Spyware - How Do You Get Infected by Spyware

Almost fifty percents of computer crashes are caused by virus, trojan and spyware. Spyware is software used by hackers to gain information without your knowledge. This information can be used by hackers for many purposes. Last year, Microsoft announced that one in every 300 Windows PC was infected by malware and spyware. How do you get infected by spyware? 1. Security Settings People got infected by spyware usually have low security settings and most of them only have an antivirus as their main protection. Having an antivirus is not enough and it takes more than antivirus to protect you from spyware. 2. Files Download Downloading files from the Internet makes everything in our life easier. We don’t need to go to our local bookstore to find information that we need, we only need to find it on the Internet. However, downloading files and software has a bad effect. It’s because not all the freeware out there are spyware-free and some of them are actually spyware. Therefore, there might be some time when you’ve downloaded software or files that are spyware. 3. ActiveX Running activex while browsing is the same as running .exe file extension in Windows and if we enable activex while browsing, it will make us vulnerable to spyware threat. 4. Malicious Websites Malicious websites is one of the reasons why you get infected. Maybe while searching for information on the search engines, you stumbled upon a website and unknown to you, it’s a website that will install spyware in your system. Because the website is not what you’re looking for, you close it immediately. But by leaving the website does not make you’re safe from threats because the spyware is already installed in your system. 5. Pop-Ups Pop-ups are so annoying and some pop-ups are threats to our computer. There might be a time when you were surfing the Internet when a pop-up came up and asked you to update your security settings and you unknowingly clicked it. By clicking the pop-up, the spyware will install itself in your system. One way to prevent this is by clicking ‘x’ on the pop-up. Clicking anywhere on the pop-up other than the ‘x’ might makes the spyware to install itself. 6. Legal Agreement Did you know that spyware can install itself in your system legally? If you’re installing software, make sure you read its legal agreement. Maybe somewhere in the legal agreement, they said something about installing a software that will give them your browsing habit for their research purpose or something like that. This is another form of spyware attack. By clicking ‘I agree’, you’re bound to the agreement and the spyware can install itself legally. Therefore, next time when you’re installing suspicious software, make sure you read its legal agreement. Azwan Asmat is the author of Chuang Computer Tips - chuangcomputer.blogspot.com - Want to know the secret of securing your PC from dangerous spyware, adware, and malware programs that can ruin your PC, your finances, and your sanity?! Visit chuangcomputer.com/pcsafety/ for more info.