common symptoms of spyware If you notice your computer running slower than usual or exhibit any other unusual behavior, it can be a sign of spyware. Spyware has been known to bounce back e-mails or send e-mail without your knowledge. It may also appear in the "haunt"your computer, open the CD drive or putting an unknown icon on your desktop.

1 Avoid phishing "Phishing" is an attempt to collect sensitive information (usernames, passwords, secure financial information), and appear reliable and legitimate entity. Phishing scams often find their way into your inbox in the form of e-mails (or instant messaging), from auction sites or social networking sites, etc. e-mail link to sites that look almost identical to the legitimate site.

Do not use links in e-mail and instant messaging to get to web pages do not secure the supply of financial information, or fill out forms via e-mail Make sure your browser and security programs are up to date

For more information about yourself protection from identity theft, visit the APWG Consumer Advice website. There you can find more tips, as well as guidance on how to report phishing schemes.

2 Do not download email attachments from unknown sources an e rule. Another good rule is to never download an email attachment without knowing who the e-mail from. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest not opening any attachment from reliable sources too. Aunt Polly May just want to show everyone pictures from my trip to Las Vegas, but e-mail attachments are one of the easiest ways to contract the virus and the PC, unfortunately, many complicated malware campaigns have found ways to duplicate e-mail to your list contacts. That's right. Aunt Polly could be from all over the world trying to install a worm on your computer.

So, what do you do? You can not treat every e-mail as a suspect, can you? Of course you can, but do not have to be paranoid. The simplest thing to do is simply to read address. Probably, you know your contacts to a certain extent and may be able to tell if something is in the body of the e-mail sounds fishy. If you are unsure, you can always call that person and ask!

and continue to e-mail to a safer and more secure. Most service providers employ complex filters that do their best to ensure reliable transmission. But scammers are always on the lookout for ways to use your own sense of ease against you. After all, they fail if it is obvious trap. Just taking the time to know your contacts, to identify suspicious content, and remember the place and the company you're looking to get on the mailing list will go a long way in keeping your computer free of harmful substances.

3 Delete Browsing History your browsing history, saved a variety of information about your computer, including the history of websites visited, cookies, cache files of previously visited Web pages, and data format. By regularly delete browsing history, you can protect your browsing habits and reliable information from hijacked by spyware.

To delete your browsing history, go to "Tools" and then "Options" or "Delete Browsing History" (and then maybe the "Privacy", depending on your browser). Make sure to delete the "cookies" to delete "history," clear "Cache" and clear "Forms".

4 You know what is about to Install Installing on purpose If you download software off the Internet, then there is no simple way to make sure those.exe (executable) files and.msi (Microsoft Installer) files are readable. While it would be expensive to have more than 40 anti-virus scanner on hand, this is exactly what web sites as you do. They will scan your computer (which would violate the contract and take literally days), they will scan a file for you. So you just downloaded an.exe and anything positive that's for sure - just upload it to VirusTotal and see what the experts have to say about it.

Installing the accident, if you're surfing along, nursing their own business and pop-up pops up, read it before clicking OK! These pop-ups can be a gateway for spyware to be installed on your computer. Click on OK to go to the box, you may be giving permission to run rampant spyware. Read the message first, and if it is suspected, close the pop-up with X, do not click OK or Yes or even NO.

These strategically placed the population is called drive-by downloads. They capitalize on the person's instinct was to click "ok " on alert, or click on the "no "to close the box. people who make these download popup will often design them so that clicking any button activates the download. If you click the X does not work then you simply close the entire browser. If you are using Chrome or Internet Explorer, you can often just close the TAB to work in. If you're using Firefox you might have to close the entire browser. While this can be frustrating, but it's much better to lose your website, which can move, but the contract aggressive piece of adware and rogue software.

Sometimes, a drive-by download jams the whole thing and I can not close your browser. In this case, open the Windows Task Manager Op and End applications from there.

Click on CTRL + SHIFT + ESC Click on the tab that says APPLICATIONS Locate your browser. It should say "Running"if the browser is open Select it and click END TASK.

Ending Running process can take several seconds because you're basically skipping the usual procedure in your computer. Do not worry though. When it will not harm your computer. You will be able to reload your browser after it closes and then navigate back to pages you had to close.

Keep in mind - in some browsers ask if you want to return the cards you had when you complete the process. It may be tempting, but it will return the unwanted download window, creating problems come right back. The best thing to do is cut your losses and do not forget not to go back to that place.

5 Keep Your Virus Protection and Security Scanner Updated the easiest thing to do and probably most important: it is recommended that Windows computers use both programs protect against viruses and security scanner. According to routinely check for updates in both, you'll stay ahead of spyware and viruses play and keep your computer safe. When you check for updates, we recommend that you go directly to the website of your anti-virus and security scanners.