Is Someone Spying on You?

*** Editor's note***

This is my third article regarding this issue, and still the number 2 problem I and most techs deal with on a day to day basis, just a hair behind viril, and "coming up fast on the clubhouse turn" (that's a horse racing term for those that don't know.) The previous articles are under Question of the month, and Silent Software Snoopers

My best spyware killer can downloaded by clicking here

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Thieves have updated their techniques to include software code called "spyware"; Legislators and software developers debate whether new laws to curb online theft are necessary. You are headed for bed. You have locked your doors and windows, set your car alarm, and your wallet sits safely on your bureau. You covered all the bases, right?

Wrong. Before shutting yourself down for the day, you shut down your PC, too. But, while you were online balancing your checkbook, moving money from one account to another, and even when you typed in your credit card number to purchase your cousin a new Stephen King novel, someone was watching.

Of course, you are well aware of thieves' typical working methods-house burglary, nighttime car theft and pick pocketing. But they have made a substantial leap in how they swindle, and their new tool is called spyware. And just as criminals have stepped up their thieving ways, so must PC users increase their PC security.

Profile of a Digital Spy

Spyware, as it sounds, makes it possible for thieves to steal information from computers without users' knowledge. It downloads itself onto a PC and remains hidden, capturing and distributing information from a user's computer without his or her knowledge. Spyware can monitor Internet browsing moves and record keystrokes as users enter personal information or passwords. It also can send spam from the victim's PC.

In the end, spyware developers are after your credit card numbers, bank account information, identity and passwords to all one's vital information-an Internet spy's Holy Grail.

Technology companies are fielding an increasing number calls from customers complaining of problems that, once diagnosed, stem from spyware. Lawmakers already have begun to make life harder for the authors of this malicious software, but honest developers are wary. And the future of spyware? The technology could prove helpful in some professions, but online criminals promise to continue to make life more difficult for law abiding folks.

Support Lines Overwhelmed

In the latter months of 2003, spyware (along with adware, its annoying but less nefarious cousin) became the largest complaint by Dell customers, Dell lawyer Maureen Cushman revealed at a one-day conference held by the Federal Trade Commission in April(2004). Customers call with myriad complaints - "slow performance, inability to access the Internet, extra icons and pop-up ads" - all problems that begin with unwanted software customers did not know they had on their PCs.

Spyware and adware are now "a larger technical support problem than viruses," McAfee Security Manager Bryson Gordon told conference attendees.