What is Spyware?

Remember many years back when there were companies like AllAdvantage.com, Excite free Internet dialup service, and so on? Well, maybe not but the idea behind these companies is that they would pay you money, or give you free Internet access for allowing them to monitor your access habits. I know, I earned enough money with AllAdvantage.com to pay for my Internet access plus some left over. The idea was, I would download AllAdvantage's software, and any time I was connected to the Internet, my browsing would be recorded, and sent to the AllAdvantage company. Of course, I would have to view a few annoying advertisements on my screen for which I gladly endured for the cause of money. Also, the more people I signed up, the more money I could make. This idea was big for a year or two, and then disappeared.

Actually, the idea has NOT disappeared, but has taken on a new form. Today, the Internet is littered with thousands of (so called) cute and helpful little utilities that almost force themselves onto your PC... like Gator and Hotbar for example. These programs may or may not "SPY" on you, but the ones that do, do it without your knowledge. These programs have become what are known as "Spyware". Spyware is currently a hot topic because it's affecting so many computers on the internet.

Spyware takes your privacy away. Some Spyware programs can search out anything on your system and relay that information back to any destination they wish without you knowing. Spyware can cause system instability, slowdowns, freezing and crashing. Some spyware programs will even damage your system operation if you try to remove them without the proper knowledge or tools.

There is a solution. One of the many services that support.com provides is to clean your system of spyware and other nasty software.

In the future, ask yourself if you really need something before clicking on "Yes, please. Download and install this onto my PC".